A piece of land off Stowell Road in Santa Maria could soon be transformed into a major package delivery hub.
The proposed distribution center is described by city staff as a "last mile" facility where packages would come in, be sorted, and then head back out for local delivery. The city calls the project a long-term investment in Santa Maria.
Chenin Dow, Community Development Director for the City of Santa Maria, noted the economic impact of the proposal.
"Bringing in 800 jobs is obviously a sizable contribution to that and will really help," Dow said.
Santa Maria residents Nancy Sagredo and Oscar Sagredo welcome the development.
"There is a lack of jobs here right now," Nancy said.
"For me, it's a good idea to open new jobs for new people, and people right now are completely struggling with jobs," Oscar said.
"Traffic has always been here, whether it's Stowell, Main Street, Broadway, so it would be a good potential for bringing that distribution center here," Nancy added.
With the possibility of more delivery activity in the area comes safety concerns.
"Being aware of there's, you know, pedestrians, there's kids coming from school or going to school," Nancy Sagredo said.
The Planning Commission is weighing those community concerns as it reviews the proposal.
"One of the things that was looked at was, you know, what time of day are these trips going to occur? When will semi-trucks be delivering to the facility, versus when will individual drivers and smaller vehicles be picking up packages and transporting them to their final destination?" Dow said.
The company behind the project has not been publicly named. Dow said the city is under a non-disclosure agreement.
According to the project's environmental impact report, the developer is Seefried Industrial Properties, a firm known for working on distribution projects for companies including Amazon.
KSBY News reached out to Seefried Industrial Properties and Amazon for comment but has not heard back.
The Planning Commission is expected to make its final decision at its May 6 meeting.
