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Residents urge city to block proposed Tracy Hills distribution center near schools, citing health and traffic fears
Summary
Dozens of residents told the council that a proposed large distribution center near Coral Hollow Elementary and Kimball High would bring thousands of diesel truck trips, worsen congestion on Coral Hollow Road and harm children’s health. Speakers urged rezoning and urged the city and developer to pursue lower‑pollution commercial uses instead.
Dozens of residents from Tracy Hills, Ellis and nearby neighborhoods filled the public-comment period to oppose a proposed large distribution/distribution‑center project near Coral Hollow Road, arguing the site is incompatible with nearby homes and schools.
Speakers said the proposed Tracy Hills Commerce Center (a large warehouse/distribution proposal now moving through the planning process) would generate heavy diesel truck traffic on Coral Hollow Road and nearby intersections, produce persistent diesel exhaust near Coral Hollow Elementary School and Kimball High School, and worsen already heavy peak‑period congestion.
Why it matters: Residents and public‑health advocates warned the council that diesel exhaust is linked to respiratory disease, asthma and other long‑term health impacts and that the project would create a high‑emission corridor adjacent to neighborhoods and schools. The project is scheduled for Planning Commission review on May 28, city staff said.
Concerns voiced by residents Many speakers described Coral Hollow as the only practical access road for their neighborhoods and said it already experiences heavy congestion during commute times. Andrea Mandel, a Tracy Hills parent, said the 1998 plan that originally zoned the area light industrial no longer fits the built reality: “Remote work changed us. COVID changed us. The passing of time changed us. Zoning can also change,” she said.
Several parents and residents pressed for updated environmental and traffic modeling and for rezoning the immediate corridor to commercial or mixed use rather than heavy industrial. “The project would bring over a thousand diesel trucks per day,” one speaker said; others called the development “36 times the size of Tracy City Hall” and argued the scale and anticipated truck trips are incompatible with nearby schools.
Public‑health and air quality points A number of speakers cited diesel exhaust health risks. Shoeb Palaya said the distribution center would sit within a half mile of two schools and that prolonged exposure to diesel pollutants could increase asthma and other lung diseases among children. Speakers urged the San Joaquin Valley Air Pollution Control District and the city to consider siting and mitigation and to favor cleaner local business types that serve the neighborhood.
Traffic and infrastructure Several residents described repeated surface‑road failures on local streets (Linney Road was mentioned) and said thousands of heavy‑truck movements would accelerate pavement damage and require additional public spending on repairs and lane expansions. Speakers pressed the council to require more current traffic and environmental reports from the applicant and to consider shifting such industrial uses to existing industrial corridors further from homes.
Process and next steps City Manager Dori Lightward (staff) told the meeting that the Tracy Hills Commerce Center project will be before the Planning Commission on May 28. Speakers said they planned to attend that hearing and asked council to consider rezoning or additional conditions to reduce truck routing through residential neighborhoods. The council did not act on the project at the meeting; the item remains a planning commission matter.
