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Staff briefs Woodland planning commission on ballot measure to allow utility extensions to Bayer, Clark Pacific; SEIR finds no new significant impacts
Summary
City staff presented a proposed general‑plan amendment and supplemental EIR that would allow limited extensions of water, sewer and recycled water up to one mile beyond Woodland’s urban limit line to serve existing commercial facilities such as Bayer US Crop Science and Clark Pacific; staff said the SEIR finds no new significant environmental impacts and that any service agreements would be cost‑neutral.
City planning staff on Jan. 15 presented a proposed narrowly tailored amendment to Woodland’s general plan policy that would permit extension of water, sewer and recycled water to qualifying commercial facilities up to one mile beyond the city’s Urban Limit Line if approved by voters.
Erica Baumgartner, deputy community development director, told the commission the two applicants — Bayer US Crop Science and Clark Pacific — are located within about one mile of the city and seek service because on‑site groundwater and septic systems are either at capacity or have water‑quality issues (nitrate, boron and other constituents). She said the proposed policy change is limited to existing commercial facilities that were in operation on or before Nov. 3, 2026, and that applicants would pay for infrastructure extensions and connection charges so the city’s current customers are not subsidizing the project.
To analyze environmental effects, the city worked with consultant AECOM to prepare a supplemental EIR to the certified 2035 General Plan EIR. Nicole Williams of AECOM and staff summarized the SEIR’s conclusions: the amendment and potential utility extensions would not create new significant environmental impacts beyond those identified in the general plan EIR, construction impacts (air quality and noise) would be temporary and mitigable, and utilities demand from the applicants would be a small fraction of unused permitted capacity. The draft SEIR is available for a 45‑day public review period that began Dec. 19 and runs through Feb. 2; written comments are due by 4 p.m. Feb. 2.
Representatives from the applicants spoke: Eric Wenjie of Clark Pacific said connecting to city utilities would reduce reliance on well water and septic and be a "win‑win" for the plant and the surrounding agricultural community; George Goff of Bayer said company operations are constrained by well water quality and septic capacity and supported the planned improvements.
Commissioners asked detailed questions about eligibility for connections (staff emphasized the current draft is narrowly worded to commercial facilities), whether small adjacent businesses or residences could later seek connections, cost recovery, ownership and maintenance responsibility for new lines, and whether extensions would promote facility growth that could increase air pollution or trigger further county land‑use approvals. Tim Bush, city utilities engineering manager, said the city would likely own lines to the property line and that O&M arrangements would be handled in service agreements; he also said Woodland’s water treatment capacity (18 million gallons per day) and system planning provide sufficient margin and that combined demand from the two facilities is roughly 500,000 gallons per day — a small fraction of system capacity.
Staff emphasized that the item was informational and that, if the council decides to proceed, the amendment would be placed on the Nov. 3, 2026 ballot; subsequent service agreements and council approvals would be required before construction or connections.
Next steps: public comments on the draft SEIR are due Feb. 2; staff anticipates bringing ordinance and ballot placement items to the commission and council in spring (April–June) and noted any future service agreements would be subject to council approval.
