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Leave the port where it belongs

Published in the Stockton Record on 01/03/04

We're not against he development of Rough and Ready Island. Using buildings for warehouses, manufacturing and high-tech companies is very welcome.

These types of companies would create more year-round jobs per square foot and be most of the jobs mentioned in the reports.

Our concerns are only the intended changes on the waterfront (500 feet from our homes) to 24-hour, seven-day-a-week commercial shipping.

These ships:
· Leave their engines and/or generators running 24/7.
· Create no jobs on the ship. Pilots would be on the ship no matter where it docked.
· Create a tremendous amount of noise that can make you leap from your bed in the middle of the night.
· Create vibrations that shake shelves and beds at least a half-mile away.
· Cause pollution from engine smoke that turns the blue skies gray.
· Generate pollution from lights. We no longer have nighttime at our home.
· Create pollution with water that constantly pours out of them into the Delta.

Along with shipping, we understand the Port of Stockton intends to put trains on the dock. The effects of this haven't been studied and would be devastating to homes.

It would look like the existing port, which has operated for 70 years and is a blighted junkyard.

We're told we don't matter. The homeowners of Boggs Tract, Atherton Island/Cove, Riviera Cliffs and Brookside should count.

Boggs Tract homes are just as valuable to the owners as mine is to me. It's easier for me to move than it would be for them.

Taxation without representation has nothing to do with how the port operates. It means Richard Pombo, Barbara Matthews, Michael Machado, Gary Podesto, Victor Mow, Stockton Police and the county sheriff's department refuse to help us. We're being denied our civil rights.

These officials claim they have no jurisdiction, but their names and faces are all over the port's brochures. Articles in the paper always state how much they're doing for the port.

A better alternative to the port's plan would be to leave it where it's been for 70 years and remodel it to fit new shipping. They could use the east end of Rough and Ready Island from the golf course to the Louis Park.

Instead of blighting the waterfront at Rough and ready Island, use it for warehouses, manufacturing and high-tech companies that might build campus-type facilities that would enhance the area and make everyone proud.

Appraisers have told us our property values will be devastated. The impact also will be relayed to homes off the water, each are and home affected differently.

San Joaquin County Supervisor Steve Gutierrez has stated that it's "unacceptable" that neighborhoods have to put up with heavy truck traffic rolling past their homes.

Stockton's General Plan doesn't allow these incompatible uses. The mission statement is all about quality of life.

We're not against the development of Rough and Ready Island, but believe it can be done without destroying homeowners' lives.

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