Willow Pass Business Park

Willow Pass Business Park: Making the grade and the buck stops here

All projects have highs and lows. Few presented them more literally and figuratively than the Willow Pass Business Park in Concord. This 67-acre commercial/industrial business park consisted of 18 lots ranging from 1/2 acre to 4 acres. Directly adjacent to the business park is a 37-acre parcel dedicated to open space, to preserve the area’s natural beauty.

One of the first high-low challenges we faced was steep. The development sits on a hillside, with a 130-foot elevation differential from its highest to lowest point. Making the building pads level required excellent grades. To achieve them, we made 40-foot cuts and fills.

Water wonder

The next order of business park business was the water system design analysis. This project has a private, on-site, potable water system with all the bells and whistles. The fully loaded system has a production well, storage tank, distribution pipeline network and even its own treatment facility. This one-stop water shop is capable of delivering the required flow volume and water pressure to conform to the local fire protection and state Health Department standards.

Good so far. Now, here’s where things got really interesting.

No drain, all gain

Initially, the development was required to annex into an existing Benefit Assessment District. They were also required to pay a Drainage Deficiency fee to the Flood Control District. The cost of these two requirements totaled approximately $500,000. They would have, that is, until CEO/Owner Glen Lewis weighed — or waded — in.

Glen’s extensive experience in local government had taught him that these fees weren’t warranted.

For starters, Willow Pass Business Park provided on-site drainage mitigation. Glen and the JES team learned that the Benefit Assessment District and Drainage Deficiency Fee was established many years ago to mitigate drainage impacts downstream from new developments.

Armed with knowledge and years of experience, Glen contested the fees because of the on-site mitigation. In fact, charging the fee represented double dipping (a double no-no).

After making his case, the fee requirements were eliminated. This prevented our client from sending $500,000 down the drain.

For this project, we provided:

Boundary survey
Subdivision mapping
Grading design
Drainage design
Roadway design
Water system design analysis
Contesting unwarranted fees
Coordination with government agencies