The Valley Chronicle - h2SJ Council approves renewal of development

Project for intersection of Cottonwood and Sanderson will bring big names to San Jacinto

[caption id="attachment_16603" align="alignright" width="437"] Planning Commission Staff Report 01-29-19
A bird’s eye graphic of the development zone and the businesses already in place.[/caption] ■ Jacob Doane / Contributed Exciting things are happening in San Jacinto. For nearly a decade, the lot on Cottonwood and Sanderson Avenues has held a CVS and more recently a Shell gas station. During a recent San Jacinto City Council meeting, a representative for SRC, LP and SJSA Investments, LLC, the two partners who each play a role in the development of that area, came to ask the council to renew the development plan they had agreed to on Aug. 7, 2008 to continue development. The reason for such a long development period? “The timing couldn’t have been worse” says representative Marty Burton. “It was 2008 and then the collapse happened and we whirled into a recession.” An unforeseeable series of unfortunate events ground at the project. Alongside the recession, he said, there was an “expectation back then that Sanderson and Cottonwood would both serve as entryways to the state road. Those on-ramps and off-ramps never happened and the rooftops we were looking for in that area never appeared.” Burton stood in front of the council and claimed the partners have been in talks with big, brand name companies and, while they weren’t willing to disclose the names of those they were still talking to, he did, very confidently, name Autozone as one of the companies looking to build on the land and hinted at a third coming soon. Something interesting that many people may not know about the ongoing development are the traffic improvements the project has made on Cottonwood and Sanderson. “SRC are the ones who brought in the name brands. They are also the ones who have spent $1.2 million on traffic improvements already,” said Burton, specifically in the form of a left turn pocket on Sanderson and a traffic light on Cottonwood. Times are different in San Jacinto now than they were back in ‘08, however. As the value of the land has risen, so has the price those who own it have had to pay. For a long time and in many of the modern institutions in San Jacinto, developments have been made with a five-year extension with the option to renew for two years at a much higher price, commonly referred to as the “5/2.” This was what the partners were seeking from the council, a renewal of their old agreement. Councilman Kotyuk voiced his opposition to the 5/2. “It is a false argument to say that because there was a 5/2 agreement years ago, there should be one now. The new norm should be 4/3 because, as the popularity and value of land rises in our town, that change should be reflected in our actions. Stay tuned for what’s to happen next with this major San Jacinto development of the Sanderson and Cottonwood intersection.