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ALUC-25-10 (Suisun Logistics Center)
Determine that Application No. ALUC 25-10 (Suisun Logistics Center Project; hereafter “Project”), located within the Travis Air Force Base (“AFB”) Compatibility Zones B1 and C and partially within the Low Altitude Maneuvering Zone (“LAMZ”), is conditionally consistent with the Travis AFB Land Use Compatibility Plan (“LUCP”).
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RECOMMENDATION:
Adopt a Resolution for Application No. ALUC 25-10 (Suisun Logistics Center Project), located within the Travis AFB Compatibility Zones B1 and C and partially within the LAMZ, finding that the Project is conditionally consistent with the Travis AFB LUCP, as most recently adopted in August 2024.
The compatibility criteria set forth in the Travis AFB LUCP are intended to be applicable within the Airport Influence Area (“AIA”). However, it is recognized that there may be specific situations where a normally incompatible use can be considered compatible because of extraordinary factors or circumstances related to the site. (See Travis AFB LUCP Policy 6.2.4(c)(6).) Here, staff observed that there is no nexus between the Project’s use-based conflict with the LAMZ and any compatibility concerns related to noise, safety, airspace protection, or overflight considerations. Staff’s determination is site-specific and Project-specific and based on its review of the record of evidence submitted for the Project.
After due consideration and based upon the administrative record, staff recommends that the Commission does find and determine that the Project is conditionally consistent with the Travis AFB LUCP pursuant to Travis AFB LUCP Policy 6.2.4(c)(6), subject to the following conditions:
• The Project applicant or its designee responsible for management and maintenance of the 47-acre open space area on the Project Property shall continue to communicate and consult with the Travis AFB Bird / Wildlife Aircraft Strike Hazard (“BASH”) Team regarding the maintenance of wildlife attractants and changes to the existing habitat in the managed open space area, consistent with the requirements of the Travis AFB LUCP Table 1: Land Use Compatibility Criteria and the deed of conservation easement for the Peterson Ranch West Property on the southern portion of the Project Property.
• At least 60 days prior to the installation of any rooftop solar arrays, the Project applicant shall submit a glint and glare analysis for the Project, based on Solar Glare Hazard Analysis Tool (“SGHA”), to Travis AFB for review and comment. If no comments from Travis AFB are forthcoming during that sixty-day period, ALUC shall assume that Travis AFB has no objections to the glare analysis and its conclusions.
SUMMARY / DISCUSSION:
Introduction
Cal. Public Utilities Code Section 21676(b) of the State Aeronautics Act requires the Airport Land Use Commission (“ALUC”) to review general plan amendments and zoning ordinance changes within an AIA.
Project Location
The Project would be developed on a 167.43-acre parcel (“Project Property”) in unincorporated Solano County, California, within the City of Suisun City’s (“City”) existing sphere of influence (“SOI”). The Project is seeking annexation into the City, an action that would require approval of the Solano County Local Agency Formation Commission (“LAFCO”).
The Project Property is bound by a service station and Walters Road (west), Petersen Road (north), grazing land (east), and State Route (SR) 12 (south). The Project Property is within the AIA for Travis AFB, as identified in the LUCP, and is located approximately 6,440 feet (1.2 miles) from the 03L runway end and approximately 1,300 feet offset from the Runway 03L/21R extended centerline. The Project’s proposed warehouse buildings have been planned within the northern portion of the Project Property, furthest from the approach/departure airspace and safety zones of Runway 03L/21R. At their closest point, these warehouse buildings would be over 6,600 feet west of Runway 03L end and 3,125 feet northwest of the Runway 03L/21R extended centerline.
With respect to the Travis AFB LUCP, the Project Property is primarily located within Compatibility Zone C, but a small area (roughly 0.51 acres) at the southernmost tip of the Project Property is in Compatibility Zone B1. The Project Development Area is entirely within Compatibility Zone C. Approximately 112.23 acres in the southeast portion of the Project Property (including 65.10 acres in the Project Development Area) are within the Assault Land Zone (ALZ) Training Overlay Zone and the LAMZ.
Compatibility Zone C restricts densities to no more than 300 people per acre (see Travis AFB ALUCP policy 5.3.4), prohibits hazards to flight and requires a notice to be attached to the property deed. In Compatibility Zone C, all new or expanded commercial scale solar facilities must conduct an SGHAT glint and glare study for ALUC review. The Project Property is within the 5-mile boundary as specified by FAA, specifically inside of the Travis AFB Outer Perimeter and also inside of the Bird Strike Hazard Zone, which requires that a Wildlife Hazard Analysis (“WHA”) be prepared for any new or expanded land use that has the potential to attract the movement of wildlife that could cause bird strikes (Attachment C).
Project Description:
The applicant, Buzz Oates Construction, Inc., is proposing development of approximately 2.1 million square feet of warehouse uses on approximately 119.75 acres. The remaining 45-acre conservation easement property and a two-acre drainage area would continue to be permanently preserved as open space. The entire 167.43-acre Project Property and the right-of-way for Petersen Road abutting the Project would be annexed into the Suisun City limits.
Six buildings ranging from approximately 145,397 to 644,850 square feet would be developed on-site. Each building would provide docks, grade level roll-up doors, and trailer parking stalls. The facility would be enclosed with a secure perimeter and access would be restricted to authorized users. Table 1 summarizes preliminary details about the Project’s warehouse buildings. Attachment D depicts the preliminary site plan.
The Project also consists of the following improvements:
• Petersen Road: The Petersen Road frontage would be improved curb, gutter, and sidewalk. Petersen Road would be widened to include three full access unsignalized driveways intended for trucks and an additional eastbound lane. The existing Petersen Road westbound lane and Class I bike/pedestrian facility would be improved by the Project.
• Walters Road: The fourth (east) leg of the existing signalized Walters Road/Walmart Driveway intersection would be improved to provide access to the Project. This access point is intended only for passenger vehicles, light-duty/utility trucks (i.e., two-axle), utility vans, and similar vehicles. This entrance would be designed and signed to discourage heavy vehicle access (i.e., 53-foot tractor trailers). The Walters Road frontage currently is improved with curb, gutter, and sidewalk. These existing improvements may be modified as part of the Project. An internal reciprocal access point may be provided with the service station at the corner of SR-12/Walters Road. This access point may be restricted with a gate to allow access only to authorized users.
• Open Space Preservation: The applicant will continue to preserve approximately 47 acres of the Project Property as open space. This area coincides with the portion of the site designated as Compatibility Zone B1 by the Travis AFB LUCP and the Peterson Ranch West Conservation Easement.
• Storm Drainage: The Project would install a storm drainage system designed for a 15-year storm event. Inlets would capture surface runoff, where it would enter an underground piping system that would convey stormwater to one of four basins. The basins would provide 323,280 square feet (7.6 acres) of stormwater retention. The two existing drainage channels that cross the Project Property would be abandoned. A new drainage channel would divert runoff from the west channel culvert at Petersen Road to a new east channel along the eastern boundary that would connect to the existing east culvert under SR-12.
• Water Service: The Project would be served Suisun-Solano Water Authority (“SSWA”). Service laterals would be extended to Project buildings from existing SSWA facilities in Walters Road and Petersen Road.
• Wastewater: The Project would be served with wastewater collection and treatment service provided by Fairfield-Suisun Sewer District. Service laterals would be extended to Project buildings from existing facilities in Petersen Road.
• Electricity and Natural Gas: Electricity would be provided by PG&E. Service laterals would be extended to Project buildings from existing facilities in Petersen Road.
• Grading and Earthwork: The Project Property would be graded to create building pads with finished floor elevations ranging from 17.5 to 19.0 feet above mean sea level. Rough grading would require 106,000 cubic yards of import.
Wildlife Hazards Assessment:
According to the Project’s Draft EIR, a WHA was performed in March of 2021 to determine the existing level of wildlife and bird activity within the site and evaluate the potential for wildlife hazards to affect operations at the Travis AFB because of the Project (Attachment C).
The WHA (Attachment C) determined that the construction and development associated with the Project would not increase the activity or presence of birds or other wildlife. According to the WHA, the planned stormwater retention basin is unlikely to result in additional wildlife attractions because the system is designed for quick drainage, and because the basin will be surrounded by development. The parcel dedicated to open space would not result in an increase in wildlife activity, due to the disturbance caused by the lighting, human presence, and noise associated with the surrounding development, in addition to the existing baseline noise and activity from Highway 12 vehicular traffic and Travis AFB air and vehicular traffic.
To minimize wildlife attractants, the water quality basin shall be designed to hold water for no longer than 48 hours, consistent with FAA Advisory Circular 150/5200-33C.
Moreover, on September 13, 2021, the owner of the Project Property granted a conservation easement over roughly 45 acres on the southern portion of the Project Property to the Solano Land Trust. One of the key purposes of this conservation easement is to protect the airlift mission of Travis AFB. Thus, the owner of the Project Property also conveyed enforcement rights to the United States of America over the conservation easement with the intent of limiting any development or use of the conservation easement area that would be incompatible with or interfere with the mission of Travis AFB. The conservation easement requires management of the easement area consistent with both specified agricultural conservation values and specified Travis AFB mission values. In the event of a conflict between those values, the conservation easement requires coordination to minimize the conflict and ultimately requires that Travis AFB mission values be given priority in the event of an irreconcilable conflict. This ongoing coordination will ensure that the 45-acre conservation easement area is managed in a manner that is compatible with the Travis AFB BASH Team requirements, consistent with the requirements of the Travis AFB LUCP Table 1: Land Use Compatibility Criteria.
Airport Planning Context & Analysis:
The planning process for this Project has been underway for several years. The Project was first presented to the Commission on June 8, 2017, to give the commissioners an opportunity to ask questions, provide comments, and identify issues for staff to evaluate further before scheduling the Project for a formal hearing. Following comments from the Commission, the property owner revised the proposal and was scheduled for further discussion at the Commission’s June 2021 meeting, but the item was later withdrawn from the agenda. Since then, the Project has gone through multiple design iterations. (See, e.g., Figure 8 in the Johnson Aviation Consulting technical memorandum.) In July 2024, the City released a Draft EIR, which included as Appendix H a technical TAFB compatibility assessment. The appendix and Draft EIR text both indicated that the Project would be compatible with Travis AFB operations and consistent with the Travis AFB LUCP (as it existed at that time).
On August 8, 2024, the ALUC approved various amendments to the Travis AFB LUCP. This ALUC action occurred several years into the Project’s planning process and after the City’s release of the Project’s Draft EIR. The LAMZ was established at this time to ensure compatibility between low-altitude tactical training operations at Travis AFB and adjacent land uses. As such, the LAMZ provides that all non-agricultural uses are prohibited within its boundaries except in areas zoned for non-agricultural use before the Travis AFB LUCP amendments went into effect. Because the Project would include new non-agricultural uses within the newly established LAMZ and it was proposed on a parcel not currently zoned by Solano County for non-agricultural uses, the portion of the Project located within the LAMZ facially conflicts with the LAMZ restrictions.
It is the opinion of staff that although a portion of the proposed warehouse uses in the southern area of the Project development footprint are located within the LAMZ, resulting in the Project being facially inconsistent with the LAMZ development restrictions, this facial inconsistency will not translate into any noise, safety, airspace, overflight, or operational issues that make the Project functionally incompatible with Travis AFB. Staff have reached this opinion following application of Travis AFB LUCP Policy 6.2.4(c)(6), which allows for Project-specific and site-specific considerations to inform the compatibility evaluation.
In support of its assessment, staff refers to the 78-page technical memorandum authored by Johnson Aviation Consulting dated August 18, 2025, as well as Appendix H to the Draft EIR, the 9-page technical memorandum authored by ESA dated March 8, 2024. These memoranda, which are available for review by Commissioners, provide detailed Project-specific and site-specific evaluations of airport land use compatibility issues, ultimately demonstrating that the type of industrial development proposed within a discrete portion of the overall site is compatible with aeronautical operations at Travis AFB. The analyses account for existing obstructions on and within the vicinity of the site (such as powerlines) that already influence the location of the low-altitude tactical training operations, the flight patterns of aeronautical operations associated with Travis AFB, waypoints used by pilots for navigation purposes, and the noise, safety, overflight and airspace protection factors addressed in the Travis AFB LUCP.
Additionally, a glint and glare analysis prepared and submitted for the Project demonstrates that, as currently proposed, the Project’s proposed rooftop solar arrays pass the FAA’s recommended solar glare tests, as well as the same tests for critical flight paths recommended by the Department of Defense and Travis AFB. The glint and glare analysis demonstrates that the Project would neither create glint or glare at an existing or planned airport traffic control tower cab at Travis AFB, nor create glare or more than a low potential for after-image along the final approach path for any existing landing threshold or future landing threshold at Travis AFB, consistent with the requirements of the Travis AFB LUCP Table 1: Land Use Compatibility Criteria.
Given the location of its development footprint, staff evaluated the Project using the Compatibility Zone C criteria of the Travis AFB LUCP, coupled with consideration of the LAMZ. Staff analysis of the Project based on this evaluation is summarized in Attachment A. As shown therein, the Project is compatible with Travis AFB’s noise contours, safety zones, airspace protection requirements, and overflight considerations.
Analysis Finding:
After due consideration and based upon the administrative record, staff recommends that the Commission does find and determine that the Project is conditionally consistent with the Travis AFB LUCP pursuant to Travis AFB LUCP Policy 6.2.4(c)(6), subject to the following conditions:
• The Project applicant or its designee responsible for management and maintenance of the 47-acre open space area on the Project Property shall continue to communicate and consult with the Travis AFB Bird / Wildlife Aircraft Strike Hazard (“BASH”) Team regarding the maintenance of wildlife attractants and changes to the existing habitat in the managed open space area, consistent with the requirements of the Travis AFB LUCP Table 1: Land Use Compatibility Criteria and the deed of conservation easement for the Peterson Ranch West Property on the southern portion of the Project Property.
• At least 60 days prior to the installation of any rooftop solar arrays, the Project applicant shall submit a glint and glare analysis for the Project, based on Solar Glare Hazard Analysis Tool (“SGHA”), to Travis AFB for review and comment. If no comments from Travis AFB are forthcoming during that sixty-day period, ALUC shall assume that Travis AFB has no objections to the glare analysis and its conclusions.
Attachments:
Attachment A - Airport Compatibility Zones Criteria
Attachment B - Project Location and Compatibility Zones
Attachment C - Wildlife Hazards Assessment (WHA)
Attachment D - Preliminary Site Plan
Attachment E - LAMZ and Compatibility Zone C
Attachment F - Draft Resolution
Attachment G - Table 1- Suisun Logistics Center Project Summary