California's wealthiest farming family threatens to reshape small town with new mega-warehouse for big-box retailers that will transform area into an international trading hub

The wealthiest farming household successful California is readying to grow an concern warehouse analyzable to alteration a tiny municipality into an planetary trading hub. 

Stewart and Lynda Resnick, the billionaires down The Wonderful Company, already ain a sprawling organisation halfway successful Shafter, northwest of Bakersfield. 

Now they are anxious to grow the halfway to make an planetary hub to presumption the region astatine the forefront of the planetary displacement to online shopping, according to a report successful The LA Times. 

The determination would person 1,800 acres of the company's Kern County almond groves into further warehousing space.

The connection has travel nether occurrence implicit biology concerns with critics saying it volition summation motortruck postulation and worsen aerial quality. 

The improvement would alteration Shafter from a tiny town, with a colonisation of conscionable 20,162, into a booming commercialized hub.  

As portion of the redevelopment, the institution is proposing gathering a caller road that would divert trucks from the halfway of Shafter. 

They besides privation to physique an inland obstruction terminal - astatine a outgo of astatine slightest $120 cardinal - to funnel products from larboard by rail, reducing the reliance connected State Route 99. 

Wonderful already physique and lease warehouses to immense online buying companies for the retention of goods and processing of orders. 

They accidental that the enlargement task and the accompanying infrastructure plans are antithetic to a flock of elephantine organisation centers that person proliferated successful Riverside and San Bernardino counties. 

While galore residents invited the plans and the caller jobs but others are acrophobic astir the biology impacts. 

Gustavo Aguirre, adjunct manager of the Delano-based Center connected Race, Poverty & the Environment told the LA Times: 'I recognize that institution says it volition bring jobs; this is existent to immoderate extent.

'But it is besides existent that it's going to bring wellness and biology impacts that are going to interaction the neighbors who unrecorded adjacent the concern park.'

The concern parkland has generated astir 10,000 jobs, including warehouse employees, motortruck drivers and services handling shipping logistics, according to Wonderful Co. 

They accidental that with the planned enlargement the analyzable yet could enactment 50,000 jobs.

But immoderate are acrophobic that accrued automation means the enlargement won't make arsenic galore jobs arsenic promised. 

As exertion develops and much companies usage robotics to manufacture, process and present goods, immoderate concern jobs person been made redundant.  

UC Riverside's Ellen Reese told the LA Times: 'Warehouses are some occupation creators and occupation destroyers.'

She added: 'A batch of the probe really suggests that much automated warehouses person higher wounded rates than little automated warehouses.'

The Resnicks are known for their philanthropy, donating to clime research, scholarships and wellness centers successful the area. 

Through The Wonderful Company they own POM Wonderful, Fiji Water, Wonderful Pistachios and Almonds, Wonderful Halos, Wonderful Seedless Lemons, JUSTIN Wines, Landmark Wines, JNSQ Wines and the Teleflora floral ligament work company.

Aguirre is helping negociate with the institution for a broader assemblage benefits statement to guarantee the radical who unrecorded adjacent Shafter get much than jobs retired of the expansion.

He said: 'The residents admit that [this project] could bring jobs, but they travel with a price.   

'Because of this, they say, "What are you going to bash for our community?"'

DailyMail.com contacted The Wonderful Co. for comment.