The Bakersfield Planning Commission has denied a request that would have allowed apartment buildings to be built in a 17-acre single-family home subdivision at South Fairfax and East Wilson roads.

Commissioner Richard Schwartz voted against the request after listening to the developer and several people against the project.

“There are no parks and nothing for kids to do in that area,” he said. “What are they going to do? Probably, they’re going to get in trouble. It’s not really a type of place where, if I were living nearby, I would want that type of density.”

The people who spoke against the zone change Thursday said they were concerned about already-heavy traffic from nearby schools.

– Anthony Pollreisz