A massive housing project in northeast Bakersfield that’s been in the works for years was finally approved by the city Planning Commission Thursday night.

When it’s finally built, it will change the look of that hilly, bucolic area forever.

Psyche! It’s NOT The Canyons.

You’re certainly to be forgiven for thinking I was talking about the controversial Canyons project (also approved, unfortunately, by the commission Thursday night), which seems like it started back when rocks were cooling on the earth and giant sharks still glided above the bluffs the project proposes to level.

But no, there was another, even bigger, project considered that night — Rio Bravo Ranch.

Rio Bravo developers actually filed their first application with the Planning Department in 2007, four years after The Canyons developers filed their application. And the Rio Bravo project is much bigger, covering 1,853 acres compared to 890 acres and includes a whopping 4,688 residential units as opposed to The Canyons’ 1,334 units.

So how did Rio Bravo come to this first point of approval so quietly and quickly if, as The Canyons developers have contended, Bakersfield is “anti-development”?

Because A) that’s a load of hogwash and B) Rio Bravo’s developers did what The Canyons people could have — and should have — done from the very start: they worked with the community.

“When it’s done, our family wants to be proud of what it looks like,” landowner and developer James Nickel told me. His father, George Nickel, bought the land in 1965 and had it annexed to the city in 1970 with hopes of putting Cal State Bakersfield there.

That didn’t happen and wave after wave of development followed the college to the southwest.

When development began moving eastward again, the Nickel family decided to rev up its patriarch’s vision.

“I’d always said it would be my grandchildren who would develop this land,” James Nickel said. “Suddenly, the boom came and we thought it was time to get ready and protect ourselves.”

The Nickels live in that area and have no intention of leaving. So this development will truly be their neighborhood.

After talking to a number of people involved in the project, even those who oppose it, I was impressed by how Rio Bravo evolved.

The Nickels took their time. They looked at how other developments on similarly hilly terrain had been built around the state. They talked to area residents. They talked to environmental groups. They consulted with the Urban Land Institute. They sought out trails advocates, conducted archeological studies and even met with people in the Kern River Valley concerned about traffic, dark skies and how the project would affect the look of the mouth of the canyon.

They asked a lot of questions and answered even more. The Nickels didn’t shut anyone out, they invited the entire community to help mold their vision.

The results? They voluntarily reduced the number of housing units allowed by the city by 7 percent, they designated 20 percent more of the land as open space than was required and they’re staying away from the ridge lines and hill tops, instead clustering houses and commercial in the flat areas.

And when have you ever heard of this happening? The Department of Fish and Game sent a letter saying the Nickels didn’t have to do as much mitigation as they were planning to protect endangered species.

OK, it’s not all rose petals and marshmallows.

A number of people in the Kern River Valley still feel traffic and dark sky issues haven’t been addressed well enough.

And Gordon Nipp, vice chairman of the Kern-Kaweah chapter of the Sierra Club, told me that group is  considering suing because Rio Bravo developers underestimated the amount of greenhouse gases the project will emit and it’s not conducive to public transportation.

Even Nipp, though, acknowledged the Nickel family’s willingness to work with the community.

“The developers have been willing to do a lot of cool stuff,” he said. “And there’s a lot of good design features.”

His angst is mainly with the city for not requiring more, and he wonders why such a large project was even being considered in these economic times.

“We’ve got a 40-year backlog of houses already approved,” he said. “In order to approve this, the city will have to do a statement of overriding consideration saying it’s so important to build more houses that they have to overlook things like global warming.

“Why? What’s the need for it?”

I wondered that as well, especially now that Senate Bill 375, which will force cities and counties to make greenhouse gas emissions and public transit a part of the planning process, is looming on the horizon.

Planning Director Jim Movius told me that even if Rio Bravo developers were trying to get in before SB 375 kicks in, which they weren’t, it wouldn’t work. The buildout is so far into the future (possible start date was listed as 2013 with full buildout at 20 to 25 years in the environmental docs) that SB 375 rules will apply.

“These guys already have land entitlements. They can build homes. They’re rearranging it to do something better,” he said. “They could sell it off right now to three or four developers who wouldn’t care about what it looks like when they’re done.”

Which brings us back to The Canyons with its impossible cut-and-fill plans, walled fortress neighborhoods and trails shoved to the sides of busy roads.

It’s an ill-conceived project with only one goal in mind and that is to get a map approved allowing as many lots as possible so owner General Holding can sell it off to developers for more profit.

Out-of-towners will never care about this community as much as people like the Nickel family. I’m not saying they should.

That task belongs to city planners, Planning Commission members and, ultimately, the Bakersfield City Council, which is the next stop for both The Canyons and Rio Bravo Ranch.

It’s up to them to say “No!” to bad development and demand more from builders coming here looking to make a buck.

After all, they were elected, appointed or hired to look out for our interests, not developer profits. Right?

Opinions expressed in this column are those of Lois Henry, not The Bakersfield Californian. Her column appears Wednesdays and Sundays. Comment at people.bakersfield.com/home/Blog/noholdsbarred, call her at 395-7373 or e-mail lhenry@bakersfield.com