Search
Polls
Latest Forum Posts
| Re:PHS: Track & Field Schedule phsrunner 15-05-08 10:32 |
| Re:PHS: Track & Field Schedule The Flash 14-05-08 02:31 |
| Re:PHS: Track & Field Schedule phsrunner 12-05-08 11:51 |
Login Form
| Citizens’ committee dives into population projection |
|
|
| Written by John Saiz / Patterson Irrigator | |
| Saturday, 17 May 2008 | |
|
City representatives have started mulling Patterson’s population growth again, with a commission seeking a goal 40 years from now of between 65,000 and 138,000 people. The city’s population is now 21,229. The projections are part of the City Council’s revisions to the city’s general plan, a state-mandated document that guides long-term city growth. On Tuesday, the General Plan Advisory Committee, tasked with drafting the plan, chose several population figures for consultants to crunch. Those numbers will be the basis for many of the choices the committee will make in the coming months. “We decide how big we want to be,” committee member Claude Delphia said. When the GPAC is done with its part of the of the general plan process, it will have made recommendations on how many people Patterson should grow by, where development should occur and what type of development should happen, among other details. Its recommendations will be sent to the Patterson Planning Commission and eventually the City Council, which has final say on the matter. Along with the 40-year population figures, the committee wanted 20-year options for populations between 46,000 and 68,000. All the 40-year population projections were smaller than the committee’s initial estimates, when the commission recommended a growth rate that would cause the city to grow to about 154,000 people in the next four decades. Ultimately, the City Council decided to have the GPAC scrap those numbers and start from scratch. “That figure was turned totally against us,” Delphia said. At first, the council hoped the entire plan would be completed by November, which city staff described as an “aggressive” timetable. Some commissioners complained that they were rushed into a decision they didn’t fully understand. Now, the council has backed off its original deadline, sent the GPAC back to the drawing board and allowed the process to go at a slower pace. “We’re not going to press this thing this time around,” said John Ramos, the committee chairman. But the more leisurely pace and the council’s decision to back-track did not sit well with everyone. “Here we are, a year into this, and we’re still diddling with population numbers,” Patterson resident and developer Ron West told the committee. The longer timeframe also means the plan will cost more to create. The council has already hired Crawford Multari & Clark Associates for $1.2 million to act as planning consultants. Still, City Manager Cleve Morris estimates the extra costs will not be large and that by providing more staff time, the city will avoid doling out any more money. At the GPAC’s next meeting, scheduled for June 10, commissioners will likely select a specific desired population for the city and begin discussing housing densities, which determine how many homes can be built on an acre of land. The densities, coupled with the desired population, will greatly influence how much more land the city anticipates needing for housing, jobs and amenities.
Set as favorite
Bookmark
Email This
Hits: 98 Comments
(0)
|
Subscribe to this comment's feed