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| Planners push for I-5 business, ranch homes |
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| Written by John Saiz / Patterson Irrigator / | |
| Saturday, 15 September 2007 | |
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“(If you make it highway commercial), you’re going to put 300 acres of hotels, gas stations and fast food right at your front door.” — Jim McMasters Commercial real estate developer, Colliers International The city’s General Plan Advisory Committee envisions hundreds of acres of ranchette housing and a 3-mile stretch of businesses along Interstate 5 in Patterson’s future. At its meeting Wednesday, the committee created a map laying out how Patterson should grow during the next 40 years. Members recommended the city should almost quadruple in size, taking the population from 20,875 to about 154,000 people by 2048. Their vision has the city expanding west to Del Puerto Canyon Road, east to Elm Avenue, south to Marshall Road, and north to Del Puerto Creek. The recommendations will be forwarded to Patterson’s Planning Commission and City Council. The commission and the council intend to review the plans at a joint meeting tentatively scheduled for Oct. 4. Ultimately, the committee’s advice will be used to create the city’s next general plan — a state-mandated document that lays out where and if the city will grow, as well as what uses land will have, such as residential versus agricultural. The council will have final say on the general plan, which it hopes to complete by November 2008. Most of the land suggested by the committee for incorporation would be for homes, and much of that would be for estate residential development. Estate residential is the least dense housing the city allows. The city’s general plan now defines that zoning as land that has as many as two homes per acre or as few as one home per three acres. The committee said estate residential should be south and southeast of the city’s current limits and on hundreds of acres that stretch between I-5 and a portion of Del Puerto Canyon Road. That marks the first time city officials have recommended housing in Del Puerto Canyon west of Patterson. But not all committee members favored westward expansion. “Those hills are sacred,” said Claude Delphia, who opposed any development west of I-5. Delphia’s opinion was in the minority. Along with housing to the west, a majority of committee members recommended creating commercial areas west and east of I-5 between Sperry Avenue and Zacharias Road. Though Zacharias Road doesn’t extend to I-5 today, the committee anticipates a new freeway interchange to the north that will connect to Zacharias. Local farmer and developer Jeff Arambel, who owns much of the property along I-5 that was discussed Wednesday, wanted to allow commercial development on his property. “It will be the engine to produce revenue for the corporation of Patterson,” Arambel said. Most of the committee agreed and recommended the area should be zoned general commercial, which would allow most types of commercial development. By contrast, highway commercial, like that allowed in the Villa Del Lago center, only permits gas stations, hotels/motels, restaurants and entertainment uses. Developers urged the committee to recommend expanding what is allowed in highway commercial zones or designating the area along I-5 as general commercial. “(If you make it highway commercial), you’re going to put 300 acres of hotels, gas stations and fast food right at your front door,” said Jim McMasters, a commercial real estate developer for Colliers International. The committee agreed and went with general commercial. Not everybody got what they requested Wednesday, though. Brothers Kenny and Larry Buehner saw both their requests rejected. Kenny Buehner asked that land along Sperry Avenue west of Baldwin Road be zoned general commercial, and Larry Buehner asked that land near Highway 33 north of the city be zoned heavy industrial. The committee’s land designations south of today’s city limits were primarily shaped by expected development on and around the Crows Landing Air Facility. The county plans to develop the former U.S. Navy airfield southeast of town into an industrial center. Preliminary plans show the project would stretch as far north as the Delta-Mendota Canal. The committee plans put an agricultural zone overlapping the northern tip of the airfield project’s proposed 7.5-mile industrial area and would zone land north of the canal as residential. At one point, a committee member suggested having that land zoned industrial so it would blend with industrial uses the county might develop later. But several committee members thought that would promote the county’s industrial park plans, which they did not want to do. In the past, city officials have opposed plans from PCCP West Park, which the county is negotiating with to develop the industrial center. They felt the large size of the project and train traffic it would create would ruin Patterson’s quality of life. “If we make it industrial, (West Park) will use it against us,” Delphia said. Delphia is one of the leaders of West Side-Patterson Alliance for Community and Environment, a local group formed this summer to oppose West Park’s plans. The committee wrapped up the first stage of work on the general plan with the conclusion of its five-hour meeting. Rod Simpson, Patterson’s community development director, estimated the committee would not meet again until November. Meanwhile, the council plans to select an official date for the upcoming joint commission and council meeting at its next regular Tuesday session.
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