Apparently if a homeless person dies in a portable potty it is the City of Manteca’s fault.

That’s the logic circulating on some social media sites after the discovery of a deceased homeless man in a portable toilet the city had placed downtown in Library Park.

To be clear, the body discovered 11 days ago was not in portable restrooms the Sunrise Kiwanis placed in downtown for their annual Manteca Pumpkin Fair.

It was there for the use by the homeless — and the general public — after the Library Park bathrooms were damaged by users.

Whether that damage was inflicted by the homeless, drug users or whoever isn’t exactly clear but the bathrooms were no longer in a condition to be used.

The city placed the portable potty so the homeless would not defecate and urinate in the open in downtown.

Traffic Armageddon coming

to South Main Street?

It’s still way earlier in the game, but if you travel Main Street south of the 120 Bypass you might want to keep tabs on the latest 816-home subdivision proposed in Manteca.

Plans were submitted last month to build the homes on three parcels listing East Quintal Road as the address.

Quintal Road is that fun little street midway between the 120 Bypass ramps on the south side of the freeway and Atherton Drive. It is where the Chevron/Circle K is located on the southeast corner.

Anyone who drives the segment of South Main knows what a thorough mess that stretch of roadway is already, especially on Saturdays and Sundays.

There are already 1,301 homes in Griffin Park in the process of being built along South Main Street south of Woodward Avenue. Add to that plans for apartments and a shopping center at Atherton Drive and South Main.

Even if Main Street is widened to four lanes between the ramps and Atherton Drive it is going to be a colossal mess even without allowing access to a new neighborhood from the street.

While the plans haven’t been made public yet as they are under review by city staff, any bets on whether the developer wants  to use Quintal Road as an access point for the 816 homes?

If so, it would make the Chick-fil-A traffic mess the city allowed to happen before steps were taken two years after it opened to ease it look like model planning,.

A simple solution is to have to stub the Quintal Road at the edge of the gas station and convenience store and require all access to the homes to be from Atherton Drive.

That may be what the developer has in mind. But given some of the proposals that have advanced lately — including Yosemite Square on Auston Road — don’t hold your breath that they did or that the staff would say “no way”:before it even gets to the planning  commission level.

To contact Dennis Wyatt , email dwyatt@mantecabulletin.com