A lot more almond orchards, grape vineyards, dairies, alfalfa fields, and row crop farms will be lost so Manteca can grow to at least 206,368 residents.

Nineteen square miles of farmland — roughly 1½ times the area bounded by Lathrop Road, Austin Road, Woodward Avenue, and Airport Way — will be lost in order for Manteca to accommodate 206,368 people as outlined in the preferred land use of the proposed general plan update.

The area referenced is 12 square miles. The land needed for residential growth of 116,546 people and the accompanying  industrial, commercial,  and other urbanized uses will consume 19½ square miles of farmland.

A joint Manteca City Council/Manteca Planning Commission workshop designed to obtain community input takes place tonight at 6 o’clock at the Civic Center council chambers, 1001 W. Center St.

The council directed the period for public input on the updated general plan designed to guide growth for the next 20 plus years be extended to June 14 at 5 p.m.

Two more community workshops without the council and planning commission are scheduled May 27 and June 2 at the Manteca Transit Center, 220 Moffat Blvd. Both workshops are at 6 p.m.

The amount of land needed for a population of 206,368 people is only a part of the story.

Manteca’s current city limits consist of 11,577 acres or 18 square miles. The general plan update’s “planning area” — basically land outside the existing city limits that the city has interest in ultimately annexing and developing — represents an additional 13,330 acres or an additional 20.7 square miles.

Of the overall acreage, 9,334 acres represents what is already developed as residential and what is targeted for residential development under the preferred land use plan.

But that preferred land use includes 1,390 more acres of “urban reserve” for future residential growth beyond the next 20 to 40 year horizon the general plan update covers. Based on zoning maximums per area for densities ranging from very low and low to medium and high those urban set asides could generate an additional 22,240 people at some point. That’s based on an average household unit yield factor of 3.2 people.

Toss in urban reserve and

plan is to make Manteca

bigger than Modesto today

That means once the potential of the urban reserves are taken into account the ultimate development of all the land Manteca is including in its planning area is 228,608 people. That’s 9,314 more residents than Modesto’s current population of 219,294.

The planning area that is basically being targeted for annexation and development will cover 11,505 acres. That includes 3,734 acres of prime farmland, 7,377 acres of farmland of statewide significance, and 328 acres of farmland of local significance. There are another 65.1 acres committed to animal ag which is generally dairies.

The existing city limits contain — at the time the general plan update research was conducted — 4,972 acres of farmland. That encompasses 1,095 acres of prime farmland, 3,278 acres of farmland of statewide significance, 328 acres of farmland of local significance, and 29 acres of animal ag.

Altogether 16,477 acres of farmland are in the crosshairs of Manteca growth.

That is 2.1 percent of the 772,676 acres of farmland in San Joaquin County still remaining as of a 2017 survey.

To put that in perspective the county’s 2019 farm production of $2.6 billion would rank San Joaquin as the 35th largest state for crop production between Louisiana at $3.03 billion and South Carolina at $2.28 billion.

The county’s population of 783,584 would make it the 48th largest state between South Dakota at 896,851 and North Dakota at 770,026

How to comment

during workshop

There are three ways for the public to make comments and have them included as part of the record.

*The first is in person. The Council Chambers will be open with limited capacity. Masks are required to be worn at all times. Social distancing will be practiced.

*Call or log into the Zoom Webinar (Meeting ID: 823 4033 5130 — Phone number: (669) 900-6833). To speak during an item you must use the Raise Your Hand feature. If dialing in, press *9 to Raise               Your Hand. Please remain muted until called upon. If you have questions on the Zoom Webinar process, please email: mayorcouncilclerk@ci.manteca.ca.us or call (209) 456-8010.

*Use the first is eComment where you call up the agenda on the city’s website. New users will need to follow instructions to make an account. The comments are made by going down the agenda on the website and clicking on the eComment icon. Only one comment is allowed per agenda items of up to 500 characters. Any eComment can be at any time up to the item being heard by the council.

*Emailing a comment to mayorcouncilclerk@ci.manteca.ca.us up until two hours before the meeting. Comments 250 words and under will be read into the record while those over 250 words will be made a part of the official record but not publically read. Copies of the email comments over 250 words will be provided to council members.

*Hand delivered comments to the city clerk’s door drop slot no later than two hours prior to the meeting. The same email world rules apply.

General plan update

comment period open

The draft general plan review period closes on Thursday, May 6. The General Plan and EIR can be viewed on the city’s website at: https://manteca.generalplan.org/content/documents. Submit written responses by 5 p.m. on Monday, June 14, to J.D. Hightower, Deputy Director, at the address above or by email at jhightower@ci.manteca.ca.us

For more information contact the Development Services Department, 1512 W. Center Street, Suite 201, Manteca, CA 95337. Phone: (209) 456-8500. Fax: (209) 923-8949. 

To contact Dennis Wyatt, email dwyatt@mantecabulletin.com