Signature Homes — the builders of the envisioned 827-home Lumina at Machado Ranch — is breaking the mold when it comes to a tract home development in Manteca.

*It will feature the first motor court homes built in Manteca. Four homes will share a common driveway court with no home having a  garage facing the street.

*There will be six distinct styles of architecture — American traditional, California bungalow, farmhouse, Monterey, Spanish and prairie.

*The Monterey architecture will be the most unique in Manteca since the French Collection featuring Normandy architecture inspired by the French countryside was incorporated in a neighborhood built just north of Mission Ridge Drive.

*The developer will install traffic signals at two key intersections — Airport Way at Woodward Avenue as well as Airport Way at Atherton Drive — at the start of construction and long before traffic volume would normally trigger their installation.

*There will be a mixture of neighborhoods aimed at first-time buyers, move-up buyers, and downsizing buyers. Instead of being segregated, there will be broken into clustered segments in a patchwork-style approach to have more of a blend of neighborhoods.

*Signature Homes will pay $8,000 more per home than other nearby tract homes now under construction

*A fee of $598.54 per home will be paid to purchase a CNG sold waste collection truck powered by compressed liquid gas produced from menthane gas and food waste at the city’s wastewater treatment plant. Once all homes are built, the fees collected will cover the cost of one new truck.

*Another $2,500 per home will be paid as an infrastructure fee. It is designed to cover shortfalls in the established growth-related fees that have not been updated that the developer pays when they take out a building permit.

 *They will pay a $2,500 fee per home for the Phase V wastewater treatment plant expansion. If the fee, that has yet to be established is less, the developer will pay the lower amount. If the established fee is higher, the developer will pay the higher amount.

*A $2,4014.46 per home fee will be allocated for use by the City Council at their discretion. This is similar to the bonus bucks paid two decades ago in exchange for sewer connection certainty.  More than $30 million was collected back then that went to help pay for the Union Road fire station, traffic signals at Tidewater Bikeway crossings, the skate park, soccer field lights at Woodward Park, and fireworks, among other things as well as plugging in more than $11 million in general fund budget shortfalls over the course of several years. The Lumina bonus bucks will top $2 million.

*The first roundabout will be built on Airport Way in addition to a roundabout on Woodward Avenue at Bella Terra Drive.

The Manteca Planning Commission Thursday recommended approving the annexation and subdivision project on a 3-1 vote. Leonard Smith dissented.

Smith praised the design of the project as well as the fact it will provide Manteca with its first motor court homes.

He was critical, however, of long-term funding of municipal services.

Based on the current agreement in place with San Joaquin County, when the land is annexed the county will receive 80 percent of the city’s share of every property tax dollar collected going forward. Currently the city receives 14 cents of every $1 paid in property taxes on most land that has been in the city more than 20 years. That means the city would receive only 2.8 cents under the agreement in place.

Community Development Director Chris Erias said the city is confident they can re-negotiate the split to a 60-40.

Under an independent analysis of the project, the 80-20 split was shown to have a negative impact on general fund revenue. That would mean the new growth would not paying its fair share of needed city services such as police and fire at their current levels. As such, it will either dilute the level of current services or else force the city to find new revenue sources.

It is why the city slapped an annual $69 per home police and fire services shortage fee on the 1,247-home Manteca Trails breaking down west of Lumina on Woodward Avenue.

 If a 60-40 split was ultimately negotiated, the development based on the analysis would carry its own weight when it comes to annual municipal service costs.

Motor court homes

The project by Pleasanton-based builder involves annexing 157.53 acres to Manteca primarily southwest of the Airport Way and Woodward Avenue intersection.

The “big lots” number 37 and come in at 8,000 square feet.

There are 120 lots of 6,000 square feet — the default standard of tract lots in Manteca in the 1960s and 1970s.

The rest of the lots approach the size of many in older sections of central Manteca where homes were built in the 1930s, 1940s, and 1950s.

There are 202 lots of 5,000 square, 207 lots of 4,000 square feet, and 109 lots of 3,375 square feet.

But the smallest — as well as most intriguing — are 77 “motor court” lots. They will be the smallest tract lots ever in Manteca with most planned to be as small at 2,746 square feet.

They are even smaller because four homes share a common area. It’s a 20-foot-wide driveway from the street serves four homes that have driveways 18 feet deep that split off the motor court driveway.

Guest parking is allowed on driveway aprons as well as on the street.

All landscaped areas in front of the two homes facing the motor court as well as the two homes facing the street are maintained by a homeowners’ association.

The individual lots have minimum widths of 40 feet and minimum depths of 45 feet.

California Rooms — indoor-outdoor living spaces designed as a seamless extension of a great room — are included in the motor court homes and may encroach up to 3 feet into the backyards.

To contact Dennis Wyatt, email dwyatt@mantecabulletin.com