The tallest building in Manteca today is the Great Wolf Resort at 83 feet.

After that, it drops down to the AMC Manteca 16 theater at Orchard Valley that comes in at 75 feet.

That also happens to be the new standards the city will start allowing within a matter of weeks in three zones — commercial mixed use, business industrial park and commercial neighborhood.

On Tuesday, the City Council approved the second reading of zoning ordinance changes that allow the maximum building  height in those three districts to go from 45 feet to 75 feet. That means the new height limits will go into effect before the end of March.

High density or R-3 zoning  – typically apartments — will go from 45 feet to 55 feet or four stories.

Medium residential or R-2 zoning  will remain at 35 feet as a maximum height.

The low-density R-1 and agricultural zones have a 30-foot building height limit that will also remain intact.

The 75-foot maximum height already applies to commercial neighborhood and commercial general.

The planned develop zones along with industrial zones have no maximum limit on building heights.

To get an idea of where 75-foot buildings could now  go, examples of commercial mixed use areas are:

*the west side of Airport Way between Yosemite Avenue and a point midway between Daniels Street and Wawona Avenue.

*the area sandwiched between Atherton Drive and the 120 Bypass from Union Road east to the Paseo Villas apartment.

*the southwest corner of Union  Road and Atherton Drive.

*the area to the north and east of Kaiser Hospital.

*portions of downtown.

*the east side of South Main Street where the city is pursuing a mixed commercial and affordable housing project next to the planned homeless navigation center.

 Taking building heights to the “max” is designed to accommodate high density housing options and create a more compact city in a bid to slow urban sprawl to house a growing population base.

The proposed 75-foot height limit isn’t arbitrary.

It takes into account the firefighting and rescue capabilities of the Manteca Fire Department.

It is also roughly the height that separates a medium-rise building from a high-rise building.

Past that point, construction requirements start to add costs including with complex fire suppression systems.

It could involve a parcel the city bought on the northwest corner of Yosemite and Sycamore avenues in downtown Manteca.

It consists of a parking lot and “the wall” and adjoining concrete area.

The wall was left after a fire destroyed the Waukeen Hotel on the corner in the 1970s and gutted the adjoining building.

There has been interest from the private sector on doing a  combined use building on the site.

One proposal envisions commercial on the bottom floor and housing on upper floors.

According to the climate action plan Manteca adopted in 2013, “The City shall encourage projects that are at or near the maximum densities allowed by the General Plan and zoning designation to achieve more compact development.”

The bottom line for the climate is a reduction in greenhouse gases.

Many redevelopment sites in the downtown area and throughout Manteca are smaller sites that may not be of the size necessary to accommodate suburban development and the existing suburban parking standards.

As such, an increase in height in these areas will allow development to capitalize on the density potential of these site and provide much additional housing options.

To contact Dennis Wyatt, email dwyatt@mantecabulletin.com