Manteca’s plans for much of 1,049 acres in the extreme southeast area of the city will have big impacts on Ripon.
That’s because zoning designations have the ability to generate 1,150 students from housing that would be built within the Ripon Unified School District. To put that in perspective, that is just over a third of the current 3,144 Ripon Unified students.
The student yield is based on development plans devised in 2014 prior to the land being annexed. And while the private sector plan to develop the property hit the wall, the same basic zoning is part of the draft general plan update for the City of Manteca that is now being vetted.
Overall the potential for new housing on the 1,050 acres was projected to generate 1,938 students. Of those, 58 percent would live within the boundaries of the Ripon Unified School District. It would take two kindergarten through eighth grade schools and 16 new high school classrooms to accommodate the students at full build-out of the project area.
Toss in a project that is moving forward — the roughly 800 Hat Ranch project with roughly 800 homes and is likely to ultimately generate another 600 students — the area of the City of Manteca that is currently developed and could be developed will eventually account for around 2,000 students in the Ripon Unified School District.
That means it is possible that at some point the number of Ripon Unified students from Manteca could be almost equal to the number from Ripon.
And while there is no current project moving forward, the approved 1,049-acre Austin Road Business Park that overlays on the so-called “policy area” in the draft Manteca general plan update includes 2,258 traditional single family homes and 1,840 multi-family units.
It is a envisioned as a strong mixture of low density zoning for executive-style housing, traditional tract homes, high density housing such as apartments/condos and townhouses as well as mixed use areas where housing is intermingled with commercial uses.
About 40 percent of the area in southeast Manteca is set aside for industrial and business park uses. There is also a sizeable swath of general commercial. Such zoning in 2014 was determined to be able to general 9,134 direct jobs.
The new four-lane road Austin Road interchange breaking ground next year could be the precursor to accelerating development in southeast Manteca that could accommodate a population of 10,200 or almost 60 percent of Ripon’s current population of 17,444.
Due to its location it could have as much impact on Ripon’s downtown as well as Manteca’s downtown.
The 1,049 acres bordered by Atherton Drive and Woodward Avenue on the northwest and is nudged against the Union Pacific Railroad tracks and Highway 99 on the east is designated in the draft update of the city’s general plan as a policy area. That means the city will try and use creativity and flexibility to achieve development that is more integrated
The roads in Southeast Manteca eventually will tie into future Ripon city streets.
Ripon and Manteca also came up with an agreement roughly 8 years ago on where to locate the only interchange Caltrans will allow between the existing Austin Road and Jack Tone Road interchanges so it can serve future growth in both communities. The interchange — if it is built — is known as the Raymus Parkway.
It would allow a connection to Ripon’s envisioned Olive Avenue Expressway that has the potential to open up development on the west side of Ripon.
The area on the east side of Highway 99 that the Raymus Parkway interchange would connect with is farmland that is within Ripon’s sphere of influence. That means it could be a logical area to eventually be annexed to Ripon and developed.
Based on Caltrans spacing requirements, if the Raymus Parkway interchange is built it will be the third and final interchange on Highway 99 that would access Ripon.
A deal was reached years ago with the Ripon Consolidated Fire District that reimburses them for lost property taxes as the area annexed into the city is converted to the City of Manteca Fire Department’s coverage area.
Principals involved with the project contended that once improved access to Highway 99 is provided and sewer and water lines are extended down Austin Road the planned business park and industrial zoned land would likely draw considerable interest for development due to its proximity to rail and freeways.
Comment period on draft
general plan underway
The draft general plan review period is now underway. It 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 Thursday, May 6, 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 dwytt@mantecabulletin.com
