Developers of the largest residential project yet east of Highway 99 — the 797-home Yosemite Square neighborhood — have obtained City Council permission to construct a partial-width segment of Austin Road that will ultimately be four lanes.
The council Tuesday voted to allow the partial-width street along the boundary of the project.
It will consist of full improvements to the subdivision side of the centerline, plus one 12-foot paved traffic lane and one lane and two-foot paved shoulder beyond the centerline.
The partial street width request typically is sought before developers start infrastructure improvements for new neighborhoods.
The project approved for 797 homes on 137.7 acres northeast of the Austin Road and Highway 99 interchange will:
*sharpen the focus of an emerging housing market with lots almost half the size of the 1970s traditional 6,000-square-foot.
*open an entire new area on Manteca’s eastern flank for urbanization.
Yosemite Square features the largest concentration ever of high density single family lots in Manteca with minimum lot sizes of 3,290 square feet.
That compares to 6,000 to 7,200 square-foot lots typical in older neighborhoods such as Powers Tract, Shasta Tract, Mayors Park, and Vintage Estates on Mission Ridge Drive as well as typically 6,500 square feet and larger in most of the development south of the 120 Bypass.
The 797 homes at Yosemite Square include:
*211 lots that are 3,290 square feet.
*194 lots that are 3,450 square feet.
*169 lots that are 4,000 square feet.
*107 lots that are 4,950 square feet.
*116 lots that are 5,250 square feet.
None will be as large as any lots in 1960s thru 1990s tract development in Manteca while almost all homes built south of the 120 Bypass since 1999 dwarf the Yosemite Square lots in comparison.
It should be noted it is not higher density as defined by apartments and such. The smallest 3,290 square-foot lots in Yosemite Square are considered low density in planning jargon while the development’s largest lots of 5,250 square feet are considered medium density.
There were changes made to the original version of the project that reflects community, City Council, and Planning Commission input.
*The number of lots have been reduced from 814 in the map the planning commission initially rejected to 797. The larger lots offer a more seamless transition between existing large-lot residential property that are a half-acre to an acre.
*Internal streets have been realigned to make a future connection to Vasconcellos Avenue that ultimately could be another traffic outlet from the area as it develops to reach Yosemite Avenue. It is already in place as a four-lane street south of Yosemite Avenue.
*The applicant agreed to construct improvements on Austin Road up to Yosemite Avenue to create a more seamless transition in traffic lanes between Yosemite Avenue and the project site.
*Once the Austin Road interchange ramps on Highway 99 are “temporarily” closed for 10 or so years as part of freeway upgrades, the developer will provide timing adjustments at Austin Road and Yosemite Avenue to account for increased traffic.
*They also will improve signal coordination using GPS clocks between Highway 99 and Jack Tone Road (Yosemite Avenue/East Highway 120) once the interchange is closed. That will address backlogs created by peak highway traffic flows heading to and from Escalon/Oakdale and destinations in the Sierra
*The signal effort will include lane stripping to convert the eastbound right turn lane only at Austin Road on Yosemite Avenue into a through or right turn lane that merges into a single lane after passing thru the intersection.
*The developer will make $7 million worth of improvements to Austin Road.
*The buffer between an existing truck yard has been enhanced so that a street borders the property instead of homes backing up to it.
To contact Dennis Wyatt, email dwyatt@mantecabulletin.com
