Lathrop’s next significant retail development — 126,000 square feet of retail space plus a 60,000-square-foot hotel — is being pursued along Golden Valley Parkway just to the south of the Target on the west side of Interstate 5.
The project features an open patio seating area along the southwest corner of the site adjacent to the intersection of Golden Valley Parkway and Towne Centre Drive. That patio, which would create a sense of walkability for patrons of the establishments that will be contained within, would also include a fire pit, fountains, outdoor seating and a shade canopy. Larger retail tenant spaces and the hotel would be situated along the eastern border of the project so that they could remain visible to traffic along I-5, while the western edge of the building would likely be home to smaller stores.
The Lathrop Planning Commission on Wednesday, April 18, will consider recommending that the Lathrop City Council formally approve a vesting tentative parcel map that would subdivide one parcel into six – ranging in size from 0.67-acres to 7-acres – to allow for the new commercial shopping center that would include a 635-space parking lot.
The Lathrop Planning Commission, which meets on the third Wednesday of the month inside of the Lathrop City Council chambers at 390 Towne Centre Drive, begins its proceedings at 6 p.m. While there are some matters that the commission can decide without council approval, with larger projects like the one proposed Wednesday – referred to in planning documents as the Lathrop Towne Centre – the commission serves a recommendation agency to the council who will ultimately decide the fate of the project at a future meeting.
The proposed project is located at the northeast corner of Golden Valley Parkway and Towne Centre Drive, just down the street from Lathrop City Hall, and is part of the Mossdale Landing East subdivision. The entire project spans 13-acres that is currently zoned in the General Plan as Service Commercial and Service Commercial Zoning, and is currently being used as a spray field by the City of Lathrop to disperse its treated wastewater from the treatment facility that serves the area.
The Lathrop City Council approved the Mossdale Landing East project in 2004. According to the staff report, the property is located within Mossdale Landing East subdivision – a mixed-use, master-planned community consisting of 500 residential units, commercial, parks and open space in a 150-acre plot. The project is also part of the Mossdale Village area, and is encompassed by the West Lathrop Specific Plan and the necessary engineering work that went into preparing it for future development.
The project’s developer, Ramona Chase LLC, is no stranger to the Lathrop City Council having spoken before the body in 2014 to request the city’s accommodation for sewer capacity for a 208-unit apartment complex that the company was building on a 35-acre parcel. In what became a tense exchange between representatives from Ramona Chase and city staff, the developer accused the city of playing favorites with other developers when it came to sewer allocations. At the time, the council was considering doubling its existing sewer capacity to meet the rising demand from expected growth, and city staffers pointed out to the representatives that developers like River Islands negotiated for first crack at all sewer capacity when it comes online during an expansion by constructing the wastewater treatment facility itself before turning it over to the City of Lathrop to operate.
During that meeting Ramona Chase owner Ron Tate proposed writing Lathrop a $7.5 million check to guarantee the necessary sewer capacity to make sure the large apartment complex would be able to proceed without holdup.
For additional information about the upcoming meeting, or to obtain a copy of the agenda or the staff reports for the items that will be discussed, visit www.ci.lathrop.ca.us.

 To contact reporter Jason Campbell email jcampbell@mantecabulletin.com or call 209.249.3544.