Proposed Tivoli development in Modesto faces another key vote

A proposal to build up to 3,200 homes northeast of Sylvan Avenue and Oakdale Road in Modesto faces another make-or- break vote Wednesday.

A request to annex the 454 acres that make up the Tivoli planning area into Modesto is scheduled to appear before the Local Agency Formation Commission, the government agency with the last say on growth in Stanislaus County.

It's almost the final hurdle for the annexation, which has been in the works since Modesto voters approved a measure that sanctioned new sewer lines for the Tivoli area in 2001.

Registered voters who live in the Tivoli area will get a chance to reject the proposal in about two months if LAFCO members approve the annexation this week, LAFCO executive officer Marjorie Blom said. More than 60 voters live in the area.

Tivoli's representatives addressed the main opposition to their proposal in February when the Modesto City Council approved the annexation request.

At that meeting, homeowners on Mable and McReynolds avenues won concessions from developers to protect their interests.

Since then, two sticking points have surfaced. Modesto officials consider both relatively minor.

Stanislaus Consolidated Fire District Chief Stephen Mayotte wrote a letter to LAFCO complaining that Tivoli's annexation would deprive his department of revenue, a small problem in itself but a bigger one if cities continue to take in more land from his district's territory.

Nine properties in the Tivoli area receive benefits under the Williamson Act, which preserves farmland. Generally, the state wants cities to refrain from annexing land under the Williamson Act unless the local agencies determine that growth proposal represents planned, well-ordered development.

Building won't start soon

City senior planner Paul Liu said it's unlikely that developers will be able to build in the Tivoli area until late this year, assuming LAFCO approves the annexation and voters don't oppose it.

That gives Modesto time to work out its own agricultural preservation policy.

In February, the council stripped a requirement for Tivoli builders to pay into a preservation fund for every acre they build on farmland. Council members wanted more time to define that policy.

City records show that five building groups have interests in the Tivoli area. Three are from the Bay Area. Two are in Modesto, one led by PMZ Real Estate President Mike Zagaris, the other consisting of current and former Mid-Valley Engineering executives.

City officials don't expect residential building to begin soon in the Tivoli area because of the region's housing downturn. However, builders in charge of parcels slated for commercial development on Oakdale Road could start more quickly, officials have said at public meetings.

Mayotte from the consolidated fire district said Tivoli's annexation would cost his department about $38,000 a year out of its $8 million annual budget.

"Overall, the Tivoli annexation is not going to create a massive concern for the district," Mayotte said. "My concern is that Modesto has seven, eight, nine lined up.

"At what point does that annexation occur that we have to brown out a station?" he asked.

Mayotte has begun meeting with Modesto Fire Chief Jim Miguel to resolve that question.

Mayotte's district serves Riverbank. Tivoli's development could lead to city and consolidated fire stations being built within a mile of each because the annexation would bring Modesto's border to Riverbank's.

LAFCO will meet at 6 p.m. Wednesday in the basement chamber of Tenth Street Place, 1010 10th St., Modesto.

To comment, click on the link with this story at www.modbee.com. Bee staff writer Adam Ashton can be reached at aashton@modbee.com or 578-2366.