City wants 4 areas considered for annexation, development

Modesto officials are thinking economic rebound and taking steps to annex land that could be used to spur commercial development along the city's borders.

They're setting up November ballot measures that could clear eventual annexations of four sites outside the city limit, three of which are prized for their potential to generate jobs.

It likely would take years for development to occur in the annexation areas even if voters pass ballot measures that enable the city to extend sewer lines to them.

Tivoli, a 454-acre area in northeast Modesto, is the city's most recent annexation. It cleared a sewer line vote in 2001, seven years before its annexation. Developers haven't begun building there.

The four sites that won the blessing of the City Council's three-member Economic Development Committee on Thursday are:

• An 1,100-acre area along Kiernan Avenue that is considered a good opportunity to lure business parks and other commercial development.

"This is the low-hanging fruit," commercial real estate consultant Ryan Swehla said. "This is the area where we can really see some job creation."

• A developed, 130-acre area on McHenry Avenue north of the city limit. This corridor is the site of a number of car dealerships that have tax-sharing agreements with the city and benefit from some city services, such as water delivery.

• A 230-acre area along the west side of Highway 99 that likely would be developed for business park and commercial projects.

• A 480-acre area between the Tivoli planning area and Riverbank's city limit east of Oakdale Road. Dave Romano, the engineer who led the Tivoli development team, is representing this annexation, too.

All of the projects passed the development committee by 3-0 votes with support from Council members Janice Keating, Dave Lopez and Garrad Marsh, except for the annexation led by Romano.

Marsh voted against advancing the northeast Modesto proposal because he wants to prepare ballot measures only for economic development projects, not those that would focus on residential growth.

"The economics are more important today than the houses," he said.

The full, seven-member council is expected to decide by July whether to prepare the ballot measures for sewer extensions.

Bee staff writer Adam Ashton can be reached at aashton@modbee.com or 578-2366.