Tivoli improvements could cost developers

Plan to fund infrastructure fixes tosses old pay-as-you-go strategy

By ADAM ASHTON
aashton@modbee.com

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Developers who want to build in northeast Modesto's Tivoli planning area would have to contribute toward $162.8 million worth of public improvements that would benefit the new neighborhoods.

That sum covers road expansions, sewer lines, sidewalks, a well and water pipes that would serve Tivoli's 3,200 homes north of Sylvan Avenue.

A city report describing those improvements is scheduled for a vote at tonight's Planning Commission meeting.

The report details the infrastructure for Tivoli's 454 acres but does not lay out a schedule for when the improvements have to be built or how the developers have to pay for them.

Those questions would be answered as developers bring forward subdivision plans, said Amy Gedney, the city's infrastructure financing program administrative officer.

"It is expensive, but it doesn't mean it can't be done," Gedney said.

She said Tivoli's financing plan breaks from the pay-as-you-go method that caused a delay in funding for improvements to the city's last major planning area, Village I.

Instead, developers would submit a plan and the city would assess which improvements would be required for that project.

For example, a Tivoli project along Roselle Avenue would have to pay for that road's widening to four lanes even if the development doesn't span the entire street. The builder would be reimbursed by fees collected from other developers down the line.

The city expects to set up Mello-Roos taxing districts to pay for some of the improvements and their maintenance. Those would be established as projects come forward, Gedney said.

About $58 million worth of the improvements are designated as benefits to the entire city, not just to future Tivoli residents, according to the financing plan.

That means some of the funding for certain improvements would come from citywide fees. Two examples are expansions to Oakdale and Claratina roads.

It's not clear when developers plan to break ground on Tivoli because of the region's housing downturn. The documents going to the Planning Commission tonight and plans the City Council approved in February give a broad look at Tivoli's environmental impacts and its long-range designs.

Tivoli's developers include PMZ Real Estate President Mike Zagaris, San Jose builder Arcadia Development, a group made up mostly of current and former Mid-Valley Engineering executives, a San Francisco partnership and a Moraga group.

The Planning Commission will meet today at 7 p.m. in the basement chamber of Tenth Street Place, 1010 10th St.

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