Tuesday, November 18, 2008

By LESLIE ALBRECHT
lalbrecht@modbee.com

last updated: September 06, 2008 07:48:30 AM

OAKDALE -- The street that's become a two-lane eyesore on the city's western edge will be ready for prime time viewing later this fall, city officials said. The project to widen Crane Road should be completed by late October, acting Public Works Director Dave Myers said at this week's City Council meeting.

The news comes as a welcome relief to residents along Crane Road, who've endured torn up pastures, ruptured irrigation lines and broken septic connections for three years while developer Pacific Union has worked on the road.

Pacific Union, the master developer of the Bridle Ridge subdivision, is required to improve Crane Road as a part of its development agreement with the city. When finished, the $5 million project will widen the road to four lanes from J Street to just south of Greger Street. Pacific Union also is responsible for adding a $400,000 park at the new corner of Greger and Crane. That park will be finished after the road is widened, probably later this year or in early 2009, Pacific Union officials said.

To some neighbors and city officials, the ripped up road stands as a stark reminder that when developers fall on hard times, so do the infrastructure projects those developers are required to build. They said when the housing market went bust, Pacific Union seemed to desert the Crane Road project, a charge the developer denies.

"I don't want to say they packed up and left town, but they kind of abandoned us when things got slow, and there was no sword hanging over their neck (to finish it)," Rick Bartkowski, a resident on Crane Road said.

While it may seem that way to neighbors, that's not the case, Myers said.

Bartkowski said he's satisfied now that Pacific Union is moving forward.

After Pacific Union's contractors removed a dirt berm in a pasture across the street from Bartkowski's house, water pooled, creating a massive attraction for mosquitoes and four-wheeling teenagers. Bartkowski assumed the city would take care of the problem, but as weeks went by, no fixes were made.

In July, Bartkowski took his concerns to the City Council, presenting photos of the toll the project had taken on his property.

After that, city officials, neighbors and Pacific Union representatives met. The developer agreed to repair some of the damage on Crane Road homeowners' property and replace the berm next to Bartkowski's house.

On Tuesday, construction work started on the final portion of the project.

Pacific Union also set to work repairing its reputation. Bruce Myers, vice president of land development, attended Tuesday's council meeting.

"I want to make sure the council knows we haven't gone anywhere," he said. "We're moving this thing forward. We really have never stopped working on it."

Myers said his company started work on Crane Road in 2004 and has never stopped. Much of that work has been behind the scenes, he said. The project was delayed for a year while Pacific Union negotiated with 20 property owners who had to give up chunks of their land to make way for the wider road, Myers said. Most took payments in exchange for the loss of their property, but four refused.

The city, on behalf of Pacific Union, filed eminent domain lawsuits against those owners. Such lawsuits are filed when cities or public agencies take private property for public use. The government pays owners the fair market value of their property.

Now, with three of those lawsuits settled, work on the project should be mostly completed by the end of October, Myers said.

Homeowners said they're glad to hear that. But some said Pacific Union should have been more responsive to their concerns.

Among them is Gil Travis, the only homeowner who hasn't settled the eminent domain lawsuit. In 2005, contractors for Pacific Union tore out 350 feet of a fence on his property and destroyed an underground irrigation system, Travis said.

He said he suffered $15,000 in damage, costs he's been asking Pacific Union to cover for three years. The developer is negotiating a settlement with Travis, who said he's not opposed to city plans to widen Crane Road, but wishes Pacific Union had handled the project differently.

"I've had to go three years without a fence, and every step of the way I've been met with -- on the part of the developer -- arrogance," Travis said. "To them, it's just business."

Councilman Michael Brennan, one of Pacific Union's most vocal critics, said he's cautiously optimistic now that the project seems to be nearing completion.

But he said the Crane Road headaches are a lesson. The City Council should have put more pressure on city staff to resolve neighbors' concerns, Brennan said. "I don't think (the council was) checking on projects," he said. "I think they were just happy having tax money coming in."

Bee staff writer Leslie Albrecht can be reached at lalbrecht@modbee.com or 578-2378.

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