Modesto council takes heat over Wood Colony

It was déjà vu all over again for the Modesto City Council on Tuesday night.

The council once again discussed Wood Colony – the more-than-century-old farming community west of Highway 99 – and what role it should play in the city’s growth plans. And once again, colony residents and their supporters were frustrated and angry, saying council members were not listening to them.

The council voted 7-0 to remove 1,254 acres in the colony designated as agricultural land from the city’s general plan. The general plan serves as a blueprint for how Modesto will grow and develop in the coming decades. But that still leaves more than 1,000 acres of the colony designated for development in the general plan.

Colony residents don’t want any part of their community in Modesto’s growth plans.

“What you are proposing is a cancer,” colony resident Lina Alldredge said. “If you have your way, it (the colony) won’t be here in 20 years.”

Another resident asked: “Who gave you the authority to come in and say, ‘I’m going to take that land’? Does anyone have an answer?”

A motion introduced by Councilman Dave Lopez to discuss at a future meeting removing the 1,152 acres the council has designated for development failed on a 3-4 vote.

Lopez and Councilmen John Gunderson and Bill Zoslocki voted for future discussion; Mayor Garrad Marsh, Councilmen Tony Madrigal and Dave Cogdill and Councilwoman Jenny Kenoyer voted against it. The vote drew boos from the roughly 100 colony residents and their supporters in the audience.

The council voted Jan. 28 to designate 1,254 acres between Beckwith Road and Woodland Avenue as agricultural land in the general plan, 211 acres north of Beckwith along Highway 99 for commercial development and 941 acres along Kansas Avenue for business parks.

Marsh has said the 1,254 acres constitute the colony’s historical boundaries and he advocated including it in the general plan to protect it from development. He has said the 1,152 acres designated for commercial development and business parks are not part of the colony.

Colony residents do not like how the city has defined their community.

“We are a little bit offended,” Sovereign Grace Baptist Church pastor William Heinrich said. “ I’d encourage you not to do that. (Wood Colony) goes from Salida to Maze Boulevard to Gates Road. I’m third generation in Wood Colony. What I’m saying, we know. We live there.”

Residents want all of the land removed from the general plan. They did not support having the 1,254 acres designated as farmland because they fear once the land is in the general plan, a council could change its designation to housing, business parks or other types of development.

Jake Wenger – a colony farmer and Modesto Irrigation District board member – asked why the city wants 211 acres for commercial development, such as big-box retailers, when the city has vacant big-box retail spaces fronting Highway 99.

He also questioned putting business parks along Kansas Avenue because that area has an almond huller that had to relocate from a Salida business park because of complaints from its neighbors. The area also is home to a walnut huller.

Modesto is updating the land-use and traffic components of its general plan. It has been working on this for about two years and has maybe another year of work. City officials say they need to set aside land for business and industry to create jobs.

Colony residents say they understand the need for jobs but say the city should look elsewhere, such as in north and east Modesto or the Beard Industrial District in south Modesto.

The colony has been in the general plan for nearly 20 years. The city designated about 1,000 acres in 1995 for regional commercial development and business parks. The general plan update reconfigures the land the city has designated in the colony.

None of the 1,000 acres has been developed. That’s because the Local Agency Formation Commission – an agency that determines city boundaries – rejected Modesto’s request in 1996 to include those 1,000 acres in the city’s sphere of influence. A city cannot annex and develop land unless it’s in its sphere.

Once Modesto completes amending its general plan, it will have to go back to LAFCO for any changes to its sphere of influence. Colony residents can protest at the LAFCO meeting.

This story was originally published March 25, 2014 at 10:33 PM with the headline "Modesto council takes heat over Wood Colony."