As Modesto general plan is debated, questions focus on $14,000 donation for mayor
Modesto council members last week agreed to put the much-disputed “Beckwith Triangle” in the city’s general plan update.
It raises questions about what could be developed on the swath of land west of Highway 99 and the potential influence of generous campaign cash given to elected city officials.
Bill Lyons and related entities gave $14,000 in contributions to Mayor Sue Zwahlen before and after the 2021 election that put her in office. Lyons is owner of Mapes Ranch and a former state agriculture secretary.
Two Lyons family entities gave a total of $20,000 to four council members, including $10,000 to Rosa Escutia-Braaton, $4,000 to Nick Bavaro, $4,000 to Jeremiah Williams and $2,000 to David Wright, according to disclosures.
The donations coincided with council elections in 2020 and 2022, so the Levine Act rules — which disqualify officials who receive over $500 in the past 12 months from participating in a government proceeding — did not require council members to recuse themselves last Tuesday.
Zwahlen, who was en route to a speaking engagement Monday, said the donations from Lyons have not influenced her decision-making on the general plan. “Campaigns are very expensive to run,” she said. “At one point, one mailer was going to cost upward of $40,000. I appreciate all the people that donate to my campaign.”
Zwalhen said she didn’t want to comment on ideas for developing the Beckwith area but wants to see the findings of an upcoming environmental study on the land use alternative.
Lyons did not return messages seeking comment.
The map approved by a 5-1 council vote was strongly opposed by Wood Colony residents, west of Modesto, who don’t want to become part of the city.
Lisa Dovichi-Braden, a Wood Colony resident, said the city made changes to a previous map shown to community residents and should have delayed the council vote to provide more time for public review.
“This is his way to get it through,” Dovichi-Braden said of Lyons’ campaign contributions. “The mayor came to Wood Colony and told us the city would not touch us. She took the money from him — and look at what happened.”
Passionate opposition from the Wood Colony community stalled a proposal to place the Beckwith area within the general plan boundaries in 2014-15.
Lyons and fellow landowners supported a 2020 proposal to make Beckwith Triangle part of the city through the ballot box. The item wasn’t put on the ballot.
The Beckwith Triangle, at the northern tip of Wood Colony, was 1,200 acres, but today it’s rectangular and much larger, stretching west to Hammett Road. The area with orchards and farmland has wide-open spaces for development, with the map allowing either mixed-use commercial or residential near Highway 99 or business center and light industry, mostly between Finney Road and Hammett.
City staff said last week that more than 30 landowners in the area have indicated a desire to develop and be part of the city.
The council chose a land use map to extend the sphere of influence, or ultimate growth area, to Ladd and Patterson roads in the north, between Stoddard and Coffee roads. The preferred option also claims a third of the Salida Community Plan for future annexation and designates the Highway 132 bypass corridor for business center and industrial development, as far as Hart Road.
The city will conduct an environmental review before bringing a draft general plan to the City Council for approval in summer 2027. Estimates based on new residential units suggest the city’s population could swell to 350,000 to 385,000 by 2050.
No details have surfaced regarding what could develop in the Beckwith area. The recent demise of the Del Monte Foods plant, following a long series of food processing closures, have caused some local leaders to lose faith in ag-based industries for creating jobs. Plenty of distribution centers and warehouses have been built in the Northern San Joaquin Valley, but those jobs are criticized for substandard pay and injury risks for workers.
Denny Jackman, a longtime opponent of sprawl, said last week that building commercial businesses on the west side of the freeway would overwhelm the Beckwith-Highway 99 interchange near Vintage Faire Mall.
Zwahlen said she wants the general plan update to go through the process. “That is what the vote was about,” she said. “It’s important that people know we’re open for business in Modesto. We are forward-thinking and want to plan for the future.”
