Apartments being built almost a quarter of a mile away will help pay for the ongoing  maintenance of a future extension of the Tidewater Bikeway north of Lathrop Road.

The 128-unit Woodbridge Apartments planned immediately east of Woodbridge Center East anchored by CVS Pharmacy as well as to the north and east of the water tank along Lathrop Road are up for final approval Tuesday before the Manteca Planning Commission. The commission meets at 7 p.m.

The bike path segment will connect the Tidewater that now runs south of Lathrop Road with a segment just completed in the Union Ranch East neighborhood. That in turn connects  with a bike path built as part of Del Webb at Woodbridge and runs between Union Road and Airport Way.

All development within a quarter of a mile of the future extension will participate in either a community facilities district or landscape maintenance district for upkeep of the bike path as well as the future traffic signal at Lathrop Road. That signal will provide a safe crossing for bike path users much like the signals on Northgate Drive and Union Road.

It is part of a City Council directive to assign as much future park maintenance costs to new growth that can be justified under state law in order to reduce pressure on the municipal  general fund. The general fund  pays for day-to-day services such as police and fire as well as streets and the library. It has been under stress since the start of the Great Recession.

Developers Art Nunes and Bill Filios plan to build “Paseo Villas quality” at market apartments. That’s in reference to the 300-unnit apartment complex that Filios as a partner in the former AKF partnership helped build on Atherton Drive just south of the 120 Bypass almost a  decade ago.

The complex will consist of seven buildings ranging from two to three stories.

It will include a first for Manteca - a keypad pedestrian gate on the northwest part of the project that will allow residents to walk to and from the adjoining Woodbridge Center East retail development.

The retail complex on the northwest corner of Lathrop Road and Union Road already has a CVS Pharmacy, a McDonald’s and a car wash. It is also where Perko’s plans to build a restaurant later this year. Nunes and Filios are also planning three additional in-line retail storefront buildings as part of the center.

The 128-unit garden apartment complex includes a 3,800-square-foot community center with a swimming pool and spa. There also will be a mail kiosk, enclosed garages, carports and extensive landscaping and landscaping improvements.

The northeast corner of Lathrop Road and Union Road was master planned for what is called “smart growth” that means basic retail services such as grocery shopping, drug stores and food services are within walking distance of the apartment complex. The complex is also situated to serve as a buffer between the single family homes of Union Ranch to the north and the retail complex.