A massive hotel and water park that will breathe new economic life into an area that can’t be used for much more now than wastewater irrigation cleared its first major hurdle Tuesday night.

The Manteca Planning Commission adopted the mandatory environmental review that is a precursor to bringing the Great Wolf Lodge – a destination hotel that boasts indoor and outdoor water parks for guests – as part of a city-owned 210-plus acre “family entertainment zone.”

Before the commission was the environmental impact report for the first phase of the project that will include the hotel and the water park – just one of 16 individual parcels planned for construction on land that will be retained by the City of Manteca and then leased for short cash as an economic incentive.

Despite being arguably the largest and most economically vital project to come before the city since Bass Pro Shops got its seal of approval, almost no one – including residents that will be hampered by the massive growth in the region – complained.

One resident on McKinley Avenue questioned how the addition of the development would affect traffic patterns along what has until now been a rural cut through and will, by 2020, have its own freeway off ramp. Another resident wanted details about whether adding new commercial zoning would interrupt and affect neighboring farms.

But nearly everyone – including the commissioners themselves – were mum about the EIR that will help pave the way for Great Wolf and a host of other businesses that are expected to be attracted to the anchor tenant.

In all there will be 16 separate designations comprising the 210-acre parcel, and each one will develop individually and be responsible for their own environmental and draft documentation. So far only Great Wolf has made it to that stage.

The only issues that can’t be mitigated, according to the staff report, are the loss of prime farmland, traffic and air pollution.

Individual developers will handle construction, and complete build-out of all 16 approved pieces is expected to happen between 8 and 12 years from now.

In 2018 Caltrans is set to begin construction on the McKinley Avenue off-ramp, which will serve the area for all traffic traveling along the 120 Bypass. That construction is expected to wrap up by 2020.

The EIR goes before the City Council next.