The more things change the more they stay the same.

That adage is apropos for downtown Manteca.

Senior city management staff is pushing hard to convince city leaders to invest at least $800,000 this year in another downtown study.

The study, they have noted, would be different than what the five to seven downtown plans the city has pursued since 1964 as it would not only provide a template to guide changes and uses but also an umbrella environmental impact document.

The advantage of such a document would be if someone wanted to convert an existing storefront that has been traditionally retail into a restaurant with sidewalk dining questions on how to address impacts from parking needs to public right of way issues would have already been addressed.

Such an environmental document would have the ability to reduce the amount of time in the city’s review process for a desired use to go through the approval process. By streamlining the process it would reduce costs and eliminate roadblocks that could pop up that would make it less desirable for private sector investment in downtown.

Whether such a plan — despite assurances from staff it would not go to the wayside like previous plans before it have — will end up enjoying long-term success is rooted in long-term political will as opposed to it potentially being a more effective way on paper  to maneuver through the city bureaucracy to encourage the types of private sector investments city leaders identify as being desired downtown.

The roots of the city’s track record of developing downtown plans that have minimal or no lasting impacts can be traced back to 1964.
“Manteca today finds itself in a position which is hardly unique in California,” wrote the late Ted Poulos on July 22, 1964 when he was serving as president of the Manteca Downtown Business & Property Owners Association. “Population is exploding, while the downtown remains worn out and outmoded, without the qualities which will maintain it as the prime shopping center of the community.”

As the owner of Manteca Drug Store was rallying members to work with the city he further noted, “Hundreds of other cities have passed through this phase of development and lost their downtown by default. Expanding population requires expanded services and commercial facilities . . .”

Poulos made the point that the city’s general plan could paint a picture of what Manteca wanted to see downtown but it wasn’t worth the paper it was printed on if the private sector wasn’t willing and ready to invest large sums of money.

The city in 1964 — after a downtown “town hall meeting” — came up with $16,652 to hire the consulting firm of Williams, Cook & Mocine. The city secured two thirds of the funding from the federal government.

Poulos noted before the meeting that “unless there is reason to expect the program to be supported and substantial progress made toward the goals of the program, the expenditure cannot be justified.”

Poulos was referencing the $5,150 the city had to put up in 1964 to match the federal dollars to go forward with the study.

The current city staff is convinced they can secure most of the funding for the study from “other sources.” They have not delineated if “other sources” was from growth fees or other non-general fund revenue that could be used for other purposes or else from state or federal sources.

In the subsequent four to five studies between 1964 and now that were conducted with the goal of establishing a plan for downtown, all or most of the money came from city fees or the general fund. When it did not the grants the city obtained had to have matching funds or — if the scope of the study was insufficient  — the city had to pay for additional studies to “finish” what was started.

To contact Dennis Wyatt, email dwyatt@mantecabulletin.com