Manteca’s vision to create a transit use corridor centered around the intersection of Yosemite Avenue and Airport Way is moving forward.

It is doing so despite the city’s struggle now in its seventh year to perform a general plan update that was supposed to take two years.

The latest evidence the private sector sees logic in the vision that is yet to be adopted is in the form of plans for two more apartment complexes that were submitted last month for approval  in the area:

*108 apartments at 2210 and 2256 West Yosemite west of the Airport/Yosemite intersection and east of the wastewater treatment plant

*24 apartments at 308 North Airport Way north of the Airport/Yosemite intersection and south of the new Yosemite Greens neighborhood being built to the west of the golf course.

That vision is in addition to the 62-unit Yosemite Apartments the Planning Commission approved last month on the northwest corner of Fishback and Yosemite west of Kaiser Hospital.

The additional proposed apartments, by the way, brings the number of apartment units in Manteca either under construction, approved to be built, or being reviewed by municipal planners to 2,941 units.

Head for a quarter of a mile in any of the four directions you can from the Airport Way and Yosemite Avenue intersection and you’ll see a hodge-podge of former rural residential properties and aging buildings with only a few sections of sidewalks, curbs, and gutters.

Those who cobbled together the draft City of Manteca general plan update see a lot more. They see the making of a high transit use corridor.

That’s due to the area’s proximity to the Kaiser Permanente facility, the family entertainment zone, and the possible relocation of the ACE station closer to McKinley Avenue near the Great Wolf resort to create a transit center.

And even if the ACE station isn’t relocated, the Airport/Yosemite intersection is still within a mile of the existing station nestled against the city’s western city limits.
It is why the area is delineated as one of three strategic policy areas for the city to pay a more intense level of attention to over the next 20 years.

By doing so the city is putting itself on notice to provide for creativity and desired growth by “providing flexibility to address change, refinement of the anticipated uses, and integration with future development projects.”

In plain English that means the city will go out of its way to encourage development that leads to what municipal leaders desire to see.

In the case of Airport Way/Yosemite Avenue that would include:

*making sure Kaiser not only stays in Manteca but can also expand.

*developing commercial on all four corners of the intersection with it stretching eastward almost to Kaiser.

*commercial directly across from Kaiser along Yosemite Avenue.

*south of Yosemite on the west side of Airport Way developing business and professional uses in front of land that would be zoned mixed commercial that would accommodate apartments and/or condos as well as would front along the future extension of Milo Candini Drive.

*commercial on the northeast corner of Airport Way and Wawona Street with high density residential immediately to the north and then medium residential — typical tract homes — between that and commercial on the southeast corner of Airport and Yosemite.

*high density residential up to the golf course on the east side of Airport Way.

*industrial use north of Yosemite Avenue and west of Airport Way except for the existing commercial on the northwest corner.

*industrial zoning on the south side of Airport Way adjacent to the city’s wastewater treatment plant.

*mixed commercial use east of Kaiser as well as both sides of the future extension of Center Street until it meets up with the high density area.

Multiple story development would be encouraged in the mixed use areas. There would be a 20 percent density bonus for development in such mixed use areas that provide commercial or office uses on 20 percent of the land.

The general plan draft identifies two other policy areas. They are:

*The area known as the Austin Road Business Park in southeast Manteca and east of the future southern extension of Atherton Drive. The 1,080 acres is envisioned to support — based on conceptual plans approved more than six years ago by the city — housing for up to 10,200 people and the potential to create up to 13,000 jobs.

*The Lovelace Materials Recovery Facility and Transfer Station on Roth Road. The city wants to see the facility relocated and the site converted to residential uses.

 City staff has indicated they expect the general plan to finally go before the Manteca Planning Commission and then the City Council in the coming months to start a final round of vetting before being adopted.

 To contact Dennis Wyatt, email dwyatt@mantecabulletin.com