The first visionary update workshop for the Manteca general plan update — the document that serves as the blueprint for city growth — was conducted on March 27, 2016.

Manteca had 77,030 residents back then.

Now 6 years and 8 months later, the draft environmental document is being recirculated with the intent to have the general plan update adopted sometime in early 2023.

Manteca is now on the cusp of 90,000 residents.

The delay in moving the general plan forward has also delayed City Council action on a citywide truck route plan

Just over four years ago the first workshop for establishing citywide truck routes was conducted on Sept. 17, 2018.

The promise was made to Manteca  citizens irked about the proliferation of truck traffic and what they deemed was the city’s inability to make sure trucks followed the rules that once official truck routes were established steps would be made to:

*make improvements aimed at making truck movements safer and don’t damage traffic lights or grind down curbs making turns.

*step up enforcement of everything from trucks not driving off designated truck routes and parking at will throughout the city.

*keep official truck routes that would be adopted in mind when reviewing applications for future developments heavily dependent on trucks such as distribution centers.

At the same time the trucking industry was promised it would be made clear what streets were official routes as well as the city making sure those streets could accommodate their trucks.

It was supposed to take six months to do the study. In 2020 city staff said they wanted to wait and present a truck route study at the same time the City Council considered the general plan update — essentially the blueprint for municipal growth — for adoption.

There will be a public workshop on the recirculated general plan EIR on Wednesday, Dec. 7, from 6 to 7:30 p.m. at the Manteca Transit Center, 220 Moffat Blvd.

The Recirculated Draft EIR and Draft General Plan is available for review on the website https://manteca.generalplan.org/ .

The comment period will run from Nov. 22 through Jan. 6. Send comments to Lea Simvoulakis at LSimvoulakis@manteca.gov or via mail attention to Lea Simvoulakis, Development Services Department, 1001 W. Center Street, Manteca, CA 95337.

To contact Dennis Wyatt, email dwyatt@mantecabulletin.com