Tucked behind the ARCO station/convenience combo on Crestwood Avenue at Lathrop Road is a suite of five retail spaces with one housing a recently opened Fatburger, the first location in the Northern San Joaquin Valley of the burger franchise.
As such, it serves as an example of the danger of a one-size fits all possible municipal gas station moratorium.
The in-line suite of commercial space would have been virtually impossible to have been built without the drawing power of the gas station as well as the cash flow needed to do so.
If Manteca wants to cash in on the revenue as well as additional local dining and business options that highway commercial can deliver on the Highway 99 corridor, the Lathrop Road interchange is the place it will happen.
Councilman Mike Morowit noted the city is seeing interest from developers interested in annexing land on the two northern quadrants of the interchange into the city to allow for highway commercial development.
It would likely involve a gas station.
There is a pending annexation on the southeast quadrant where the city has a pending deal for the placement of an electronic billboard.
The only quadrant interchange within the city is on the southwest side.
The ability to tap into highway traffic is what prompted ARCO with its car wash/convenience store combo to locate there. And it helped get a Starbucks at that location as well.
And having a fueling station is a critical part of Walmart’s business model for new Supercenters such as the retailer is pursuing on the northeast corner of Atherton Drive and South Main Street.
The city, ahead of rolling out gas station moratorium options expected before the council in the coming months, has started “conditioning” development approval of multi-phased developments that something besides a gas station/convenience store and possible car wash must physically be built in the first phase at the same time.
It could be things such as in-line commercial space or a free-standing restaurant of some sort.
It is what the Manteca Planning Commission did in regards to the Village at Ticino shopping center proposed on the southwest corner of Louise Avenue and Airport Way.
Morowit noted most of the misgivings people in Manteca have with gas stations is how close they are built to residential areas.
The councilman said neither are an issue at the Crestwood location or the new Walmart center site.
It is why he favors an ordinance referencing gas station locations that centers around separation from housing and other setback concerns.
He also doesn’t want to undermine the city’s ability to bring to Manteca dining options and businesses that residents want.
As such, a “moratorium” or what may be more along the lines of tightening rules on where gas stations can be located, could cripple the ability to maximum the future development of potential commercial zones around the Lathrop Road/99 interchange.
That would be framed in benefiting local residents:
*in terms of what they want to see come to Manteca at locations that they can easily access without literally being in their backyards, across the street, or just a few doors down.
*by snaring sales tax dollars by pulling in Highway 99 travelers to purchase gas, food, and taxable convenience store items to help pay for local services such as police, fire, and streets.
To contact Dennis Wyatt, email dwyatt@mantecabulletin.com
