Housing construction is booming in the City of Lathrop.
Last year the city issued 1,122 new residential housing permits – a nearly 27 percent increase over the number of permits that were issued in 2020.
While single family home construction is driving the majority of the construction in the city, there were 243 multi-family permits issued in 2021 – meaning that the 879 single family permits that were issued singlehandedly eclipsed the 827 that were issued for all housing construction the previous year.
According to the General Plan Housing Element Annual Progress Report that will be considered by the Ripon Planning Commission next week, there could soon be even more permits issued based on the number of residential entitlement applications that were submitted in 2021.
Of all new building permits that were issued last year, River Islands accounted for 540 – representing approximately half of all of the permits issued in the city. The Stanford Crossing project – located in the Central Lathrop Specific Plan area near Lathrop High School – accounted for 334 of the permits issued, while an apartment complex in the Mossdale area accounted for 156 of the permits issued. River Islands also had 71 multi-family permits issued, while Towne Centre had a total of 16 multi-family permits issued.
With a total of 19 applications submitted in 2021 for a potential total of 1,738 residential units, a city that is helping drive residential growth in the South County is gearing up to potentially welcome in thousands of new residents as it evolves from a small town along California’s arterial interstate into a full-fledged city.
River Islands led the way with residential entitlements in 2021 with 1,126 of the 1,738 single family units that were applied for. Central Lathrop – the former Richland project around Lathrop High School located on the former farmland north of the Mossdale area – applied for 633 of those entitlements while East Lathrop saw a total of 9 single family homes submitted for.
According to the report prepared for the commission, all of the single family homes approved for construction in 2021 were classified in the “above moderate” price range while the apartments and accessory dwelling units accounted for all of the “moderate” housing that was approved.
And as a result of all of the new and pending construction, the geographic “heart” of the city is changing.
When the new Lathrop Police Department takes over law enforcement duties for the City of Lathrop on July 1, they will do so inside of a newly constructed building in River Islands that will eventually be located right in the middle of the growing community. In order to better serve the growing community of River Islands – which will eventually house the majority of Lathrop’s residents – the Lathrop Manteca Fire District moved its administrative offices to the new fire station located on Somerston Parkway.
Another fire station is expected to be built in River Islands when the designated number of homes is reached.
The Lathrop Planning Commission meets on the third Wednesday of the month inside of the council chambers at Lathrop City Hall – located at 390 Towne Centre Drive – at 6 p.m. There will be no public hearing items considered during the meeting on Feb. 16 and the General Plan Housing Element Update is the only item currently listed on the agenda. For more information, visit the City of Lathrop’s website at www.ci.lathrop.ca.us.
To contact reporter Jason Campbell email jcampbell@mantecabulletin.com or call 209.249.3544.
