Manteca is on the way to harvesting “the fruits” of a deal negotiated by Mayor Gary Singh and Council Mike Morowit with Delicato Vineyards that stopped a referendum in 2023 to toss out the city’s 2040 general plan.
Scannell Properties submitted plans to the city last month for a 320-acre development that includes a 260-acre light industrial park as well as the 60-acre community park site Manteca is in the process of acquiring.
The land is bordered by Union Road on the west and the Highway 99 Frontage Road on the east located southeast of the Lovelace Road/Union Road intersection.
To give you an idea of the size of the endeavor, Spreckels Park’s commercial and business park components — where Home Depot, Target, Frito-Lay, Ford Motor Co, and dozens of over concerns are located on what was once the Spreckels sugar beet refinery property — consists of 280 acres.
“It is part of the effort to bring more jobs to Manteca and reduce the number of future homes,” Singh said.
It is the direct result of zoning designations put in place in the general plan that the city desired and not developers.
Had the 260 acres gone forward as residential that some developers were pushing for instead of being changed by the City Council to light industrial in the 2040 general plan that serves as a broad template for growth, the land in question could have accommodated upwards of 1,500 plus housing units between single family homes and apartments.
Delicato qualified enough signatures of registered voters in Manteca to force a referendum vote on the city’s general plan in a bid to prevent housing from being built too close to their winery that employs more than 400 people.
The current council had already opted to reject the wishes of some developers to place a residential designation on other parcels in north Manteca and instead create more light industrial opportunities.
The Delicato agreement — that led the winery to yank the referendum from the ballot — was an extension of the shift to more light industrial land.
Delicato has since bought more property to the southwest of its winery and is working with Union Pacific to extend a rail spur to that land that could also be extended to the Scannell project site as well.
The winery intends to develop the land they have purchased into light industrial uses as well.
In working with the winery, the future extension of Roth Road to the east will be straight for longer than previously envisioned before curving to the south and eventually back to the east to connect with a potential future interchange on Highway 99.
Not only will the Scannell project — that will be the largest industrial park in Manteca — help serve as a buffer to protect 400 existing jobs but it will allow for the creation of more jobs.
The location is considered prime for light industrial uses for as number of reasons:
*Roth Road is being developed as a truck route for longer trucks and will access Interstate 5 and Highway 99 — California’s two primary north-south freeway corridors.
*It s less than two miles via a turn on and a turn off Roth Road when the extension is put in place to reach the Union Pacific train-truck trailer transfer facility.
*It is less than 10 miles from the Santa Fe Railroad intermodal facility.
*It is within six miles of Stockton Metro Airport.
The city has also secured another first. Scannell Properties will form a community facilities district to maintain streets that will be built within the industrial park.
That means the city won’t be on the hook for the bulk of the cost of maintaining them as they are in the Manteca Industrial Park off of South Main Street and Spreckels Business Park.
To contact Dennis Wyatt, email dwyatt@mantecabulletin.com
