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RDA success = 444% more traffic
Study: Expansion may generate 9,460 jobs
RDA-6-7-10a
The transformation of the burned out shell of the El Rey in downtown Manteca 11 years ago into Kelley Brothers Brewing Co. is an example of how the redevelopment agency can partner with the private sector to fight blight. - photo by Bulletin photo
Full development of city neighborhoods proposed for inclusion in Manteca’s Redevelopment Agency boundaries ultimately could more than quadruple the number of vehicle trips on existing city streets in 30 years.

That conclusion is part of the draft redevelopment plan being reviewed Tuesday by the Manteca Planning Commission in conjunction with the proposed RDA expansion. The commission meets at 7 p.m. at the Civic Center, 1001 W. Center St.

The estimate is based on a consultant’s analysis of the proposed project area scenario assuming the city successfully use the RDA to stimulate maximum development as well as reversing all blighted conditions.

Currently the areas generate 67,269 vehicle trips a day. That would increase by 443.8 percent to 365,841 if the RDA is 100 percent successful in its mission after three decades.

That is based on the following projections made using zoning and available land:

•Housing units would increase 62.8 percent going from 3,708 today to 6,035.

•Population would jump by 68 percent as well going from 11,283 to 18,365 people.

•Commercial building space would increase 1,115.8 percent going from 523,772 square feet to 6,577,521 square feet or the equivalent of 52.6 buildings the size of the Manteca Target store.

•Commercial jobs would jump proportionately in the project area going from 818 to 10,278 for a net gain of 9,460 jobs.

Since there is no industrial zoning they would be no gain in industrial jobs.

The projections are made on development envisioned for the following areas that are being considered for inclusion in the Manteca RDA:

•The neighborhoods on the southeast corner of the Airport Way and 120 Bypass interchange.

•The strip of land zoned for more than 400 apartments along Atherton Drive east of Van Ryn Avenue.

•El Rancho Mobile Home Park and a large swath of semi-rural land generally on the northeast quadrant of the 120 Bypass and Highway 99 interchange.

•The neighborhoods between South Main Street, Manteca High, Yosemite Avenue and Moffat Boulevard.

•The neighborhood consisting primarily of duplexes and four-plexes immediately east of Doctors Hospital of Manteca.

•The neighborhood and apartments - including the Cherry Lane condos and two other complexes east of Union Road, south of the railroad tracks, west of Walnut Avenue and north of Center excluding the office complexes and city hall.

•The 1970s neighborhoods south of Louise Avenue between the railroads tracks and North Main Street.

•Northeast Manteca neighborhoods east of the Tidewater Bike path and north of Joseph Road.

•Homes and property fronting the north side of Lathrop Road on both side of Union Road.

Impacted property owners can attend one of two workshops on March 30 and April 7 prior to the formal public hearing on April 19 that takes place before the Manteca City Council.

Property owners in the impacted area will be mailed a map of the RDA expansion, notice for the public hearing, a statement regarding the project area, and what is called a citizen’s guide to understanding redevelopment.

Manteca typically gets only 10 cents of every dollar in property tax collected on property not included in an RDA project and 80 cents on the dollar from those that are within the boundaries of an RDA area. That 80 cents includes both RDA tax increment and general fund revenue.

Manteca, depending upon when various homes and other improvements are made, only gets between 6 and 11 percent of every property tax dollar that is collected in a non-RDA area.

The RDA as a whole is currently capturing $16 million a year in property tax increments compared to $4.5 million that the general fund receives. RDA money must be spent within in the project boundary. The only exception is the state mandated 20 percent set aside of every dollar in RDA taxes collected to go toward affordable housing. Affordable housing can go anywhere within the city.

Redevelopment agencies are allowed under state law established over 60 years ago to fight blight and spur economic development. They work by capturing a set percentage of revenue from property tax increments the year they are formed. State laws require a chunk of the RDA property taxes to go to school districts with the state making sure school districts are kept whole.

The city has used the economic clout of the RDA for a wide repertoire of things from helping convert the shuttered Spreckels Sugar plant into a teeming 362-acre multi-use development dubbed as Spreckels Park to assisting in the development of subsidized housing for low-income seniors.