Manteca is pushing its city limits further south to Sedan Avenue.

A plan to bring 344 acres into Manteca to build 1,592 more homes was blessed last week by the San Joaquin County Local Agency Formation Commission.

The Griffin Park endeavor — an undertaking of concerns headed by local developers Toni Raymus, Bill Filios, Mike Atherton, Albert Boyce, and Daryll Quaresma — could see dirt being turned as early as 2019 based on the current market conditions.

The project borders the west side of Main Street/Manteca Road from a point just south of Atherton Drive where SaveMart plans to anchor a shopping center to Sedan Avenue in the south. Part of Griffin Park reaches the west side of Tinnin Road with a fairly large chunk at one point crossing Tinnin Road. 

A water analysis shows the current land uses — 261 acres of almonds, 45 acres of row crops, and 27 acres of small ranch-style properties — consume 1,686 acre feet of water a year. By contrast, the envisioned 1,532 homes, five parks, and greenbelts will use 887 acre feet of water on an annual basis. The study noted Manteca’s sandy loam soil while fertile for crops does not hold water as well as other prime farm soils in the Central Valley. As a result, current irrigation practices such as sprinklers on a non-pressurized delivery system or flood irrigation requires more water to be effective in the growing of crops.

Most of the homes planned will consist of 4 to 7 homes per acre. That’s typical of the current development pattern south of the 120 Bypass. In addition one neighborhood will consist of 88 lots in a gated community with executive lot sizes ranging from 0.5 to 4 homes per acre in the southern part of the project as the transition starts to agricultural uses.

Instead of being designed as a series of subdivisions, Griffin Park is envisioned as neighborhoods tied together with a series of linear parkways interconnecting four of the five planned parks as well as to bike lanes planned on Main Street. The fifth neighborhood park will have a linear parkway connecting it to the Main Street bike lane.

The design is so every home built will allow its residents to reach parks without driving or riding bicycles on two collector streets that would crisscross Griffin Park. Every home built will be within 2,500 feet of a park.

The also will be 65,340 square feet of commercial on the corner of the east-west collector and South Main Street north of Sedan Avenue. 

To contact Dennis Wyatt, email dwyatt@mantecabulletin.com