Ever since Stanislaus County Supervisors rammed through the “Salida Now” proposal in 2007, local citizens with good memories have feared the prime farmland around Salida will be lost either to commercial/industrial development or to housing, or both. “Salida Now” is a primary reason some citizens are reluctant to support incorporation for Salida. For those unfamiliar with the details, a good description of “Salida Now” is here. Below, Bruce Frohman provides […]
Wood Colony Annex
Marsh Survives Wood Colony Brickbats
Jake Wenger probably uttered the wisest words at Saturday’s town hall meeting in Wood Colony when he said, “It’s much easier to have a discussion with a clean slate.” Unfortunately for Garrad Marsh, he entered the Hart-Ransom school gymnasium with plenty of history on the “slate.” Many in the audience were still steaming from Marsh’s attempt to annex Salida, and others were furious that he and the Modesto City […]
Best Way to Save Wood Colony? Urban Limits
When Vance Kennedy called the soil north and west of Modesto “a national treasure,” he was speaking from the perspective of an award-winning scientist who has studied soil and water all his life. Kennedy is also a small-scale farmer—he farms eight acres of citrus on the famous “sandy loam” soil north of Modesto. Realtors and developers like to cite figures that show farm acreage is increasing, and they’re right if […]
Tactics to Save Wood Colony—An Opposition Strategy
This article is dedicated to the citizens of Wood Colony who do not want to annex into the City of Modesto. The Modesto City Council is proposing to annex Wood Colony on a whim. They don’t have a plan. Nor does the Council care about what you think. They are doing this because some individuals in the urban development business are telling them to do this. Your best hope of defeating the proposal […]