• Skip to primary navigation
  • Skip to main content
  • Skip to primary sidebar
  • Skip to footer

The Valley Citizen

Nature, Environment, History & Politics

The Valley Citizen

  • Arts
  • Education
  • Environment
  • History
  • Nature
  • Politics
  • Wit
  • About
  • RSS Icon

Why Certain City Council Members Want A New General Plan

January 30, 2014 By Eric Caine Leave a Comment

Empty Space in Village One Plaza
Empty Space in Village One Plaza

At the January 28, 2014 Modesto City Council meeting, Councilmembers Dave Cogdill Jr., Bill Zoslocki, and Dave Lopez voted to begin a comprehensive rewrite of the Modesto General Plan.

A majority of the City Council voted down the proposal due to the high cost, but what exactly were the three proponents after? Councilmember Cogdill stated that the Modesto General Plan was out of date because it had not been updated “since 1995” and because new development has been “piecemeal.”

The previous General Plan update was actually completed in 2003. Updates are done about every ten years. To say that development in Modesto is done on a piecemeal basis is laughable because development can only be done on a piecemeal basis.

When a developer acquires a property, he develops it as quickly as he can in order to recoup capital. Developers usually are unable to acquire large blocks of land because the land has already been very much subdivided within Modesto’s sphere of influence. Therefore, only a small planned area can be developed at one time. Subsequent developments only occur as landowners sell to the developers.

1990’s General Plan History

When the General Plan was updated in the 1990’s, the Council at the time adopted the Village system. The intent of the system was to eliminate the piecemeal development of land, as currently lamented by Mr. Cogdill, and provide for the planning of entire areas of new development called villages. Developers said they supported the new Plan.

After the citizens of Modesto voted to establish Village One, the residential developers who had endorsed the Plan suddenly discovered that they didn’t like it!

Previous to the Villages, developers were free to develop on all sides of Modesto wherever they could buy land. Suddenly, the new Plan only allowed orderly development within Village One.  The next village was not to be built until the first one was finished.  Hence, the new system for development did not allow developers to build houses as quickly as they wanted because landowners within Village One often weren’t ready to sell when developers were ready to buy and build.

So, shortly after the Village concept was incorporated in the General Plan, a large scale effort was undertaken by the residential developers to circumvent it. They applied for exceptions to the 1990’s General Plan south of the Tuolumne River, and in various locations on the north and east sides of town.

The City Council of the late 1990’s was very accommodating, rubber stamping project after project, causing Village One to languish. Since developers could buy land and build outside Village One, little construction took place within Village One for a number of years.

So while every General Plan since the 1990’s shows that development is to take place on an orderly basis, the actual practice has been to operate in the pre 1990’s historic piecemeal manner that Councilmember Cogdill reportedly laments.

Probable Outcome of General Plan Rewrite

One can speculate as to the probable outcome of a new General Plan had the City Council passed Mr. Cogdill’s proposal. First, the City of Modesto would have spent an enormous amount of money hiring consultants and expending staff time to do the rewrite.  This comes at a time when the City is unable to maintain funding for existing services. Second, urban developers would probably have been given more latitude to develop helter-skelter and piecemeal as they did under the General Plan prior to 1990. Third, the results of the rewrite would have included an outward expansion of the city limits and the sphere of influence.  Modesto’s current sphere of influence represents a land area at build out comparable to the land area of the City and County of San Francisco. However, this is not a large enough land area for urban developers like Cogdill and Zoslocki. In support of the developer interests that they represent, their goal is to convert as much of the area farm land to urban use as they can.

Council member Dave Lopez, who has said in the past that he supports preserving farm land, did not provide a clear message as to why he supported the proposal to redo the entire General Plan. Perhaps he honestly felt a whole new General Plan would do the community some good. However, his lack of concern regarding how an expensive update would adversely affect the annual budget and service delivery is perplexing.

The Chronic Long Range Planning Problem

Due to the domination of the Modesto City Council by urban development interests, the city has a chronic problem in planning long term land use. This is because competing interests within the development sector constantly pull at city government to go in different directions. It is impossible to stick to any plan when it is the mission of the Council members to cater to the wishes of the developers.

What Modesto desperately needs is permanent urban limit lines and politicians with the will to stick to the existing General Plan.  The reason for this is simple: No matter what plan is devised, the factions within the development community will work to corrupt it through countless requests for exceptions and variances.  Therefore, the best way to operate is to stick with the existing plan, don’t take any more land from the surrounding farms, and force developers to start building upward rather than outward.

 

Filed Under: Featured, Politics Tagged With: Bill Zoslocki, Dave Cogdill Jr., Dave Lopez, Modesto City Council, Modesto General Plan, Modesto Village One

Reader Interactions

Leave a Reply Cancel reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

Note: Some comments may be held for moderation.

Primary Sidebar

Off The Wire

Mike Pence Can?t Walk Away from the Big Lie - The Bulwark
Mike Pence Can’t Walk Away from the Big Lie – The Bulwark
Targeted on Jan. 6 for saying the election was valid, he now plays footsie with the conspiracy theorists. It’s in keeping with his character.
thebulwark.com
On Voting Rights, GOP Lawyers Say the Quiet Part Out Loud - The Bulwark
On Voting Rights, GOP Lawyers Say the Quiet Part Out Loud – The Bulwark
Arguing before the Supreme Court, they admit their case isn’t about principle or election integrity, it’s just about winning.
thebulwark.com
Could Biden Be the Most Transformative President in Living Memory? - LA Progressive
Could Biden Be the Most Transformative President in Living Memory? – LA Progressive
Most Transformative President – Biden has the chance to lead a green and digital recovery that would create millions of good jobs.
www.laprogressive.com
Louis DeJoy Is Killing It
Louis DeJoy Is Killing It
While Biden dithers, Trump’s minion wrecks the postal service.
nymag.com
So What if Romney Doesn?t Solve the ?Root Causes? of Poverty?
So What if Romney Doesn’t Solve the Root Causes of Poverty?
We handle problems all the time without dealing with their root causes.
nymag.com
The Facts of Life - The Bulwark
The Facts of Life – The Bulwark
My suggestion last week that perhaps the best way some of us who’ve been conservatives can now help the country is to help the Biden administration succeed, and help the Democratic party move to the center, seems to have stirred up a minor tempest in the conservative teapot. I asked whether one shouldn’t consider allying…
thebulwark.com
WSJ News Exclusive | Texas Electric Bills Were $28 Billion Higher Under Deregulation
WSJ News Exclusive | Texas Electric Bills Were $28 Billion Higher Under Deregulation
Texas’s deregulated electricity market left millions in the dark last week. For the past 20 years, its consumers have paid more for their electricity than state residents who are served by traditional utilities, a WSJ investigation found.
www.wsj.com
The making of Madison Cawthorn: How falsehoods helped propel the career of a new pro-Trump star of the far right
The making of Madison Cawthorn: How falsehoods helped propel the career of a new pro-Trump star of the far right
Cawthorn has emerged as one of the most visible figures among newly arrived House Republicans, who have promoted baseless assertions and pushed a radicalized ideology that has become a driving force in the GOP.
www.washingtonpost.com
Los Angeles Just Opened a Tiny Home Village for the Homeless
Los Angeles Just Opened a Tiny Home Village for the Homeless
The colorful community was built in just 13 weeks!
www.housebeautiful.com
California's coronavirus strain looks increasingly dangerous: 'The devil is already here'
California’s coronavirus strain looks increasingly dangerous: ‘The devil is already here’
California’s coronavirus strain is more transmissible than its predecessors, is more resistant to vaccines and may cause more severe cases of COVID-19.
www.latimes.com
More Than 150 Biz Leaders Endorse Biden's Sweeping COVID Package
More Than 150 Biz Leaders Endorse Biden’s Sweeping COVID Package
More than 150 business leaders from various industries have signed a letter backing President Joe Biden’s $1.9 trillion COVID-19 relief…
talkingpointsmemo.com
Exclusive: Defeated and impeached, Trump still commands the loyalty of the GOP's voters
Exclusive: Defeated and impeached, Trump still commands the loyalty of the GOP’s voters
www.usatoday.com

Find us on Facebook

The Valley Citizen
PO Box 156
Downtown Bear Postal
1509 K Street
Modesto, CA 95354

Email us at:
thevalleycitizen@sbcglobal.net

Footer

The Valley Citizen
PO Box 156
Downtown Bear Postal
1509 K Street
Modesto, CA 95354

Email us at:
thevalleycitizen@sbcglobal.net

Subscribe for Free

* indicates required

Search

• Privacy Policy

Copyright © 2021 The Valley Citizen

Dedicated to the memory of John Michael Flint. Contact us at thevalleycitizen@sbcglobal.net

Editor and publisher: Eric Caine

Website customization and maintenance by Susan Henley Design