Wednesday, Sep. 03, 2008

Merced County supervisors approve largest-ever home development

Villages of Laguna San Luis would add 16,000 homes, 45,000 people

By CORINNE REILLY
creilly@mercedsun-star.com

The Merced County Board of Supervisors voted Tuesday to accept plans for the largest housing development ever proposed in Merced County.

Dubbed the Villages of Laguna San Luis, the plan effectively creates a new town on the county's Westside.

If it's built as envisioned, Laguna San Luis would add 16,000 homes and 45,000 people during the next three decades to the area just west of Los Banos and south of Santa Nella.

A group of landowners pushing the project first proposed it nearly 20 years ago.

On Tuesday, the Board of Supervisors voted 4 to 1 to approve a broad plan for Laguna San Luis, with District 4 Supervisor Deidre Kelsey casting the lone nay.

Though the OK is a major step forward for the dozens of landowners and developers behind the project, they still must secure several more approvals to break ground.

For example, they must now draw up more detailed plans for each of the seven communities that would constitute Laguna San Luis. They must then complete studies on how those specific plans would affect the environment, and the supervisors must approve each of them individually.

During a public hearing before the board's vote, a handful of people spoke against the project.

Most cited concerns over the Westside's dwindling water supply, saying that farmers in the largely agricultural region are already fighting for water to irrigate their land and continue their way of life. They questioned why the county would consider building more houses when countless homes already stand empty here and dozens of subdivisions sit half-built and basically abandoned in the wake of an unprecedented market meltdown.

"For the last 20 years, and especially the last 10, our collective elected officials have brought a colossal housing bust that has made national and international headlines," said Bill Thompson, secretary-treasurer of the Merced County Farm Bureau. "Why are we planning for more people when there is no clear and present need?"

Others said Laguna San Luis won't bring in jobs to support the people who would live there, catering instead to commuters working in the Bay Area.

Officials in Los Banos have also raised concerns about how Laguna San Luis would affect traffic, the city's job market and the area's water supply.

Besides water, Kelsey said she worries about how the county will provide law enforcement, after-school programs and other municipal services to what would be an entirely new unincorporated community.

The only people to speak in favor of the project during the public hearing were the landowners and developers behind it and a lawyer representing them. They characterized Laguna San Luis as a responsible, progressive master-planned community that protects agriculture by largely avoiding prime farmland.

Glenn Pace, one of the landowners, called the proposal "one of the best-planned communities in the state of California."

Despite an existing water shortage, the landowners said they have devised a strategy to ensure adequate water for Laguna San Luis' future residents that includes recycling water and arranging contracts to purchase and transport water.

The county Planning Commission voted 4 to 1 in favor of the project in July.

Even without any snags, Laguna San Luis would take decades to reach build-out. Three other massive housing developments are also in the works on the county's Westside. Two -- Santa Nella and Fox Hills -- have been approved by the supervisors, though neither has made much visible progress so far. One other, dubbed Agua Fria, is still under review.

If all goes as developers plan, the four projects would add about 80,000 people over the next 30 years to the region just west of Los Banos, now home to a few thousand.

Most of Laguna San Luis' site consists of dry farm and pasture land zoned for agricultural uses.

To approve the project, the Board of Supervisors also had to amend the county's general plan and approve removing 4,400 acres from the county's agricultural preserve.

If it goes forward as planned, about half Laguna San Luis' 6,200 acres would be covered by houses. Several hundred acres would be used for schools, parks, fire and sheriff substations, a landfill and commercial and business space. The rest would be preserved as open space.

Reporter Corinne Reilly can be reached at (209) 385-2477 or creilly@mercedsun-star.com.