Los Banos planned development still raising neighbors’ concerns

Residents of Bluff Drive and local residential developer Greg Hostetler are still at odds on a proposed subdivision of 231 single-family homes.

The Los Banos Planning Commission on Wednesday told senior planner Stacy Souza Elms and staff members to broker a compromise between the two sides regarding the northern portion of the planned development that borders the Bluff Drive homes.

The 55.8-acre development plan includes residential lot sizes ranging from 4,750 square feet to more than 21,500 square feet, with a residential density averaging about 3.9 dwelling units per acre. It would be located between Whitehurst Funeral Chapel and the Cresthills subdivisions to the north and east.

The neighboring residents on Bluff Drive, in the Cresthills subdivision to the north, want a “greenbelt” walkway that would provide a buffer so future neighbors with multistory homes can’t peer into their yards, and so it could mitigate the lowering of property values caused by the homes in the new development.

That walkway was in the original plans for the property 10 years ago, around the time when those residents were moving in. One resident on Wednesday produced a copy of a map that was shown to incoming residents back then.

However, no maps of the property were submitted to the city through the original annexation process, according to city officials. There was only a text description.

Hostetler and representative Jeff Roberts said they want to build two-story custom homes along the northern border of the development and those homes need features that will sell. They said the logistics of fitting a greenbelt walkway into the planned gated community with public or private access are not good.

Some other methods of creating a buffer between the subdivisions were discussed, including installing tall trees and adjusting fencing.

On Wednesday, Hostetler said he wants to accommodate the residents’ concerns, but that it was hard to figure out a solution after the developer canvassed the neighborhood and found a varying degree of opinions.

“I’m really sympathetic to what neighbors have to say,” Hostetler said, adding that he thought he had a good plan. “We want to make a bigger attempt to meet with them.”

Residents said they were disappointed Wednesday because they expected a new plan that would address the issues they had with the project.

Commissioners were sympathetic to both sides of the issue Wednesday, saying the residents’ concerns are important, but the cost of redrafting and engineering on the developer’s side must also be taken into consideration.

The public hearing on the development was continued to the Aug. 10 Planning Commission meeting.

“It was pretty clear that the solution may not be 100 percent of what both sides want,” Souza Elms said. “But hopefully there’s a happy medium in the middle.”

This story was originally published July 29, 2016 at 5:58 PM with the headline "Los Banos planned development still raising neighbors’ concerns."