In spite of several stated concerns, the Tracy City Council on Tuesday, Feb. 19, approved a 300-unit apartment complex on Pavilion Parkway between WinCo Foods and the auto mall.
The 4-1 vote, with Councilman Robert dissenting, paves the way for a three-story, market-rate housing development.
Cynthia Erb, the president of architecture firm Cynthia Erb and Associates, told the council the site was attractive because of easy access to Interstate 205 and nearby shopping, including discount grocer WinCo and the West Valley Mall.
Several members of the council questioned how the residential project would integrate with the commercial areas surrounding it.
Mayor Brent Ives said it was “really putting an apple in an orange basket. It’s different.”
Rickman was the lone vote in opposition, however, stating after the meeting that the land should have been used for commercial purposes.
“It’s a perfect area that we can bring a business into,” he said. “You have WinCo right there. That’s just prime property for a business.”
Block grants doled out
A unanimous council approved spending federal Community Development Block Grant money on several nonprofits and community projects, based on recommendations from the Parks and Community Services Commission.
The council split $444,183 worth of 2012-13 mid-fiscal-year federal grants between the McHenry House Tracy Family Shelter and Boys and Girls Clubs of Tracy.
The shelter will use its $107,864 to retrofit and paint the shelter at 757 A St., while the Boys and Girls Clubs will spend $336,319 to build an outdoor classroom with a shade structure and solar panels.
Councilwoman Nancy Young recused herself from the vote, because she is on the Boys and Girls Clubs board.
The council also divided up $457,761 in 2013-14 federal block grant money.
Food banks were a major recipient, but the largest expenditures were $50,000 to the Women’s Center to build a Tracy shelter for battered women and children; $75,000 each to the city of Tracy and the Boys and Girls Clubs of Tracy to meet Americans with Disabilities Act accessibility requirements; and $155,408 to Tracy Interfaith Ministries to install solar panels that will reduce the charity’s utility bills.
Young and Mayor Pro Tem Michael Maciel recused themselves from that vote. Maciel’s wife, Marjorie, sits on the Tracy Interfaith board.
• Contact Jon Mendelson at 830-4231 or jmendelson@tracypress.com.
At a glance
• WHAT: Tracy City Council regular meeting
• WHEN: 7 p.m. Tuesday, Feb. 19
• WHERE: City Hall, 333 Civic Center Plaza
• DETAILS: Mayor Brent Ives, Mayor Pro Tem Michael Maciel, council members Charles Manne, Robert Rickman and Nancy Young were present.
That said, if some developer owns land there and wants to build apartments there that is their prerogative. I am not sure why it requires city council involvement.
Above link is to the project. Looks nice more of an urban look and feel...