Lodi planners approve development phase

Despite concerns from the public, the Lodi Planning Commission unanimously voted to approve the Rose Gate Phase II subdivision during its meeting on Wednesday night in Carnegie Forum.

The 90-acre subdivision will consist of 250 low-density residential lots, 95 medium-density residential lots and 180 high density residential units and is located at 2800, 2950 and 3050 West Lodi Avenue, south of Lodi Avenue and west of Lower Sacramento Road. It will have an associated park, basin and landscape lots. An elementary school is also included in further plans of the project.

Chad Roberts spoke on behalf of Kristmont West, owners of the Westgate Shopping Center, voicing their traffic concerns.

According to Roberts, Kristmont is concerned that the Rose Gate development has no secondary access. He said currently there are options for secondary access via Tokay Street or Vine Street at the southern end. The shopping center’s owners are worried that without a secondary point of access, traffic on Lodi Avenue and Lower Sacramento Road could jam up, adversely affecting tenants and those visiting the shopping center.

He asked the commission to include a condition in their approval that would require Rose Gate to have a secondary point of access.

Senior Planner Craig Hoffman questioned Roberts over Kristmont’s concerns.

“(Kristmont) will not acknowledge Tokay Street,” Hoffman said. “They will not acknowledge any type of dedication of Tokay Street nor will they acknowledge any type of construction of Tokay Street, so to get this letter tonight is a 180 degree position of Kristmont. To date, they have not wanted to discuss this item.”

He said the company has in the past submitted several projects where staff identified that either dedication or

construction of Tokay Street would need to take place. However, Kristmont pulled the projects at the mention of Tokay Street, Hoffman claimed.

Hoffman questioned what he said was a change of heart.

Roberts said the Westgate Shopping Center should not be required to complete work that other projects in the area should be responsible for.

“Westgate does not need Tokay Street for these prior proposals that Mr. Hoffman has been referencing. We have felt like we’ve been told to dedicate or even construct Tokay Street — making us foot the bill for what the developments of the west should be paying for — and if we don’t need Tokay Street, we should not be asked to

construct it,” Roberts said.

Roberts said it was time to resolve the issue of Tokay Street now that a property did need it.

The commission asked Hoffman to maintain communication with Kristmont on how to resolve the issue in the future. They felt that although it may benefit Rose Gate developer Tom Doucette to include Tokay Street in future plans, it is not his property nor his responsibility.

Tokay Street was not the only issue brought up at the meeting.

Lodi resident Jeff Pell, a member of Bike Lodi, was concerned that the bike path initially planned for the area would not come into fruition.

According to Pell, the Lodi master plan dated April 2010 included a bike path along the west boundary of the

Rose Gate subdivision. He said in August of 2012, after the plan was updated and Rose Gate phase one was approved, the plan no longer included the bike path. He said the path was also missing from the phase two plans, and asked the commission to see if there was some way to reincorporate it.

Hoffman said the general plan includes a bike path along the current west boundary, outside of the city limits. It may take up to 30 years for the bike path to come into fruition as property to the west annexes into the city, Hoffman said.

Pell said waiting 30 years to connect the bike system was too long for him, and his goal was to have a community where families with children feel safe riding their bikes.