Planning commission votes for subdivision

After much dismay felt by homeowners in Sunwest, the Lodi Planning Commission voted in favor of an in-fill subdivision project to replace the Twin Arbors Athletic Club on Cochran Road at a meeting Wednesday night at Carnegie Forum.

A contentious debate between homeowners and city staff ensued over a reclamation pond located between the Twin Arbors property and the backyards of homes on Tilden Street.

The pond collects rainwater and debris collected through storm runoffs along the lines of both neighboring properties.

“The pond is directly behind my house and it has filled up for the past 40 years that I have lived there,” Ron Butler, a resident of Sunwest, said.

The water that gathers between the homes and the Twin Arbors property was caused by a design flaw when the homes were first constructed. The properties slope towards the back of the property causing water to run towards the back of the homes instead of the front towards the city’s storm drain system.

“It is unusual, lots should not drain onto another parcel of property,” Lyman Chang the deputy Public Works director and city engineer said.

Other residents living on Tilden Street echoed the sentiment expressed by Butler and questioned how a new development would impact property owners, whose water lines sloped towards the back of their homes' property.

“For years the reclamation pond has collected water from our homes, and now are we responsible for the cost of mitigating the impact of the water on our landscape, and from damaging our property?“Kerry Hilder, a resident of Sunwest, said.

Many residents were in dismay over the prospect of having to allocate funds to fix this issue.

Mitchell Slater, a commissioner with the planning commission, asked Craig Hoffman, the Lodi city planner, if the developer that purchases the property would be forced to mitigate this issue.

“We can recommend a way to mitigate the water drainage, but we can not require them to do that,” Hoffman said.

Members of the planning commission felt uneasy about laying the burden of responsibility on the current homeowners and asked if they could pass a conditional vote.

“A vote cannot be passed on the basis of conditionality,” Hoffman said.

Hoffman and other city staff requested a recess to address the developer about the reclamation pond.

After comments between the commission and the city staff, a vote was made in favor of approving the plans to turn the property into a subdivision. The vote passed unanimously with all commission members present.

The approved plans for the subdivision were amended after a Planning Commission meeting in January.

The new map of the subdivision showed the decrease in units from 28 to 27, a widening of the curb-to-curb distance of the streets by1 foot, increasing the distance from 32 feet to 33 feet.

The development will occupy 5.2 acres of property, with its own private sewer pump station that will be funded by Home Owner Association fees.