City Council Resolutions No. 2003-446 and
No. 2005-278 provide for the annual adjustment of certain
Development User Fees. The adjustment is based on the U.S.
Department of Labor Employment Cost Index-State & Local
Government Employees, as published by the Bureau of Labor
Statistics. These figures are published on a quarterly
basis. The Development User Fees annual adjustment is based
on the 4th quarter adjustment figure for the previous
calendar year, ending December 31st.
The Development User Fees annual
adjustment, effective July 1, 2007, was 4.1%.
The following fees have been adjusted:
• Planning Fees
• Engineering Development Fees
• Encroachment Permit Fees
• Trench Restoration Fees
• Fire Department Fees
• Landscape & Irrigation Fees
• Building Permit Fees
Please visit the Development Center Fees
section at:
www.modestogov.com/development/fees/
Return
to Article Index
The "Guidelines for Small-Lot Single
Family Residential Developments", prepared by the Planning
Division and approved by the City Council on May 10, 2005,
has received the first place award in the Best Practices
category of the Central California Section of the American
Planning Association’s California Chapter. The award will be
presented to Patrick Kelly, Planning Division Manager, (on
behalf of the Planning Division) in Fresno on July 13, 2007.
Receiving this award qualifies the document for a statewide
American Planning Association award. Recognition for this
document is special, as staff conceived and prepared the
document entirely in-house.
The guidelines are intended to promote
high quality development, create a variety of available
house sizes and types, improve street connectivity, and
emphasize streetscapes that welcome pedestrians, while being
compatible with existing adjacent development.
The guidelines can be viewed on the
Internet by going to:
www.modestogov.com/ced/documents/other.asp
Congratulations on a job well done goes
to Patrick Kelly, Planning Division Manager, Cindy van
Empel, Senior Planner, and Katharine Martin, Assistant
Planner.
Return
to Article Index
10th & H Streets
On August 3, 2005, the Modesto
Redevelopment Agency entered into an Exclusive Negotiating
Agreement ("ENA") with Team Modesto, LLC for the development
of a mixed-use project at the southwest corner of 10th & H
Streets in downtown. Team Modesto is a Modesto-based
development company whose members are Paul Draper and
Richard Rand (Centerra Capital), Dennis Wilson (Horizon
Consulting) and Phillip Mastagni (Acme Construction). During
the ENA period, the members of Team Modesto worked with
Agency to design a project that will be economically viable
and provide maximum benefit to the Agency and the downtown
area.
The project design creates an expanded
development site. Team Modesto indicated that they will
independently acquire additional parcels on the block
between 9th & 10th and G-H Streets, adjacent to the Agency’s
parcels. The Project site would be expanded to include the
majority of the block as a joint development between the
Agency’s parcels and the Developer’s parcels. The proposed
land uses are: retail, office, public/private parking and
market-rate residential.
On May 22, 2007, the Agency approved a
Memorandum of Understanding ("MOU") between the Agency and
Team Modesto.
The MOU is required to complete the CEQA,
pre-planning, preliminary design and land assembly in
advance of the DDA. The proposed Team Modesto mixed-use
project will benefit both the City and the Agency by
providing:
• New, non-obligated tax increment
revenue
• Additional housing set-aside funds
for creation of affordable housing
• Market-rate residential, unique
retail, restaurants and office space Downtown
• 300 new employment opportunities in
the downtown
• Construction of a parking garage that will be
available in the evening for the Gallo Center for the
Arts and other special events sponsored by the City.
Return
to Article Index
The Beat Health/Special Multi-Agency Response Team (S.M.A.R.T.),
implemented in June 2006, is a citywide program designed to
improve the quality of life in neighborhoods suffering from
excessive drug crime, public disturbance calls for service,
blight, and abandoned vehicles, which contribute to a lack
of community identity. The team coordinates City resources
with community members to improve their neighborhoods by
removing abandoned vehicles, improving or removing
substandard buildings, and focusing on drug and disturbance
crime issues. Neighborhood residents become more involved
with the improvement process with the assistance of the
City’s efforts.
The team is supervised by the Police Department since it is
the only City service available and visible on a 24-hour
basis in the affected neighborhoods. By coordinating the
response and services of the Police Department, Building
Inspections, City Attorney, and other agencies under one
program manager in the Police Department a high response
priority is assured. Using a cross department “horizontal”
team to deal with neighborhood quality of life issues is an
effective problem-solving structure that has been successful
in several other cities.
One of the goals of the BEAT Health/S.M.A.R.T. team is to
become self-sustaining. On March 6, 2007, the City Council
adopted the following fees:
1. Substandard Building
Notice and Order Fee $950.00
Appeal Fee $1,000.00
Closing Fee $125.00
2. Dangerous Building
Notice and Order Fee $950.00
Appeal Fee $1,000.00
Closing Fee $125.00
The Substandard Building Fees went into effect on March 7,
2007. The Dangerous Building Fees will go into effect on
April 5, 2007, following the final passage and adoption of
an Ordinance change.
Although the reason for establishing the fees was to allow
for cost recovery within the BEAT Health program, the fees
will allow for cost recovery for all other applicable City
business, outside the BEAT Health program as well.
Return
to Article Index
Vintage Faire Mall Expansion
Macerich Company, the manager of the
Vintage Faire Mall, submitted plans for a 59,295 square foot
expansion to the existing mall. The expansion aims to create
an environment that is more pedestrian friendly by providing
an outdoor promenade lined with additional retail and
restaurant spaces. The project includes outdoor seating
areas, landscape features such as fountains, and articulated
elevations and storefronts. The expansion would be located
at one of the existing main mall entrances along the south
side between Gottschalks and Sears. The exterior elevations
of the proposed buildings would combine a mixture of
materials including stucco, rock fascia treatments, tile
work and standing seam metal roofing. The elevations would
be further enhanced through the use of landscape trellises
as well as awnings at the store entrances and along the
length of the building elevations.
A number of roadway improvements will be
completed with the mall expansion including the installation
of two traffic signals along Sisk Road and installation of a
dedicated southbound bus turnout along Dale Road. The
Macerich Company received approval from the Planning
Commission for their proposed expansion in May 2007. No
anticipated opening date has been identified at this time.
14th and J Street Mixed-Use Project
City staff is currently reviewing a
proposal for a mixed-use project on the southerly corner of
the intersection of 14th and J Streets in downtown Modesto.
It will comprise commercial office, retail, and residential
uses, together with all of the necessary parking, within a
single building eight stories high. The project proposes a
total of 45 dwelling units on the upper five floors
surrounding a central atrium. They will be condominium
units, allowing individual ownership of each residence. All
of the units will have a balcony deck overlooking the city
to provide views of surrounding areas. Retail and office
space will be available on the first and second floors, with
the majority of parking provided on the second and third
floors. The development/design team for the project consists
of Oliver & Associates, Lesovsky-Donaldson Architects, and
O’Dell Engineering, with Huff Construction as the applicant.
This project represents something relatively new for
Modesto, offering a more urban style of living than has been
typically available here so far, as well as providing an
opportunity to test the market in Modesto for a housing
product now growing in popularity in other urbanizing areas
within the Central Valley of California. Increasing the
residential presence in downtown Modesto will help promote
greater economic vitality in the core of the city. Staff
anticipates that the project will go before Planning
Commission and City Council for approval sometime in Fall
2007.
Return
to Article Index
The Community & Economic Development
Department has new leadership in two of our divisions.
On May 1, 2007, Patrick Kelly accepted a
promotion as our new Planning Division Manager. Patrick has
been serving with the City of Modesto as a Principal Planner
for over six years, and most recently served as the Acting
Planning Division Manager since last December.
On June 11, 2007, William Crew joined our
team as the new Chief Building Official in the Building and
Development Services Division. Will has 15+ years of
experience and came to us most recently from Springfield,
Ohio, where he was the Deputy Director for Clark County
Building Regulations.
We are very pleased to have both Patrick and Will in
their new leadership roles. We are confident that they will
contribute greatly to our continued efforts to provide
quality service to our community.
Return
to Article Index
Patrick Kelly
Planning Division Manager
Planning Division
Promoted 5/1/07
Philip Reed
Associate Planner
Planning Division
Hired 5/8/07
Shana Coletti
Administrative Office Assistant II
Building Safety
Hired 5/29/07
Will Crew
Chief Building Official
Building Safety
Hired 6/11/07
Return
to Article Index
On June 5, 2007, the City Council approved
the transfer of the Land Development functions of the Public
Works Department and the City Manager’s Office to the
Community and Economic Development Department. The transfer
was effective on July 1, 2007.
The transfer included 16 regular, benefited
positions and one hourly intern position from the following
divisions:
• Permits and Mapping
• Current Facilities Planning
• CFD Engineering
• IFP Administration
The purpose of this consolidation is to
better facilitate communication and coordination within our
development review process. By providing a coordinated
approach, we can improve our level of service to the
community.
Although the written transfers took place
July 1, no physical moves or relocations have taken place.
All of our space needs will be carefully considered before
any relocations are contemplated.
We are very excited to have these employees
join the C&ED team!
Return
to Article Index
Our Customer Surveys continue to yield
positive responses. Since the surveys were made available in
December, we have received a total of 74 completed surveys:
64% rated the service they received as "excellent", and 19%
rated their service as "very well".
Customer service is a number one
priority, and the opinion of our customers is very important
to us. We take the feedback that we receive as an
opportunity to improve our service.
Anytime you do business with any of the
divisions of the Community and Economic Development
Department…Planning, Building Safety and
Business Development…please take the time to give us your
feedback. The survey can be completed in our office or
on-line by visiting the CEDD web site at:
www.modestogov.com/ced/survey/
Help us to make our services better!
Return
to Article Index
This page was updated on: Sunday, January 27, 2008 7:48:56 PM
|
Modesto, CA 95354
= Link leaves DevCenter