Stockton planner: Morada mobile homes won't be torn down

A Stockton city planner made it clear on Tuesday that mobile home park residents in the south end of Morada will not be forced to pack their bags, but residents were more than skeptical.

"It's a done deal," said Diane Woodruff, a 10-year resident of Shadow Lake Mobile Home Park.

Woodruff and other residents say that Empire Land, which hopes to build a 2,100-home subdivision north and east of the mobile home parks, will find the mobile home park properties too appealing for the subdivision developer to pass up.

"It's scary. You have those residents on fixed income," said Kristi Tally, who lives in Shadow Lake. "Where are they going to go?"

Those concerns prompted about 80 Morada residents to show up for a community meeting Tuesday night at Stockton Baptist Church, also in Morada.

Residents expressed concern about the future of their mobile homes. And if their homes remain, they would be forced to pay thousands of dollars to hook up to Stockton's water and sewer service.

"There is no plan to change anything with the mobile home parks," Steve Escobar, a Stockton senior planner who will oversee Empire Land's development application for its subdivision known as Empire Ranch.

Empire Land representatives didn't attend Tuesday's community meeting, but project manager David Claxton and architect Chip Pierson confirmed in a News-Sentinel interview last week that they have no interest in tearing down the mobile home parks.

Empire Ranch is a 2,100-plus home subdivision proposal from Foppiano Lane south to the Calaveras River, except for the two mobile home parks. The subdivision would extend east from the eastern Highway 99 frontage road to the Central California Traction line.

Hammer Lane, a major northern thoroughfare between Highway 99 and Interstate 5, would be extended east of Highway 99 through the heart of Empire Ranch.

Residents from Shadow Lake and Stockton Verde became concerned about the possibility of losing their homes after discovering that they were added to the so-called "specific plan" area for the Empire Ranch project. That could include annexing the two mobile home parks into the city of Stockton, something that several residents said they oppose.

Escobar said that Shadow Lake and Stockton Verde were added to the map at the city's request, not Empire Land's.

Residents were also assured that they would not be forced to hook up to Stockton's water and sewer service unless their systems fail someday. Mark Madison, Stockton's municipal utilities director, said the city won't require hookups, but San Joaquin County or the state may someday require them to upgrade their service.

The city of Stockton charges $6,300 for homeowners to hook up to the city's sewer system. The mobile home parks, now on unincorporated county land, are on septic systems.

Another consequence of annexation into the Stockton city limits, residents said, would be what mobile home park residents think may be poorer response times for fires and emergency medical services.

Morada is served by the Waterloo-Morada Fire Protection District, a small rural district. The nearest station is at Foppiano and Ashley lanes. With annexation, the area would be served by the Stockton Fire Department, which plans to construct a new station west of Highway 99.

Bruce Baracco, executive officer of the county's Local Agency Formation Commission, which considers boundary changes, said that Stockton officials will have to demonstrate the city fire department's ability to serve Empire Ranch and mobile home park residents if the land will ever be annexed into the Stockton city limits.

Richard Abood, president of the Morada Area Association, a group of property owners and renters, told residents that the group is fighting hard to defeat the Empire Ranch project.

"We don't think Empire (Ranch) is a done deal," Abood said.

The Morada Area Association is attempting to prevent Stockton from extending its boundaries east of Highway 99. The group wants to prevent increasing urbanization east of the freeway, groundwater reduction, saltwater intrusion, farmland destruction and increased traffic.

"We're drawing a line in the sand, if you will," Abood said.

Garry Zimmerman, who lives in Stockton Verde, said he hopes that the Stockton representatives are sincere in their assurances that Empire Land won't purchase the mobile home parks.

Escobar said the draft environmental impact report will be completed and available for public review within the next two months. The Stockton Planning commission's first public hearing on the proposal could take place late this year, with construction to begin in about 2008 if it is approved by the Stockton City Council.

Contact reporter Ross Farrow at rossf@lodinews.com.

First published: Wednesday, June 21, 2006