Charles and Melissa Katzakian, owners of Morse Skinner Ranch, voice concerns over the Reynolds Ranch development plans. (Dan Evans/News-Sentinel)

Reynolds Ranch expansion OK'd

Lodi council's 3-2 vote allows retail development to double

Plans to double the retail space at Reynolds Ranch — and nearly double the traffic the massive project creates — were approved Wednesday night by the Lodi City Council.

The council's 3-2 vote allows the yet-to-be-built development to spike to 750,000 square-feet of retail space, dwarfing any other shopping center in the city.

When it is completed, which is not expected for several years, Reynolds Ranch will generate more than 50,000 vehicle trips per day in Lodi's southeast corner, according to a recent traffic study.

Council members OK'd an initial version of the project in 2006 that called for far more single -family homes and would create 28,000 vehicle trips.

A majority of the council Wednesday night, however, lauded the jobs and senior housing the new plans promise.

There will still be more than 1,000 housing units, most built as compact senior homes.

Two council members and more than a dozen residents expressed strong concern over the revisions, and at times bewilderment, during a vigorous debate at Carnegie Forum.

"Simply, this is (added) jobs," Councilman Larry Hansen said from the dais, downplaying visions of "nightmare" traffic the project might create.

Others weren't so sure.

As she questioned city officials, Councilwoman Susan Hitchcock expressed disbelief that the city is prepared for the added traffic the retail expansion will cause.

"My common sense just tells me that this is just going to be a huge traffic mess," Hitchcock said.

The project is planned along Harney Lane just west of Highway 99.

Public Works Director Wally Sandelin and Interim Development Chief Rad Bartlam defended a recent traffic study, paid for by the project's developer, that says already planned road improvements are sufficient to handle thousands more cars per day.

"I can assure you we're not playing a numbers game," Sandelin said, responding to one of Hitchcock's assertions.

Project developer Dale Gillespie asked to revamp Reynolds Ranch several months ago as the housing market crumbled.

"I don't think the project has changed that significantly," Gillespie said, speaking in front of the council and an audience of several dozen residents. "Yes there is less residential, and there is more commercial."

His plans increase the commercial acreage from 40.5 acres to 78.2 acres, according to figures provided by the city. That allows the retail space to grow 400,000 square-feet.

Gillespie defended his efforts to reach a compromise with Melissa and Charles Katzakian, who own and live in a historic home along the project's eastern edge.

The Katzakians, part of Councilman Phil Katzakian's extended family, alleged Gillespie gave them 24 hours to decide whether to sell their home, which they said they've lived in for 15 years.

They said their daughter has experienced health problems as a result of the ongoing construction at the site.

Council members Katzakian, Hansen and Bob Johnson voted in favor of the changes. Mayor JoAnne Mounce and Hitchcock opposed them.

Gillespie told the council he made a "seven-figure" offer to buy the historic home from Charles and Melissa Katzakian, but the couple asked for between $300,000 and $400,000 more, a charge the couple refuted.

Many of the speakers at the meeting, including the mayor, asked the council to hold off on the changes until the city's General Plan update is finished next year.

Some wondered why the council would allow Gillespie to so drastically change plans approved just two years ago — questions the council majority responded to by citing drastic market changes.

"Why is the council rushing, apparently, to assist Mr. Gillespie in his economic need?" Jack Dunn, a retired Lodi resident asked.

Gillespie noted the first anchor retail stores could open at the site by the third quarter of 2009, on the 226-acre project's northeastern edge.

The new Blue Shield office building, a major part of the development, is now under construction along the highway's frontage road. It's expected to be open later this year.

The senior housing and care center, and several mid size retail stores, would tentatively be ready in 2010. The last few retail stores, on the west side of the property, would start leasing in 2010 or 2011, Gillespie estimated.

Not all residents are upset about more shopping.

Grace Puccinelli, who lives just yards from the development on South Stockton Street, said she welcomes the new plans.

"The southeast side has been underserved — all the commercial (projects) always goes on the west side," she said.