Summary of the Vizcaya posts

 I didn't realize just how many times I've addressed the issue of development around Vizcaya until I looked back at past posts. Vizcaya residents especially need to read these posts so they know the history and issues involving the land around their neighborhood.

GROVER FAMILY - Our former Stanislaus County District 3 Supervisor, Jeff Grover, was one of the three votes which passed the Salida Community Plan in 2007. JEFF GROVER WOULD HAVE BEEN CONFLICTED FROM VOTING ON THE PLAN IF HIS COUSIN, MARK GROVER (owner of Grover Landscaping) HAD SIGNED A DEVELOPMENT AGREEMENT. It's NOT a "drafting error" that they just suddenly noticed after 14 years when Mark Grover wants to sell his land for development. The land has NOT SOLD yet as you can see by this out-of-boundary water service agreement that Mark and Lorraine Grover have requested on the Modesto City Council agenda for TODAY, Tuesday, April 13, 2021.

Read:

When the past comes back to haunt you

STANISLAUS COUNTY - A Stanislaus County employee even truthfully stated at a past meeting when asked, that he "Wouldn't have bought a house there" meaning in Vizcaya and knowing what development would be put in by the homes. The county machine is churning like a steamroller towards Vizcaya. A county employee on the Salida Municipal Advisory Council voted in favor of the project despite three meetings where Salida residents were unanimously opposed. Why does the county want this project so much? Besides being a large tax

Current Vizcaya drainage basin in 2021

generator, the county will get a new drainage basin for Vizcaya at "75% off" the land price. The highly questionable and extreme lengths the county seems to be going to in order to push this project through include allowing the votes of a county employee and a new MAC member who became a real estate agent on March 1, 2021 FOR THE VERY SAME COMPANY HANDLING THE SALE OF THE LAND and he DID NOT DISCLOSE THIS NEW JOB publicly at the MAC meeting nor conflict himself out of voting.  The county machine is also doing a very poor job of notifying Vizcaya residents of what is transpiring including planning to adopt a Negative CEQA document on the project when it was only announced at the March 2021 Salida MAC meeting that hydrogen fueling tanks have been added to the project. There is no mention of the hydrogen tanks in the Salida Gas Station Project.

Read:

"I wouldn't have bought a house there" in Salida's Vizcaya neighborhood

A Conflicted MAC

The due diligence of transparency, taxes, and development

Salida residents, and especially those in Vizcaya, need to SPEAK UP! You need to write to planning@stancounty.com and contact all five county supervisors. You need to attend meetings when you can, even if it's virtual on Zoom and Microsoft Teams. Call them on the mat for these things. 

Sign the petition to support Vizcaya and share the link. Time is running out.

A Conflicted MAC

At the Tuesday, March 23, 2021 vote conducted at the Salida Municipal Advisory Council meeting regarding the Salida Gas Station Project bordering the Vizcaya neighborhood; MAC members were conflicted and in more ways than one.

A straw-poll vote of those attending the meeting, Salida MAC member, John Martin, made a motion to not approve the gas station and Vice-chair Brad Johnson seconded the motion. 

New MAC board member, Bob Elliott, who was sworn into office in January 2021, voted against the motion saying, "I'm going to vote nay because I just think there's some information that the public has that may not be totally correct and that's the basis of some of the comments." Mr. Elliott never specifies what the "some information" is. When he joined the Salida MAC in January he gave a brief introduction of himself saying his occupation was "sales for a software company." Mr. Elliott does not announce his new job as of March 1st is in real estate for the very same company handling the sale of the land for the gas station. 

Salida MAC Chair, Leng Nou, also voted nay, "...only because there was strong opposition we heard at previous community meetings, and whether it's because of noticing, I don't know but I know that we have community members here tonight with five no's as opposed to a roomful before."

Now why Salida MAC can vote "yes" on the CSA tax annexation with a majority of ten people in favor and she votes "no" with a majority of five voting against and many more than that at all the previous meetings is questionable. There weren't any Salida residents who attended the meeting that voted for the project in the straw poll vote. And as to the low turnout of residents at the meeting, there were several issues that impeded attendance like no meeting notice was sent to the Salida MAC e-mail list, two different agendas circulated and the one posted on Facebook did not contain a hyperlink to the meeting, and the county switched platforms from Zoom to Microsoft Teams. 

Considering that Bob Elliott is now employed with the real estate company handling the land sale for the Salida Gas Station, that should have conflicted him out of the vote. Should Leng Nou also have been conflicted out of voting because she is an employee of Stanislaus County? 

John Martin points out that the county really seems to be pitching for this project because they will get "75% off" the land price for a drainage basin. Stanislaus County Public Works Director, Dave Leamon tries to explain his stance, but it does sound like a pitch in his comments about the basin.

Salida MAC is an advisory board and so is the Stanislaus County Planning Commission. Our county supervisor is the only one who has a binding vote on this issue. The Salida MAC vote unfortunately split, and if occupational bias was involved, this advisory vote should be reviewed by county counsel. Salida MAC board members are elected to represent the community and not their employers. 

Please support our Salida neighbors in the Vizcaya community and sign the petition here.