The Semantics of Sprawl

When you like new development, its called "growth". When you don't like it, its called "sprawl".

Where you really hear the word "sprawl" used a lot is in reference to the "urban sprawl" that has overtaken nearly all available open space in the San Francisco Bay Area and Southern California. "Sprawl" is not a word that I ever used in reference to cities or communities in Stanislaus County. Once you've seen how all the cities in the Los Angeles basin have sprawled together to where you cannot distinguish one city from the next, they make Stanislaus County look like a wilderness trek.

So when I heard Modesto City Councilman, Bill Zoslocki, use the term "county sprawl" during the June 2, 2015 (see video) Modesto City Council meeting, I was taken aback for a moment and then I laughed. The word "sprawl" uttered by a real estate developer/broker? Really? You're going to call something that puts the roof over your head a term that has a negative connotation? He works for Prudential Real Estate. So if someone comes to him with a project anywhere in the county, is Bill Zoslocki going to say, "No, I'm sorry, I can't represent you, that's just more county sprawl. No sprawl for me! I'm 110% against sprawl!"

Mr. Zoslocki is not the only one prone to uttering "county sprawl". His fellow council members, Garrad Marsh and John Lane Gunderson have both used the term "county sprawl" on numerous occasions. Councilman Gunderson posted about it on his Facebook wall and included maps in an effort to support his stance. The irony of the maps is that it really only shows how much sprawling that Modesto has done, not Stanislaus County. The yellow on the bottom map at left shows Modesto's annexations over the years. And there's A LOT of yellow!

Yet once again, the term "urban sprawl" raises is ugly head. Gene Richards, whom I met several months ago at MJC's MICL politics class, wrote a letter to the Modesto Bee recommending a no vote on Measure I. His flawed arguments include:

"But Wood Colony is not under siege. There is no law on the books that require farmers to give up their land – and the next generation might have different ideas. Wood Colony is excellent farm land – but Wood Colony is on a freeway. Freeways mean business." 

Wood Colony IS under siege. This is the second time in the last 20 years that the farmers of Wood Colony have had to fight off annexation by Modesto. Twenty years ago, their sons who were small children and are now grown, are farming their family farms. Just ask the Covers, the Heinrichs, the Wengers if they think the next generation will follow the last as they've done over the past 100 years. 

Richards acknowledges that "Wood Colony is excellent farm land" but tries to justify paving it over by chalking it up to "...the city fathers are trying to do is plan for the inevitable growth of Modesto." 

Yes, Modesto will inevitably grow, but it hasn't grown into Wood Colony in the last 145 years (since its founding) and it doesn't have to. The annexation attempt of 20 years ago was driven by politicians, developers, and Bill Lyons Jr. and nothing has changed between then and now. The overwhelming majority of the farmers in Wood Colony DON'T want to sell their land for development and it shouldn't be forced upon them by annexation. And there IS a law that will "...require farmers to give up their land". It's called eminent domain. At a meeting in early January 2014 with city leaders and staff, former Prudential Real Estate owner, Craig Lewis said, "We are going to have to eminent domain Beckwith". 

It should also be pointed out that Gene Richards wrote another letter in support of annexing Wood Colony to the Modesto Bee on January 11, 2014 that nullifies his own argument that farmers would not have to give up their land saying, "If the city annexes the land it wants, the area will not be developed for at least 10 or 15 years."

Richards additionally tries to rationalize the loss of prime farmland by replacing it with"...Tall buildings with hydroponic farming that produce six crops per year on a tenth of the water". First off, hydroponic farming is not what's being proposed to be built in Wood Colony. And if it were to be built, just how would tall buildings that use a tenth of the water be able to recharge the aquifer that lies under Wood Colony?

Simply put, Measure I takes the annexations of Wood Colony and Salida out of the hands of politicians and puts it into the hands of Modesto voters at the ballot box. If you're a Modesto voter, please support your neighbors in Wood Colony and Salida and vote "Yes on Measure I".

Out of the developers' closet - Bill Lyons Jr.

Ahhhh Councilman John Gunderson, how I've missed you so! You've been so quiet lately and then you drop this Labor Day gift in our laps - you just outed Bill Lyons as one of the key drivers of the City of Modesto's Wood Colony annexation quest!

Former California Secretary of Agriculture
and local Modesto-area developer,
Bill Lyons Jr.
Photo source 

You see, it is already well known in Wood Colony that the former California State Secretary of AGRICULTURE is the largest landowner in the Beckwith Triangle area of Wood Colony and that he wants his land annexed into the city for development. Bill Lyons is already well established as a developer; he owns the shopping center on the southeast corner of Standiford and Sisk Roads and the Wood Colony shopping center at Pelandale and Sisk. But he's NEVER BEFORE been outed publicly or in print as being one of the key drivers and proponents of the City of Modesto's plans to annex Wood Colony. In fact, when asked directly by Modesto Bee reporter, Kevin Valine as to whether he was seeking annexation for his Wood Colony property, he denied it saying, "...not aware of any talks between his family and the city". (Quote from March 20, 2014 Modesto Bee article "Was microphone left on after Modesto City Council meeting?")

Not only did Councilman Gunderson out Bill Lyons as a fibber, but Mr. Lyons apparently wields all of the City of Modesto's annexation decision-making power as well. Councilman Gunderson wrote in the comments section of the September 7, 2015 Modesto Bee article "Wood Colony meeting on proposed urban growth limit", 

"... if the realignment was out of the picture and Bill Lyons wanted to withdraw the commercial color on the map for Beckwith Triangle I would totally support SOS."

So Bill Lyons gets to decide the colors on the city's General Plan map? Bill Lyons gets to decide what is zoned commercial or industrial for the City of Modesto? WOW! For not being a city employee, council member, city planner, or even on the planning commission, Mr. Lyons sure has a lot of power over the city!

How can Mr. Lyons deny it now? When a sitting Modesto City councilman names you in writing, it is pretty-much beyond the "not aware of talks" point. Whether inadvertently or not, Councilman Gunderson is the most transparent council member, I'll give him that.

Since Councilman Gunderson may edit or delete his post on the Bee, a screenshot is provided below:

To sell or not to sell? That's the Wood Colony question

What do the landowners in Wood Colony think about the City of Modesto's plans to bulldoze their farms and homes for commercial and industrial development? Wood Colony residents canvassed their neighbors in January 2014 and found that 92% of those who responded were against it. Since that time, the potential annexation zone was reduced by the Modesto City Council in March to 1,152 acres. So what do the landowners in the remaining annexation zone think?

BLICKENSTAFF
Descended from early Wood Colony settlers, David Blickenstaff owns 9.96 acres along Beckwith and has been vocal about wanting to

David L. Blickenstaff Sr.
Source: Beyer High yearbook

sell. He spoke before LAFCO at the 1996 annexation attempt and also submitted a four-page essay entitled, "The Wood Colony Myth" in January 2014 to the Modesto City Council and city planning department. Two ironies of Mr. Blickenstaff referring to his community as a "myth" is that he drives an El Camino which says "Wood Colony" on the side and his father patented the "Wood Colony" almond varietal. Mr. Blickenstaff has already sold a large tract of land to the Diocese of Stockton for a new Catholic cemetery on Dakota near Beckwith. If he's successful in selling for development, what

could follow is the dreaded "domino effect" where when one sells, the others will follow as they don't want to farm next to a commercial development or office park. 

GROVER
Also from a founding German Baptist Brethren family, several Grover family members own three large parcels along Dakota. Many of their neighbors think one or more Grovers would sell their lands for development, and while this may be true, there's at least one Grover family who owns land on Dakota and wrote to the Modesto City Council requesting to NOT be annexed into the city and to preserve Wood Colony as it is.

LYONS

One of Bill Lyons Jr.'s subsidiaries,
Beckwith-Dakota LLC

The largest landowner in the Beckwith Triangle, former California Secretary of Agriculture, Bill Lyons Jr. is widely believed to want to sell his land there for development. However, when posed with that question by a Modesto Bee reporter, Mr. Lyons replied that he was, "...not aware of any talks between his family and the city" regarding developing his land in Wood Colony. As I pointed out in, "And The Rest of the Open Mic Story is..." can we take that to mean he is counting himself among "his family"? A Beckwith Road resident who would be adversely impacted if he did sell his land for development wrote him a letter in late April inquiring about that very topic but has yet to hear from him. Hopefully, the former Secretary of Ag will keep his land in ag. 

Further landowners and updates may be posted here, stay tuned...

And The Rest of the Open Mic Story is...

THE MODESTO BEE - March 30, 2014
"Was microphone left on after Modesto City Council meeting?"

"Is this thing on?" (Photo credit: Fly'n Dutchman Signs)

Why yes, yes it was...
I listened to Greg Nyhoff talk for just over an hour, the streaming conversation being broadcast over the internet ended at 1:05:53. The most concerning part of the conversation was Mr. Nyhoff's comments regarding Salida and Wood Colony which I quoted during the public comment period at the Modesto City Council meeting on March 25, 2014:

"Now there's a very good reason why I feel that further abuses could be forthcoming and that's because after the last council meeting, I had left after public comment, but then regretted not staying for another one of the agenda items so I turned the meeting on at home. The screen said the meeting was over, but I could still hear streaming audio come through from about an hour long conversation between Greg Nyhoff, Jenny Kenoyer, and Stephanie Lopez. Mr. Nyhoff was giving Ms. Kenoyer sort of a history lesson on Wood Colony and Salida. He said that Bill Lyons had come to the city asking for his land in Wood Colony to be annexed and that Salida wasn't going anywhere, “...because we have their fire department, their water, and their sewer.” Pretty much saying that Modesto has Salida over a barrel."

My mouth was agape listening to this and when I snapped out of my shock, I started contacting friends in Salida and Wood Colony to turn on their computers and listen. At least one person in Wood Colony also heard it along with the Spyksmas who taped it. While I wasn't able to tape it myself, I did take notes.

Mr. Nyhoff was quite the Chatty Cathy. He lamented how Modesto, "Can't get off the Top 10 lists, heck, we can't even fix the sidewalks!" He spoke about the unions and the failure of Measure X, saying, "We have no cops, we watch the criminals zip through."

But another jaw-dropper was his comments regarding city planners, Brent Sinclair and Josh Bridegroom: "Brent won't bring anything to us and Josh is following in his footsteps. This isn't the Josh Show."

I didn't seek out the Bee to do an article on the open mic, but I'm glad they decided to do one because of the revealing interviews Kevin Valine conducted. First off, Mr. Nyhoff claims temporary amnesia for an hour-long conversation. Perhaps reading my blog post will refresh his memory. That, or he can listen to the recording.  And Bill Lyons is, "...not aware of any talks between his family and the city" regarding developing his land in Wood Colony. Can we take that to mean he is counting himself among "his family"?  Bill Lyons owns the largest parcel of land in the proposed annexation zone under the name "Beckwith-Dakota LLC" so that's GREAT news for Wood Colony if he and his family have NOT been talking to the City of Modesto about developing their land there. Guess Mr. Nyhoff was mistaken when he named him.

Source: Salida MAC Facebook page

I've been told that there's a backroom behind the dais where the council can have private conversations so perhaps they'll make an effort to use this room next time instead of risk having their conversation streamed over the internet via a live mic. Marco Moreno posted that its happened before and he's tried reporting it but to no avail. The upside if they choose to ignore the issue further is potentially more "what do they really think" streaming conversations.

Read more here: http://www.modbee.com/2014/03/29/3266418/was-microphone-left-on-after-council.html#storylink=cpy