City staff briefs commission on Lake Pointe Master Development Plan; informational only

Planning Manager Mark Niskinan used the Feb. 24 meeting to introduce the Lake Pointe Master Development Plan (MDP), an informational item for the commission. The MDP, annexed into the city in 2007, covers roughly 420–425 acres and was originally envisioned as a mixed-use, master-planned community that could include a lake concept, a variety of housing types and a possible K–8 school site.

Mark Niskinan described the current expectation that the lake concept would likely be replaced by a dual-use park/stormwater basin to meet state water-conservation requirements and that the plan anticipates major backbone infrastructure — including a municipal water well, water and sewer extensions, pump stations, storm drains and roadway and intersection improvements — as development occurs. “All told at full build out the MDP allows for development of up to 1,606 new residential units,” he said.

Staff reviewed the land-use diagram, zoning correlates (PD and R-1 for lower-density single-family and neighborhood town-center areas for somewhat higher densities), and the project’s circulation plan, which includes new local connectors and a future Roaribaugh Expressway intended to link El Palmar with Yosemite Boulevard. The current subdivision map application for a portion of the MDP will require a traffic study and is expected to come before the commission later this spring or summer.

Staff also said it has coordinated with the Waterford Unified School District about reserving a school site and that the city is updating the CEQA review and mitigation measures adopted with the MDP in 2007 to reflect current standards. Commissioners expressed support for parks, trails and school planning; no action was taken because the item was informational.