Column and Colony Collective
Stories from Stanislaus County Citizens
A letter from the day before
January 23, 2014
Dear Modesto Bee:
It has been 40 years since Vintage Faire Mall was proposed in a rural area north of Modesto. The pitch was that the project would create jobs, lower our high unemployment, boost sales and property taxes and be a “stand alone” shopping center with no surrounding development allowed.
Well, we all know what has occurred since then - similar high unemployment and an explosion of housing and strip malls. Every zoning change and growth proposal beats the same mantra of more jobs, jobs, jobs and local economic growth. It’s a carrot on a stick. Are we still naïve enough to believe that by allowing our beloved Wood Colony to be opened up for city expansion that our area will actually improve? There is a newer generation of city council members and staff – yet, the same old song is being sung. The second verse is same as the first.
When will we ever realize that this old approach to planning and development is not the answer? When will we wake up and acknowledge that the area’s farmland, with water supply, climate and related infrastructure is the best our world has. (The Wood Colony area is our local resource for national food security that must be preserved forever.)
Current predictions are that the world’s food production must DOUBLE by 2050 to meet the population growth and income demands. This is going to be a real challenge for us all. Are we ready?
David Couchman
Third Generation Modesto Farmer
Mary Couchman
Sixth Generation Farmer
This letter was sent to us and was used by permission before it was published in the Bee.
Dear Modesto Bee:
It has been 40 years since Vintage Faire Mall was proposed in a rural area north of Modesto. The pitch was that the project would create jobs, lower our high unemployment, boost sales and property taxes and be a “stand alone” shopping center with no surrounding development allowed.
Well, we all know what has occurred since then - similar high unemployment and an explosion of housing and strip malls. Every zoning change and growth proposal beats the same mantra of more jobs, jobs, jobs and local economic growth. It’s a carrot on a stick. Are we still naïve enough to believe that by allowing our beloved Wood Colony to be opened up for city expansion that our area will actually improve? There is a newer generation of city council members and staff – yet, the same old song is being sung. The second verse is same as the first.
When will we ever realize that this old approach to planning and development is not the answer? When will we wake up and acknowledge that the area’s farmland, with water supply, climate and related infrastructure is the best our world has. (The Wood Colony area is our local resource for national food security that must be preserved forever.)
Current predictions are that the world’s food production must DOUBLE by 2050 to meet the population growth and income demands. This is going to be a real challenge for us all. Are we ready?
David Couchman
Third Generation Modesto Farmer
Mary Couchman
Sixth Generation Farmer
This letter was sent to us and was used by permission before it was published in the Bee.
“We aren’t forcing you to sell.”
Many people have written letters to the editor concerning the upcoming Modesto City Council vote on the annexation of The Wood Colony (referred to as The Beckwith Triangle) to express their views on the subject. The key arguments against this proposed city plan change are basic and valid. These are: A) The community of Wood Colony, long a tradition of good family values in this area of Stanislaus County, will no longer exist as it does today. B) Valuable farmland will be taken out of production and replaced by warehouses, commercial enterprises and manufacturing. C) Homes will lose value as acreage is converted for industrial use.
It is important that the City Council Members understand that their actions have consequences for those people (myself included) who are directly affected by their decisions. The “re” designation from “Industrial/Commercial” to “Rural Residential” of the area along Beckwith Rd to Dakota was an effort to placate the homeowners with a sense that their land would not be affected by this new plan. They fail to realize that once landowners (absentee and retiring farmers) sell their acreage at a premium to developers we will see walnut and almond trees turned to large industrial buildings. These same Council Members, as did The Mayor, try to appease the affected owners with the declaration that, “We aren’t forcing you to sell. You have a choice to make and you can choose to keep your home or land as long as you want.” These comments may serve to make them feel better about their decisions but it does not change the inevitable outcome of those decisions for those of us residing in The Wood Colony.
Very few of my neighbors are categorically against “smart” growth for the City of Modesto. Nor are we against the need for the City of Modesto to develop a growth plan that fosters a business environment that helps to create jobs. We are against being the ones, without a vote in this matter, who have to sacrifice farmland, tradition, values and equity in order to help Modesto achieve their goals.
Scott Turner
Originally posted to Facebook January 18, 2014 to www.facebook.com/sparewoodcolony
It is important that the City Council Members understand that their actions have consequences for those people (myself included) who are directly affected by their decisions. The “re” designation from “Industrial/Commercial” to “Rural Residential” of the area along Beckwith Rd to Dakota was an effort to placate the homeowners with a sense that their land would not be affected by this new plan. They fail to realize that once landowners (absentee and retiring farmers) sell their acreage at a premium to developers we will see walnut and almond trees turned to large industrial buildings. These same Council Members, as did The Mayor, try to appease the affected owners with the declaration that, “We aren’t forcing you to sell. You have a choice to make and you can choose to keep your home or land as long as you want.” These comments may serve to make them feel better about their decisions but it does not change the inevitable outcome of those decisions for those of us residing in The Wood Colony.
Very few of my neighbors are categorically against “smart” growth for the City of Modesto. Nor are we against the need for the City of Modesto to develop a growth plan that fosters a business environment that helps to create jobs. We are against being the ones, without a vote in this matter, who have to sacrifice farmland, tradition, values and equity in order to help Modesto achieve their goals.
Scott Turner
Originally posted to Facebook January 18, 2014 to www.facebook.com/sparewoodcolony
Urbanized Urban Blight
I wonder if the city planners overbuilt commercial real estate?
From the Modesto Bee January 19, 2014
By far-one of THE best Editorials I have ever read from the Modesto Bee.
Thank you, Mike Dunbar, for doing such a fine job of writing this piece of true journalistic tribute to Wood Colony.
Some members of the Modesto City Council and their friends at the Chamber of Commerce have tried to depict their desire to include Wood Colony on the city’s general plan as an either-or situation. Either designate the 1,800 acres of prime farmland as future business parks, or the city will run out of jobs.
Why frame it in such stark terms? Because if they don’t, the public is unlikely to embrace this bad plan.
We do not believe Wood Colony is the city’s only option for attracting good jobs. Here are some reasons we feel the council should look elsewhere to expand the city.
Distant horizons – Council members say business parks being envisioned along Kiernan Avenue could be built long before the city would develop Wood Colony. Putting business parks along Kiernan makes sense despite the fact that it will cover farmland that’s even better than that in Wood Colony. Why? Because if the long-awaited north county corridor ever becomes reality, business parks from Salida to Riverbank to Oakdale will have a direct link to Highway 99. That direct link, by the way, will be a lot more likely if county residents pass a transportation tax in the near future.
Even if development in Wood Colony is a decade or more into the future, is that supposed to placate families who have lived on the land for four or five generations? If development is that far off, there should be ample time to identify and develop other suitable alternatives. Embracing Dave Cogdill Jr.’s call for a general plan update would be a good first step.
Plow-ready – It’s absolutely true there isn’t much “shovel-ready” land in Modesto. And many angry residents have pointed to vacant retail space throughout the city as alternatives. But even vacant big-box stores won’t work for a large, industrial facility. They’re too small and traffic would be a nightmare. Still, designating Wood Colony for eventual development won’t add a square inch of ready-to-build land to the city’s current portfolio. Instead of being shovel-ready a decade from now, this land is plow-ready today.
Meanwhile, the soils east of Modesto are not nearly as rich and don’t produce the same kinds of highly valuable crops. More visionary leaders have talked about putting business parks and houses on that land for decades, as Riverbank and Oakdale have done. Using land east of Modesto would probably be less costly than land in Wood Colony without incurring the losses in agricultural productivity.
Perhaps the city could talk to Riverbank and Oakdale officials to see how they did it.
What kind of jobs? – Proponents say Wood Colony’s proximity to Highway 99 makes it perfect for future employers. But what kind of employers insist on being located along a major highway? The answer is obvious: transportation-based and logistics companies. We would never want to turn away such jobs, but warehouses do not offer the high-paying work our civic leaders say they want to attract.
Experts project the fastest growing occupations over the next 10 years to be health care services, research (perhaps for food companies), computer design and construction. Such businesses are not dependent on easy highway access. And though we would never mock City Council members for being dedicated to finding “jobs, jobs, jobs,” we must note that not all jobs are created equal. Is the job of farmer less important than that of a truck-stop cashier?
Read more here http://www.modbee.com/2014/01/19/3140594/reasons-not-to-develop-wood-colony.html#storylink=cpy
Thank you, Mike Dunbar, for doing such a fine job of writing this piece of true journalistic tribute to Wood Colony.
Some members of the Modesto City Council and their friends at the Chamber of Commerce have tried to depict their desire to include Wood Colony on the city’s general plan as an either-or situation. Either designate the 1,800 acres of prime farmland as future business parks, or the city will run out of jobs.
Why frame it in such stark terms? Because if they don’t, the public is unlikely to embrace this bad plan.
We do not believe Wood Colony is the city’s only option for attracting good jobs. Here are some reasons we feel the council should look elsewhere to expand the city.
Distant horizons – Council members say business parks being envisioned along Kiernan Avenue could be built long before the city would develop Wood Colony. Putting business parks along Kiernan makes sense despite the fact that it will cover farmland that’s even better than that in Wood Colony. Why? Because if the long-awaited north county corridor ever becomes reality, business parks from Salida to Riverbank to Oakdale will have a direct link to Highway 99. That direct link, by the way, will be a lot more likely if county residents pass a transportation tax in the near future.
Even if development in Wood Colony is a decade or more into the future, is that supposed to placate families who have lived on the land for four or five generations? If development is that far off, there should be ample time to identify and develop other suitable alternatives. Embracing Dave Cogdill Jr.’s call for a general plan update would be a good first step.
Plow-ready – It’s absolutely true there isn’t much “shovel-ready” land in Modesto. And many angry residents have pointed to vacant retail space throughout the city as alternatives. But even vacant big-box stores won’t work for a large, industrial facility. They’re too small and traffic would be a nightmare. Still, designating Wood Colony for eventual development won’t add a square inch of ready-to-build land to the city’s current portfolio. Instead of being shovel-ready a decade from now, this land is plow-ready today.
Meanwhile, the soils east of Modesto are not nearly as rich and don’t produce the same kinds of highly valuable crops. More visionary leaders have talked about putting business parks and houses on that land for decades, as Riverbank and Oakdale have done. Using land east of Modesto would probably be less costly than land in Wood Colony without incurring the losses in agricultural productivity.
Perhaps the city could talk to Riverbank and Oakdale officials to see how they did it.
What kind of jobs? – Proponents say Wood Colony’s proximity to Highway 99 makes it perfect for future employers. But what kind of employers insist on being located along a major highway? The answer is obvious: transportation-based and logistics companies. We would never want to turn away such jobs, but warehouses do not offer the high-paying work our civic leaders say they want to attract.
Experts project the fastest growing occupations over the next 10 years to be health care services, research (perhaps for food companies), computer design and construction. Such businesses are not dependent on easy highway access. And though we would never mock City Council members for being dedicated to finding “jobs, jobs, jobs,” we must note that not all jobs are created equal. Is the job of farmer less important than that of a truck-stop cashier?
Read more here http://www.modbee.com/2014/01/19/3140594/reasons-not-to-develop-wood-colony.html#storylink=cpy
Letters to the Editor at the Modesto Bee January 16, 2014
Learn from past mistakes
“Humankind, despite its artistic abilities, sophistication and accomplishment, owes its existence to a six-inch layer of fertile soil and the fact that it rains.” – Anonymous
My father, Luverne Donker, taught soils, among other courses, for more than 30 years at Modesto Junior College. That quote hung on a plaque above his desk for all those years. I learned at a young age that the Central Valley of California is one of only a few valleys in the entire world that has the perfect combination of fertile soil, mild climate and water that allows it to be remarkably productive in terms of the world’s food supply. My parents hung onto their farm just north of Wood Colony until it was surrounded by housing developments in 1986 and they were forced to sell. This sad scenario has played out time and time again in our area despite the farming community’s best efforts to educate the public on the value of farmland. I hope the Modesto City Council will learn from mistakes of the past and protect Wood Colony.
CAROLE COLLINS
MODESTO
Read more here http://www.modbee.com/2014/01/16/3138691/reader-debate-wood-colony.html#storylink=cpy
“Humankind, despite its artistic abilities, sophistication and accomplishment, owes its existence to a six-inch layer of fertile soil and the fact that it rains.” – Anonymous
My father, Luverne Donker, taught soils, among other courses, for more than 30 years at Modesto Junior College. That quote hung on a plaque above his desk for all those years. I learned at a young age that the Central Valley of California is one of only a few valleys in the entire world that has the perfect combination of fertile soil, mild climate and water that allows it to be remarkably productive in terms of the world’s food supply. My parents hung onto their farm just north of Wood Colony until it was surrounded by housing developments in 1986 and they were forced to sell. This sad scenario has played out time and time again in our area despite the farming community’s best efforts to educate the public on the value of farmland. I hope the Modesto City Council will learn from mistakes of the past and protect Wood Colony.
CAROLE COLLINS
MODESTO
Read more here http://www.modbee.com/2014/01/16/3138691/reader-debate-wood-colony.html#storylink=cpy
Letters to the Editor at the Modesto Bee January 16, 2014
Colony makes Modesto unique
Having lived for 13 years in Europe, we cringe coming back to the U.S. where every town looks the same from the freeway – strip malls consisting of the same stores, or empty stores. Our humble Modesto has the wonderfully unique reality of green farmland on the west side of the freeway, from Pelandale to Briggsmore. How odd, how unique, how encouraging to pull up Modesto on Google maps and see the lopsided green area on the left side of the diagonal that defines Modesto. We hope Modesto’s citizens will join the citizens of Wood Colony to protect Modesto’s unique map against developers. Once it is gone, it is gone forever.
TODD AND SARAH HUNNICUTT
SLOVENIA
Read more here http://www.modbee.com/2014/01/16/3138691/reader-debate-wood-colony.html#storylink=cpy
Having lived for 13 years in Europe, we cringe coming back to the U.S. where every town looks the same from the freeway – strip malls consisting of the same stores, or empty stores. Our humble Modesto has the wonderfully unique reality of green farmland on the west side of the freeway, from Pelandale to Briggsmore. How odd, how unique, how encouraging to pull up Modesto on Google maps and see the lopsided green area on the left side of the diagonal that defines Modesto. We hope Modesto’s citizens will join the citizens of Wood Colony to protect Modesto’s unique map against developers. Once it is gone, it is gone forever.
TODD AND SARAH HUNNICUTT
SLOVENIA
Read more here http://www.modbee.com/2014/01/16/3138691/reader-debate-wood-colony.html#storylink=cpy
I got back my confidence in people’s common sense when I read in today’s paper about all the opposition to the idea of developing Wood Colony’s prime farmland at the Modesto City Council meeting on Jan. 7.
It’s so hard for me to understand the urge of some to pave and build over the best soil around. Not only would we lose superb land, but inviting more people to come and settle in this area is a terrible idea. If we keep on doing this we will end up having to bring in more produce from other places, even foreign countries. It sounds absurd! Another aspect to take into consideration is that with more people coming, more crime and other problems would be inevitable.
There are so many commercial buildings and empty lots all over Modesto. Why not fill those first?
What’s wrong with trying to keep our valley cities nice and clean for as long as we can? We certainly don’t need to destroy our beautiful, fertile land just to make investors richer.
ALFA BRODERICK
TURLOCK
Read more here http://www.modbee.com/2014/01/11/3130075/alfa-broderick-why-not-use-the.html#storylink=cpy
It’s so hard for me to understand the urge of some to pave and build over the best soil around. Not only would we lose superb land, but inviting more people to come and settle in this area is a terrible idea. If we keep on doing this we will end up having to bring in more produce from other places, even foreign countries. It sounds absurd! Another aspect to take into consideration is that with more people coming, more crime and other problems would be inevitable.
There are so many commercial buildings and empty lots all over Modesto. Why not fill those first?
What’s wrong with trying to keep our valley cities nice and clean for as long as we can? We certainly don’t need to destroy our beautiful, fertile land just to make investors richer.
ALFA BRODERICK
TURLOCK
Read more here http://www.modbee.com/2014/01/11/3130075/alfa-broderick-why-not-use-the.html#storylink=cpy
Originally posted to the online petition: Modesto: Spare Wood Colony
December 29, 2013-January 12, 2014
It’s time to hold our elected officials to their pre-election campaign promises to us.
In the State of the City speech, well after the election, the Mayor of Modesto once again pledged his 'Build Up and Not Out' promise.
Here is a direct quote from that speech from February 6, 2013:
“Toward that end and my “not out” commitment, I believe it is paramount to also protect and secure our largest strategic advantage, agriculture.” Garrad Marsh -Mayor of Modesto
We are the ones who pay for our elected officials' jobs! The time has come, now, for us to do ours!
Athens Abell
If you’d like to hear the speech, click on this link:
http://www.ci.modesto.ca.us/council/documents/stateofcity13.asp
In the State of the City speech, well after the election, the Mayor of Modesto once again pledged his 'Build Up and Not Out' promise.
Here is a direct quote from that speech from February 6, 2013:
“Toward that end and my “not out” commitment, I believe it is paramount to also protect and secure our largest strategic advantage, agriculture.” Garrad Marsh -Mayor of Modesto
We are the ones who pay for our elected officials' jobs! The time has come, now, for us to do ours!
Athens Abell
If you’d like to hear the speech, click on this link:
http://www.ci.modesto.ca.us/council/documents/stateofcity13.asp