Lancaster OKs City’s Largest Planned Housing Tract : Development: The 4,732-unit project gained final approval only after builders agreed to concessions.
In a sign of the times for developers, the largest planned housing project in Lancaster history has won final city approval, but only after its backers agreed to sweeten the political pot with millions of dollars in concessions to the city and local schools.
The 3-1 vote Monday night by the Lancaster City Council to approve the 4,732-unit, 1,775-acre Serrano Ranch project appeared almost anti-climactic. No homeowner groups protested and Councilman George Root, who is often sympathetic to homeowner concerns, pronounced it an excellent project.
But the decision came only after months of negotiations in which Lancaster obtained such perks as a $2-million developer payment the city can spend as it chooses, developer-paid school fees more than double those required by the state, and other inducements.
In exchange, the city gave the partnership proposing the project a guarantee of development rights for up to 25 years. Although the makeup of the City Council and planning guidelines may change, the project’s backers have locked in their ability to build the project as proposed.
City officials made no apologies for their actions. In a time of tight municipal finances, they said developers have to be willing, more than ever, to pay for a larger share of the costs that public agencies will face in providing services to their projects.
Serrano Ranch “would be, in effect, like a small city of 14,000 upon build-out,” said Brian Hawley, Lancaster’s director of community development. The project also will be the first major master-planned development in the city, which now has a population of about 100,000.
The project is expected to be built in three phases, possibly taking several decades to complete. If built as planned, it will transform a large part of east Lancaster from tumbleweed-covered desert to a suburban enclave with parks, schools and shopping centers.
The project would cover an irregularly shaped area between 40th and 70th Streets East and from Avenues J to L. The first phase, between 40th and 50th Streets East, calls for 2,312 houses, a 37-acre community park, a 17-acre school and park site and a 233-acre golf course.
The second phase, between 50th and 60th Streets East, would include 1,646 houses, two school-park sites totaling 34 acres and a 1.5-acre fire station site. The third phase, from 60th to 70th Streets East, would include 774 houses and a fourth school-park site.
In addition, the developers committed to school fees of $3.19 per square foot of new construction, compared with the maximum amount under state law of $1.58. However, other builders could actually end up paying those costs if the developers sell off parts of their project as expected.
The project had attracted some controversy because Jim Gilley, then co-owner of the real estate office where Councilman William Pursley works, acted as its lobbyist. However, Gilley later gave up both jobs to become city manager. He and Pursley subsequently avoided involvement in the project.
