Salida’s 3,383-acre expansion plan is finally under environmental review to study traffic impacts, basic infrastructure needs, effects on wildlife, and the feasibility of city incorporation.
In 2007, the Salida Community Plan was an initiative proposed for a countywide vote, but county supervisors in a 3-2 decision that August approved the contents of the initiative, rather than putting it on the ballot. The plan included land use areas just north of Modesto capable of producing 27,800 jobs and 5,000 homes, possibly adding 15,000 residents.
By December 2007, the nation was in the grips of the Great Recession and a home mortgage crisis. The Salida Community Plan remained on the books during the recovery years. Today, there’s renewed interest in development, such as the 145-acre Scannell Properties project, proposing 2.5 million square feet of warehouses, distribution centers and manufacturing at the northwest corner of Kiernan Avenue and Dale Road.
County leaders agreed early last year that a programmatic environmental study was needed to consider the overall impacts of the Salida plan, before individual projects like Scannell can move forward.