Merced County OKs 'transformational' new neighborhood to be built near UC Merced

Plus, the county also approved more than 1,000 housing units near the community of Delhi

Also in government this week:

• County approves development of 1,000+ housing units near Delhi

• Merced County receives $20M for Planada flood relief

• Merced City Council sends graffiti abatement contract back out to bid

An artist’s rendering of the neighborhood slated to be built south of the UC Merced campus on land that is part of the Virginia Smith Trust. Credit: Merced County Office of Education

By BRIANNA VACCARI and MICHELLE MORGANTE

Central Valley Journalism Collaborative

Oct. 18, 2023

MERCED (CVJC) – A plan to develop a neighborhood of some 3,800 homes and apartments near UC Merced won approval from the Merced County Board of Supervisors, further establishing Merced’s identity as an emerging college town.

Under the University Community Plan approved Tuesday, more than 650 acres of unincorporated farmland south of the UC Merced campus will become a development of 3,857 homes and apartments; retail and commercial space; parks and open space; and transportation routes.

The plan designates 500 housing units as deed-restricted for affordable housing. Vinton Thengvall of the county Workforce Development Board said the project is a “transformational” opportunity that would not only relieve pressure for local housing but boost the economy.

“We’re excited about the infusion of good jobs the project will bring, both infrastructure and home building as well as the service-sector jobs,” Thengvall told the board.

The unanimous vote by the supervisors came on the heels of the Merced City Council’s unanimous approval Monday night of an application to annex the university campus into Merced’s city limits.

“This project is really delayed, and now we're basically fulfilling the promises that we made many, many years ago,” Scott McBride, Merced’s acting city manager, told the county supervisors on Tuesday. “It’s truly going to be a game-changer for the university.”

UC Merced, the youngest of the University of California’s 10 campuses, currently enrolls nearly 9,150 students. It plans to increase enrollment to 15,000 by 2030.

The development agreement is for an area of land known as the Virginia Smith Trust, which was established in 1971 upon the death of the native Mercedian. In her will, Smith wrote that the 7,000 acres of land north of Merced must be used to benefit local students.

In the late 1990s, about 2,000 acres of the trust’s land was donated for the purpose of building the UC Merced campus. Another large portion of the land is preserved to protect vernal pools, home to endangered fairy shrimp and other wildlife.

When the Smith land was donated to create UC Merced, the Merced community promised the UC Regents to expand a scholarship program funded by the trust to serve those local students most in need, many living in the county’s smaller, more rural communities. 

“So this is simply the first step of realizing the Merced promise that was proposed to the Regents in the mid ‘90s when Merced was sold as the tenth campus,” Stephen Peck, the project manager, told the City Council on Monday.

The county supervisors said that promise contributed to their support of the project.

“When this deal gets done, we’re not just talking pennies,” Supervisor Scott Silveira said. “We’re talking real dollars that can go to help people who want to further their education.”

The Virginia Smith Trust scholarship fund is projected to soon triple to about $1.5 million next year, Merced County Superintendent of Schools Steve Tietjen said. The development is expected to increase the value of the Virginia Smith Trust land, and by 2040, the scholarship fund is expected to range from $7 million to $10 million, thanks to revenue from the development, Tietjen said.

More than 650 acres south of the UC Merced campus, outlined in red, is on track to be developed into a neighborhood of 3,800 homes and apartments under a plan approved by Merced County on Tuesday. Credit: Merced County

McBride during Monday’s city council meeting estimated the campus annexation proposal will go to a vote at the Merced County’s Local Agency Formation Commission (LAFCo) around May or June before requiring state action. The University Community Plan development will be right behind the campus application.

“VST is looking forward to helping develop a community south of the university to support the university and the members of the community that need quality housing,”Tietjen said. “And we're looking forward to the time when we can fulfill the promise of supplying scholarships to every student that wants to go to a four-year university out of high school.”

Video: Oct. 17, 2023, Merced County Board of Supervisors meeting

In other local government action this week:

County approves development of 1,000+ housing units near Delhi

The Bradbury Ranch project calls for 1,069 housing units plus parks (green), a school (blue), a fire station (red) and commercial property (peach). Low-density housing would be built in the area shown in yellow; medium-density housing in orange. Credit: Merced County.

A plan to develop more than 1,069 low- and medium-density housing units northeast of Delhi won approval from the Merced County Board of Supervisors on Tuesday.

The Bradbury Ranch Master Plan required changes in zoning and an earlier community plan to develop approximately 273 acres east of Highway 99, south of W. Bradbury Road and west of Vincent Road. The plan includes a mix of residential units, neighborhood commercial property, bike and walking paths, two neighborhood parks and a community park.

It also calls for a fire station and a school site that would be a joint elementary and middle school within the Delhi Unified School District.

Delhi, currently home to about 11,000 people, is Merced County’s largest unincorporated community. The Bradbury Ranch parcel is about 17 miles north of Merced and less than five miles from central Turlock in neighboring Stanislaus County.

“This represents a culmination of almost 20 years in the making,” said Chris Hawke, representing RBK Development of Turlock.

Supervisor Lloyd Pareira, whose District 4 includes the area, said community members in Delhi were supportive of the project because it would bring shopping options closer to them.

“This project’s going to build quite a few homes, and with that will come the other business opportunities,” he said.

Merced County receives $20M for Planada flood relief

Rosa Nuno (center), a community health worker with Valley Onward, guided Planada residents in a discussion on July 6, 2023, about how to distribute financial aid for flooding victims. Merced County said another round of community meetings will begin in late October. Credit: Michelle Morgante/CVJC

Merced County has received $20 million from the state to help residents of Planada who were impacted by severe flooding in early 2023, the county announced Tuesday.

The county board of supervisors is expected to formally accept the funding from the California State Office of Emergency Services during its Oct. 24 meeting. County staff have been developing programs to provide financial assistance, vehicle replacement, home inspections, home repairs, remediation and infrastructure enhancements, the county said in a news release.

Staff also will conduct a series of community-focused workshops and plan development meetings in Planada during evening hours and on weekends so that residents can offer their input regarding distribution of the funding. The meetings are to begin in late October

“Planada is a special community and has faced so many challenges this past year,” said Supervisor Rodrigo Espinosa, whose District 1 includes Planada. “I am very proud of how this community has rallied together, and am very hopeful this funding will help those most in need.”

Board Chairman Scott Silveira credited state Senator Anna Caballero and state Assemblymember Esmeralda Soria for their work to help secure the funding. “This will help one of our most vulnerable communities better recover from the unprecedented storms of 2023,” he said.

The unincorporated community of about 4,000 people east of Merced was inundated when a levee broke on Jan. 8 during torrential rainfall. A study by UC Merced’s Community and Labor Center found more than 83% of residents suffered some type of economic loss. The town is predominantly Latino and, according to Census data, more than a third of families live below the poverty line.

It’s estimated that two-thirds of flood-damaged households didn’t qualify for federal aid and 41% of residents were ineligible, likely because of their immigration status. More than half of the households suffered loss of income due to flooding, and nearly half lost a vehicle they used to get to work.

Merced City Council sends graffiti abatement contract back out to bid

The Merced City Council on a split vote Monday night rejected a $264,000 contract with Thunderbird Maintenance, Inc. for graffiti abatement work.

Instead, a majority of the city council said they’d like to see graffiti abatement reimagined in a way that promotes public art.

The contract was the only bid that met the city’s requirements for the work and met terms for prevailing wages, city officials said. The city’s call for bids was fairly routine in nature, officials said. The proposed contract was for a term of five years, with the cost to the city increasing each year.

Members of the community who spoke during public comment said the cost of the contract was too high, and they said some forms of graffiti can serve as art and expression. They questioned whether city policies criminalized public art.

Councilmembers and police officials noted a recent rise in graffiti in town, along with the number of complaints they receive from residents. They also acknowledged that, at times, graffiti can indicate gang activity, and much of the graffiti that creates a nuisance is “scribbling.”

Councilmember Fue Xiong, who represents the northernmost area of the city, said he agreed with community members who found the contract costs too high and the five-year term too long. He also favored hiring local artists, rather than paying for a service and calling it graffiti abatement.

Councilmember Sarah Boylet said investing in public art could solve the graffiti issue.

“Over the last three years, our council has put more and more money into art,” she said. “I'm hoping that, in years to come, we continue to do that, and that different areas of Merced that are highly tagged – those are areas where we can be putting art, so that the tagging does go down, so that these costs of graffiti abatement do go down. 

“I think that is the long-term solution to it,” she said.

Rather than approve the contract, Xiong motioned for the council to rebid the contract. His motion passed 4-3, with support from councilmembers Jesse Ornelas, Ronnie De Anda and Bertha Perez. Boyle, Mayor Matthew Serratto and Councilmember Shane Smith voted no.

Brianna Vaccari is the government accountability reporter and Michelle Morgante is the editor-in-chief for the Central Valley Journalism Collaborative, a nonprofit newsroom based in Merced.