City Council/Public Finance and Economic Development Authority/Parking Authority
April 21, 2025

BENCHMARK ENGINEERING, INC. | CIVIL ENGINEERING, PLANNING, AND LAND SURVEYING 4265 Spyres Way, Suite A, Modesto, CA 95356 | Office 209-548-9300 | www.bmeng.net January 28, 2025
Kim Espinosa, Director of Development Services
City of Merced Development Services Department
678 West 18th Street
Merced CA 95340
RE: Ardison Pre-Annexation Application
Dear Ms. Espinosa,
On behalf of Hostetler Ranches, LLC., attached is the Application for Annexation Pre-Application of 41.03 acres north of Bellevue Road, east of Highway 59, and west of Bellevue Ranch North. The proposed Pre- Annexation site is adjacent to Bellevue Ranch North and the approved Pre-Annexation Boundary of Baxter Ranches Annexation.

We feel this project is a high priority project ready to provide much needed housing benefits and improve traffic circulation and currently has the infrastructure in place through Bellevue Ranch North to supply the project with City services. Our application demonstrates the capacity to provide the annexation with said City services. The proposed annexation site is approximately 41.03 acres, containing 1 parcel that presently exists as an almond orchard.

General Plan Consistency
Consistent with the General Plan the annexation proposes a Pre-Zone to Planned Development (P-D) with a total of 206 lots, 63 of those dedicated to Village Residential, 141 to Low-Density Residential and Lots A and B. A floating school site is shown on the General Plan proposed within Bellevue Ranch north of Bellevue Road and the School District has purchased a school site within Bellevue Ranch West to the south of Bellevue Road, more specifically, the northwest corner of M Street and Arrow Wood Drive.

There is also a floating school site that lies within the approved Baxter Ranches Pre-Annexation.

Also shown on the General Plan Map is a sliver of a floating park site. The portion of the floating park site within the boundary of the proposed Pre-Annexation is so small in area that the exact location should be determined with the entitlement of the parcel to the south of said boundary.

The proposed single family residential and village residential lots vary in size from 1,760 sf to 16,264 sf with an average area of approximately 5,549 sf. The annexation area phasing is subject to change driven by market demand at the time of development.

ATTACHMENT 3
Ho
stetler Ranches, LLC
Pre-Annexation Application
January 28, 2025

Wastewater Demand
Estima
ted wastewater demand from the annexation area based on land use is 40,800 gallons per day (average daily flow) with a peak hour flow of 93,840 gallons per day. The calculated total annual wastewater flow is 45.7-acre feet per year. The project will install various sized gravity sewer waste discharge lines into the Bellevue Ranch Sewer System.

Water Demand
Estima
ted water demand is similar to the wastewater demand. The Average Daily Demand is 56,304 gallons per day. Maximum Daily Demand is 106,978 gallons per day. Peak Hour Flow is 157,651 gallons per day.

Storm Drain System Requirements
T
he project proposes to discharge into the Bellevue Ranch Storm Drain System per the City of Merced Master Plan, prepared by Stantec Consulting, Inc.

Job Creation
Single fam
ily residential developments generally create about 15 jobs for every one million dollars in construction costs. A 100-lot subdivision would roughly generate 100 jobs, or an average of one job per lot.

Home building also creates jobs. National Association of Home Builders (NAHB) estimates that building 100 single family homes generates 300-year long jobs. The job impact on housing is broader than just home construction, the jobs created with new home construction generate an additional 50 percent of jobs in non-construction fields. The other new jobs show up across the rest of the economy because of home construction.

Community Benefits
Com
munity benefits for the annexation include improved traffic circulation within the project area, and provision of much needed housing, including a variation of affordable housing. The fees generated from the project, developer contributed funds, and PFFP identified segments will ensure major infrastructure will be installed servicing not only the project site but will provide future improvements for adjacent properties.

The annexation area is contiguous to the current city limits and is within the Sphere of Influence (SOI) and the Sphere of Specific Urban Development (SUDP). The project lands form a logical and efficient city limit by annexing an unincorporated peninsula. The land uses proposed with this application is consistent with General Plan Land Uses. The Annexation Area can be served by city sewer, water, storm drain, fire and police protection, parks and streets systems to meet acceptable levels of service.

Hostetler Ranches, LLC
Pre-Annexation Application
January 28, 2025

Developer Experience

In 1984, Greg Hostetler and his late wife Cathie, formed Ranchwood Homes Corp. which has provided new homes for San Joaquin Valley residents for over four decades. Together they built homes in Atwater, Madera, Dos Palos, Gustine, Los Banos, Newman and Merced.

Prior to starting a home building business, the Hostet lers farmed cotton, hay, and alfalfa in the greater Los Banos area, and continue to own and operate se veral diversified farming companies today. These entities farm thousands of acres of agricultural land throughout California including Merced County, Yolo County, Los Banos, Merced, and Winters which includes permanent crops such as almonds, pistachios and grapes, as well as other crops such as alfalfa, wheat, oats and others.

Greg’s affiliated companies include offsite construc tion, grading, underground infrastructure, joint utilities, landscaping, recycled materials, trucking, resale homes, property management and rental homes to name a few.

Greg is the developer/builder of numerous residentia l projects in all parts of The City of Merced and Master Developer of Bellevue Ranch since 2012.

Public Financing Strategy / Evidence of Existing / Potential Funding

The City of Merced’s Public Facilities Finance Plan (PFFP) and Development Impact Fee (DIF) are one-time charges on new development, collected and used by the City of Merced to fund the cost of public facilities necessary to serve new growth. Existing Fee Categories include:

Roadways, Bridges, and Railway Crossings
Traffic signals
Fire
Police
Parks, Recreation and Bikeways.

Roadway improvements identified in the PFFP Fee Program are Bellevue Road, R Street, traffic signals and bikeways along Fahrens Creek.

The remaining infrastructure costs shall be borne by the developer. The developer can choose to privately fund said improvements or create a finance district (CFD) to sell bonds, pay for backbone infrastructure and place a tax on the developed parcels for re-payment of said backbone infrastructure.

Registered Voters

There are currently 0 registered voters within the proposed annexation area.

K:\125995 Ardison\Planning\Annexation\Pre-Annexation Application\Cover Letter.docx-RS Hostetler Ranches, LLC
Pre-Annexation Application
January 28, 2025

Public Services and Utilities Request

The applicant is requesting public se rvices and utilities from the City of Merced. Those utilities include sewer disposal, water supply, storm drainage, police protection, fire protection, refuse and garbage collection and disposal, street maintenance, streetlights, park and recreation, park and open space maintenance, traffic signals, signs and markings, an d landscape maintenance. The project will create or join a Community Facilities District (CFD) to pay for said services and maintenance typical of new development.

Project Readiness

The project is currently farmed with no wetlands or biological habitat. Special studies yet to be performed would be traffic, air quality and greenhouse gas. Sewer, water, and storm drainage are serviceable to the project site. The project is ready to be annexed to the City of Merced.

Please feel free to contact me with any questions or comments or if you need additional information.

Sincerely,

Rick Mummert
Vice-President

CC: Tiffanie Marshall, Stonefield Home, Inc.

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Job # 125995
Lots SQ.FT. Lots SQ.FT. Lots SQ.FT.
1 3,527 44 6,000 87 1,980
2 1,760 45 6,000 88 1,980
3 1,760 46 6,000 89 3,330
4 2,924 47 3,700 90 3,330
5 3,031 48 2,200 91 1,980
6 2,142 49 2,200 92 1,980
7 2,200 50 3,700 93 3,330
8 3,700 51 3,700 94 3,330
9 3,700 52 2,188 95 1,980
10 2,200 53 1,997 96 1,980
11 2,200 54 2,905 97 3,844
12 3,700 55 4,381 98 6,391
13 5,500 56 1,874 99 6,000
14 5,500 57 1,863 100 6,000
15 5,500 58 3,107 101 6,000
16 6,478 59 3,423 102 6,000
17 7,572 60 2,307 103 7,052
18 6,500 61 2,308 104 7,326
19 6,000 62 2,297 105 6,000
20 6,000 63 3,837 106 6,000
21 6,000 64 3,805 107 6,000
22 6,000 65 2,248 108 6,000
23 6,463 66 2,236 109 6,918
24 5,960 67 2,225 110 7,556
25 9,176 68 3,717 111 6,000
26 6,901 69 3,685 112 6,000
27 6,191 70 2,176 113 6,000
28 6,200 71 2,121 114 6,000
29 6,200 72 1,845 115 7,964
30 6,200 73 2,786 116 7,365
31 6,200 74 3,218 117 6,500
32 6,200 75 1,980 118 6,500
33 5,915 76 1,980 119 6,500
34 9,278 77 3,330 120 6,500
35 10,451 78 3,330 121 6,957
36 6,276 79 1,980 122 6,898
37 6,500 80 1,980 123 6,004
38 6,200 81 3,330 124 6,886
39 6,200 82 3,330 125 6,200
40 6,200 83 1,980 126 6,200
41 6,200 84 1,980 127 6,200
42 7,613 85 3,497 128 6,200
43 7,422 86 3,520 129 7,708
October 17, 2024
Proposed Ardison Annexation Land Use
Merced, California
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Lots SQ.FT. Lots SQ.FT. Lots SQ.FT.
130 7,700 156 9,041 182 6,027
131 6,000 157 16,264 183 5,432
132 6,000 158 15,963 184 6,275
133 6,000 159 8,808 185 7,097
134 6,000 160 7,804 186 6,200
135 6,435 161 7,679 187 6,200
136 6,040 162 7,391 188 6,200
137 6,037 163 7,104 189 6,200
138 6,033 164 7,406 190 6,200
139 6,030 165 7,362 191 6,200
140 6,026 166 6,900 192 6,200
141 6,023 167 6,900 193 6,200
142 6,019 168 6,900 194 7,986
143 6,016 169 6,890 195 7,287
144 6,012 170 9,000 196 6,200
145 5,666 171 14,782 197 6,200
146 8,451 172 15,816 198 6,200
147 7,025 173 9,837 199 6,200
148 6,363 174 7,322 200 6,200
149 6,000 175 7,352 201 6,200
150 6,672 176 6,900 202 6,200
151 6,275 177 6,900 203 6,200
152 6,000 178 7,362 204 7,097
153 6,000 179 6,388 LOT A 2,650
154 6,000 180 5,432 LOT B 3,043
155 6,000 181 5,658
Lots SQ.FT.
206 1,143,053Grand Total
Average Lot Size: 5,549 S.F.

K:\125995 Ardison\Planning\Annexation\Ardison Land Use-RS dd+CEdƗƗ
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Date: 12-23-24
Job No: 125995
Land use Designation Acres
Number of
Dwelling Units (DU)
Square
Footage (sq
ft) gpcd gpd/DU
Potable Water Demand 4 ϭ͘Ϭϯ 204 N/A 65 276 56,304
* The estimated water flows generated from the project is based on land use.

POTABLE WATER
Average Daily Demand (add) = 56,304 gpd
Maximum Day Demand (190% add) = 106,978 gpdFire Flow:
^ŝŶŐůĞ&ĂŵŝůLJ Residential 1,500 gpm at 2 hours (sprinklered) Pea k Hour Flow (280% add) = 157,651 gpd Land use Designation Acres
Number of
Dwelling Units (DU)
Square
Footage (sq
ft) gpcd gpd/DU
Wastewater Demand 4 ϭ͘Ϭϯ 204 N/A 65 200 40,800
* The estimated water flows generated from the project is based on land use.

WASTEWATER
40,800 gpd
93,840 gpd

45.7 Acft/Yr
Average Daily Flow =
Peak Hour Flow (230% adf) =
Calculated Total Wastewater Flow =
Land Use Data Water Use Factor
Calculated Total
Water Demand
Land Use Data
Calculated Total
Water Demand

UTILITY INFRASTRUCTURE DEMAND
Water Use Factor
K:\125995 Ardison\Planning\Annexation\15_UTILITY INFRASTRUCTURE DEMAND-RS dd+CEdƗƛ
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