GALT, CA (MPG) - The Galt Planning Commission addressed leadership changes and updated the timeline for a long-planned residential development during its Jan. 8 meeting.

Commissioners opened the meeting by electing new officers. Michaela Johnson was unanimously chosen as chair, replacing Dan Denier, while Keith Jones was unanimously reappointed as vice chair. Johnson will take on the role at the commission’s next meeting.

Focus then shifted to the Lippi Ranch development, where commissioners considered a request to extend the expiration date of the project’s subdivision map.

Lippi Ranch encompasses 8.9 acres on the west side of town, just south of F Street at the end of Third Street, west of the Union Pacific Railroad tracks. The proposed development includes 94 single-family homes in an alley-loaded style.

City staff highlighted the project as an infill development near Old Town Galt. Plans also include an internal trail system that would be open to the public.

The northern portion of the property is already developed with two single-family homes, an apartment building, a barn and a groundwater pumphouse. Plans for the Lippi Ranch Subdivision Project include the demolition of current on-site buildings and the removal of 60 trees.

The subdivision map was originally approved in December 2023 and expired Dec. 18, 2025. The applicant, residential developer True Life Companies, requested a three-year extension, pushing the expiration date to July 28, 2029.

During public comment, Aidan Barry of True Life Companies told commissioners the final map process is nearly complete and could be ready within two months. He said the extension would allow time to complete transactions with homebuilders and cited market conditions and the complexity of city-required improvement plans as the primary causes of delay.

“If I have an opportunity to get a time extension for three years, I take it because that’s just the reality of the world we live in and the development business,” Barry said. “Things change and we need more time.”

 

The northern portion of the Lippi Ranch development site at the end of Third Street is already developed with residential units, a barn and a groundwater pumphouse. Photo by Idaly Valencia

Barry said that he anticipates the project breaking ground by the second quarter of 2026.

Representatives from Nunez Brothers, construction contractor interested in the project, also spoke in support of moving the development forward.

“It is certainly important to us,” one of the Nunez brothers said. “It’s extremely important to our family, the legacy of the Lippi Ranch and really what that means to the community of Galt.”

Several commissioners questioned whether the full three-year extension was necessary, suggesting the remaining steps should not take that long.

“Not something that should take three years to have happen, I would hope,” Denier said.

Barry was asked to further explain the request by commissioners. He said the final map for the residential parcels has been secured but completing the required improvements has extended the timeline.

“So, it’s our dance to complete the technical work and then close our transaction with the builder that then perfects their ability to get started,” Barry said.

Commissioners noted that the work likely would not require the full three years, which Barry acknowledged could be the case given the current stage of the process.

The planning commission ultimately decided to approve a two-year extension, instead of three years, to Jan. 8, 2028.

The next meeting, covering the new Galt Ranch Retail Center at the A Street and Simmerhorn Road off-ramps, is scheduled for 6 p.m., Feb. 12 at 380 Civic Drive.