The Record, Stockton, Calif., Michael Fitzgerald column: Growth battle ends; who won?

Via Acquire Media NewsEdge) Oct. 10--Spinning the biggest 180 of the year, The Spanos Cos. this week abruptly ended its all-out assault against the General Plan settlement agreement. The giant developer's campaign to undo the agreement (a council-approved lawsuit settlement agreeing to curtail sprawl in Stockton's General Plan 2035) ended with an upbeat announcement. To wit: Private negotiations with the city and others have assured the company Stockton's growth will be the open, robustly democratic process that it ought to be. Only a day earlier, The Spanos Cos. were campaigning hammer and tong to undo the deal, reached between the city and The Sierra Club, which sued, and Attorney General Jerry Brown, who threatened to sue, over Stockton's sprawl. The Spanos Cos. hired signature-gatherers to stand outside every big box in... [read full story]