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A nearly 800-acre expansion to the city of Gonzales, making way for two new neighborhoods, was approved earlier this week.

The long-planned housing community, Vista Lucia, was approved by the Monterey County Local Agency Formation Commission, commonly known as LAFCO.

The annexation of county land will support nearly 3,500 residential units and 96,000 square feet of local-serving commercial space, representing a step toward significant growth for a town of roughly 8,500 people.

"This is an incredibly important milestone for Gonzales and the culmination of many years of thoughtful planning for our community's future," said Gonzales City Manager Carmen Gil in a prepared statement.

"This approval allows us to move forward with a community that will provide much-needed housing opportunities for the people and families who live and work in Gonzales and throughout our region," said Gil.

The land will be developed as the "Santa Lucia Neighborhood" and the "Gabilan Neighborhood," which will contain 30% low income housing.

Already, the city has an agreement with CHISPA, a local affordable housing developer, for the first 211 multifamily units, a 10-acre apartment site to be donated in the first phase and 49 self-help homes.

Gonzales and the County of Monterey have been working on the project for well over two decades, with the city's 2010 General Plan including it in its long-term growth plan and in 2014 the county placed the land within Gonzales' sphere of influence.

Along the way, balancing urban growth with preserving the surrounding agricultural land central to the local economy has been a central issue. According to the press release, this has largely been achieved by securing land easements on key agricultural properties around the city, keeping the most fertile land in production while focusing urban growth toward the foothills east of town.

The eastward expansion of the city focuses development on land that is less desirable for agriculture, said District 3 Supervisor Chris Lopez in August when the Board of Supervisors approved a property tax transfer between the county and Gonzales.

"This is not prime farmland. This is not the best farmland that Monterey County has to offer. It is granite and it is decomposed granite and it does not hold water," Lopez said.

While still in the early stages, the project is supposed to develop in phases over the next 30 years.

Next steps include securing additional agricultural conservation easements and beginning a Request for Proposals process to identify builders.

"This has always been about planning responsibly for the future of Gonzales," said Mayor Jose Rios in the statement. "LAFCO's approval is a significant step forward. We look forward to the work ahead and to ultimately seeing new neighborhoods and housing opportunities become a reality for our community."

Chris Hamilton is a California Local News fellow covering Salinas and the Salinas Valley for The Herald. To find out more about the California Local News Fellowship, visit https://fellowships.journalism.berkeley.edu/cafellows/