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Ca GROWTH INDUCEMENT Growth inducement from the proposed project would primarily result from the southeasterly expansion of the Morada area into agricultural - lands. Approval of the proposed general plan amendment and subsequent zone reclassification would facilitate residential development of the site. This could set a precedent for future conversions of agricultural land in the project area especially since there will be increased pressure to develop lands along the fringe as development infill occurs in Morada . { Given the current agricultural economy and the demand for housing of the sort proposed with this project, developing agricultural land with residential use could prove to be more economically attractive to farmers in the vicinity of the study area when compared to remaining in agriculture. Several of the area farmers surveyed indicated that development of the proposed project would encourage them to eventually develop their land in the same manner. 1 Further impetus for development could be created when land use conflicts resulting from new residential development adjacent to preexisting agricultural operations causes farmers to modify or even curtail their farming operations. This would place an economic burden on those farmers in the area wishing to maintain their agricultural operations and would serve as further encouragement to develop their land . It is also a common practice for farmers to sell off portions of their landholdings during periods of economic hardship. This could also contribute to the encroachment of urban uses into agricultural lands and could encourage "leapfrog" development. While this project would primarily have growth inducing effects on adjacent lands, in a long-term context the potential exists for urban development to extend in a southerly direction ` away from the study area toward the Calaveras River and east from Highway 99 since there are no physiographic constraints which would inhibit urban. growth. It should be noted that the Stockton Urban Center presently extends to cover the existing mobile home park and perhaps the Cole proposal located on East Frontage Road at Wilson Way . It is also foreseeable that urban ' development could extend in an easterly direction away from the study area into intensively farmed lands. Ultimate buildout of parcels extending east to Solari Road, south to the Calaveras River and west to Highway 99 would result in the loss of over 754 acres of agricultural land . This would represent a .11% reduction in the countywide acreage devoted to agricultural use and would represent a significant loss of prime agricultural soils at the local , regional , state and national level. 1 Survey of adjacent property owners conducted by Mills Associates, November, 1987 . Responses are on file with the ` San Joaquin County Department of Planning and Building Inspection. 57