California gets a new city for the first time in 13 years

Congratulations to California’s newest city, Mountain House

By Brian Hendershot, Cal Cities Advocate managing editor

Voters in San Joaquin County last week overwhelmingly voted in favor of incorporating a new city, Mountain House. It’s the first time in over a decade that California voters have approved a new city, making Mountain House the 483rd city in California.

The cost of incorporation has become expensive, making it rare — even for larger communities. The last community to incorporate was Jurupa Valley in 2011.

Steve Pinkerton, executive director of the Mountain House Community District, said Mountain House was able to incorporate in part because most revenue generated in the area goes back to the community, not the county.

Incorporation will allow Mountain House to access more state and federal funding, as well as control local land use, tax, and public safety decisions. Officials plan to continue relying on the county for essential services.

"I think our community is very resilient,” Pinkerton told CBS News. “They're used to change. It's constant change here. Every time you turn around, there's a new neighborhood under construction here."

Mountain House was first inhabited by the Cholbon tribelet of the Northern Valley Yokuts, according to the Mountain House Community Services District. The area got its name during the Gold Rush era after a British captain erected a rest stop for miners traveling from San Francisco to the Sierra foothills.

The government agency of Mountain House was formed in 1996. Later hailed as “ one of the most ambitious developments ever attempted,” the goal was to create a city of 44,000 people in what was then agricultural land with no services or infrastructure.

Today, the region is one of the fastest growing places in the state, and an estimated 27,000 people call Mountain House home. The new city will encompass a little over 4,400 acres, making it slightly larger than Los Angeles International Airport.

Mountain House will officially become a city on July 1, when the council is sworn in. More than 100 items are already on the city council’s first agenda.