Diablo Grande is an unincorporated community in Stanislaus County, California, United States. It is a gated bedroom community nestled in the Diablo Range, whence it gets its name. Diablo Grande sits at an elevation of . It is about southwest of Patterson. For statistical purposes, the United States Census Bureau has defined that community as a census-designated place (CDP). The 2020 United States census reported Diablo Grande's population was 1,669.

Background The preliminary plans for a gated community and golf resort to be developed by Don Panoz were distributed in May 1990. The project was approved by the Stanislaus County Board of Supervisors in the fall of 1993. By 1999, the Stanislaus County superior court had rejected Diablo Grande's second environmental impact report with the argument that it had failed to properly protect the surrounding environment and there was no answer to where water would come from due to the area not containing adequate on-site water. In response, Diablo Grande created the Western Hills Water District to serve the community. Water transfers from former agriculture land to the community were arranged and were preserved for wildlife.

Developer Donald Panoz envisioned Diablo Grande to consist of 5,000 to 10,000 homes, a resort hotel and spa, six golf courses, an equestrian center, vineyards, a winery and commercial properties, including a high-tech research park. After investing $120 million into Diablo Grande and the 2008 financial crisis occurring, the investors of the community filed for chapter 11 bankruptcy on March 10, 2008. There were more than $54 million in unpaid debts and 70 out of the 350 homes built faced foreclosure.

In October 2008, World International LLC purchased Diablo Grande for $20 million. The California Department of Health temporarily suspended new building permits in January 2009 when water tests showed trihalomethane levels at 0.103 milligrams per liter vs. the state standard of 0.080 milligrams per liter.

Diablo Grande's Legends golf course, designed by Jack Nicklaus and Gene Sarazen, was closed in March 2014 due to the drought in California.

In May 2017, the Stanislaus County Board of Supervisors approved a revised plan for the community. An additional 1,000 single-family homes could be built by reducing the number of condos and townhouses and eliminating apartments. Also, instead of building homes spread along the hillsides, residential areas were grouped together, leaving more open terrain and walking trails. The revised plan brought the total number of housing units to 2,354.

By the fall of 2019, it was announced that the remaining golf course at Diablo Grande would close in October. It was also revealed that World International has outstanding tax bills on about half of its 340 parcels at Diablo Grande, totaling more than $6 million, and is looking for a new owner.

On May 7, 2020, World International, LLC sold substantially all of its property within the Phase 1 development area of the District to Angel’s Crossing, LLC.

On August 19, 2020 at 3:00 PM Pacific Time, due to the SCU Lightning Complex fires of 2020, the California Department of Forestry and Fire Prevention issued an evacuation order of Diablo Grande. The evacuation order was lifted on August 20, 2020 at 2:00 PM.

In 2020 Diablo Grande started a five-year dispute with Kern County Water Agency (KWCA) about a water supply contract tied to the original much larger 1999 plans. The dispute centred on the fact that the community no longer needed such a large allocation and this led to the accumulation of unpaid debts. KCWA threatened Diablo Grande with a complete water shut-off if the debt was not cleared. In 2026 an agreement was reached between the two parties and the debt was written off.

Geography According to the United States Census Bureau, the CDP covers an area of 4.3 square miles (11.2 km2), 99.78% of it land and 0.22% of it water.

Demographics

2020 census As of the 2020 census, Diablo Grande had a population of 1,669. The population density was . The median age was 38.4 years, and the age distribution was 426 people (25.5%) under the age of 18, 118 people (7.1%) aged 18 to 24, 432 people (25.9%) aged 25 to 44, 451 people (27.0%) aged 45 to 64, and 242 people (14.5%) who were 65 years of age or older. For every 100 females, there were 103.0 males, and for every 100 females age 18 and over, there were 100.5 males age 18 and over.

0.0% of residents lived in urban areas, while 100.0% lived in rural areas. The whole population lived in households. There were 583 households, of which 211 (36.2%) had children under the age of 18 living in them, 363 (62.3%) were married-couple households, 46 (7.9%) were cohabiting couple households, 69 (11.8%) had a female householder with no spouse or partner present, and 105 (18.0%) had a male householder with no spouse or partner present. About 102 households (17.5%) were one person, and 44 (7.5%) were one person aged 65 or older. The average household size was 2.86. There were 445 families (76.3% of all households).

There were 632 housing units at an average density of , of which 583 (92.2%) were occupied. Of these, 496 (85.1%) were owner-occupied and 87 (14.9%) were occupied by renters. 7.8% of housing units were vacant. The homeowner vacancy rate was 2.4% and the rental vacancy rate was 7.1%.

+ Racial composition as of the 2020 census Race Number Percent White 714 42.8% Black or African American 147 8.8% American Indian and Alaska Native 18 1.1% Asian 212 12.7% Native Hawaiian and Other Pacific Islander 6 0.4% Some other race 279 16.7% Two or more races 293 17.6% Hispanic or Latino (of any race) 614 36.8%

Income and poverty In 2023, the US Census Bureau estimated that the median household income was $160,741, and the per capita income was $50,331. About 4.0% of families and 2.8% of the population were below the poverty line. References