New details about land use and building projects in Visalia emerged last week when the City Council met to debate a proposed long-term growth plan good until 2030.

Construction begins this year on a sewer trunk line under Mineral King Avenue from Locust Street to Ranch Road -- about 20 city blocks.

A 36-inch line will be built parallel to an existing 30-inch pipe, which will stay in use.

The new pipeline is needed for flow from downtown "infill" projects such as the Kaweah Delta hospital expansion and a proposed city civic center in east downtown.

The $3 million to $3.5 million sewer line project was to be built in two phases but now will probably be built as one project to save money, community development director Chris Young said. Expect dirt to fly in eight to 10 months.

City Manager Steve Salomon said the Local Agency Formation Commission has a new policy that annexations will be turned down if a city has more than a 10-year supply of land for new dwellings.

Currently, there's more than 10 years of available residentially zoned land in Visalia, but when that inventory will dip below the 10-year mark is subject to debate.

Using the average number of homes built during 10 years of boom and bust, a few years of inventory remain.

But Council Member Greg Collins, an advocate of slow growth, argues that there are many years of inventory at the rate building permits are being issued.

Rather than use building permit numbers, the city should set a population goal before seeking annexations, he said.

The council has yet to choose an option, took no votes on that and related issues and will debate further.

The first ring of growth in the new plan should include 100 acres of vacant land owned by Kaweah Delta Health Care District in southeast Visalia, the city manager said.

"The hospital is running out of land," Salomon said.

Health Care District CEO Lindsay Mann said in an interview that the 37-acre campus in west Visalia is close to fully built after only 18 years.

When a two-story office building goes up this year, 1.25 acres will be left, he said.

And Kaweah Delta Medical Center in downtown Visalia will expand over several years, he said.

The district owns 100 acres at the southwest corner of Lovers Lane and Caldwell Avenue. The site lacks sewer and water service.

No building projects are in the works, Mann said, but "Kaweah Delta will need to have developable land within the next five years."