Is Clovis sprawling? City Council approves study to add 1,000 acres to its influence
The Clovis City Council recently unanimously approved an environmental review of plans to potentially push the city’s sphere of influence further north through a study of 1,050 acres.
The council members agreed the city needed to look at the area east of Sunnyside and north of Shepherd avenues. The potential change to the sphere of influence includes the roughly 825 acres of new housing the council approved in October.
The area reaches up to Behymer Avenue on the western end and tapers off south along Carson Avenue until it reaches De Wolf Avenue.
The environmental impact review, or EIR, studies the impact to the land and wildlife in the area, while a municipal review would look at the estimated impacts to local police, firefighters and other city services.
The environmental review is estimated to take a year to 14 months and will be conducted by De Novo Planning group, an El Dorado Hills-based consultant. The city’s contribution is $89,000, while developer Wilson Premier Homes is set to pay $435,500 and Harlan Land Co. will pay $32,000, according to city records.
At the same time, the council voted 4-1 to begin paperwork with the Fresno Local Agency Formation Commission, commonly called LAFCO, which would need to approve of any new annexation.
Councilmember Bob Whalen cast the only vote against the LAFCO piece, saying that move felt too much like the council would be already agreeing to sprawl north without having all the information.
“I want all of us to be able to make an informed decision on the impacts on infrastructure there,” he said on Monday. “I just fall back on that I want our growth in the city of Clovis to be very orderly.”
His colleagues did not share his sentiments that the deal is done. Councilmember Lynne Ashbeck said the environmental review does not guarantee the city moves forward with the proposed expansion.
“I don’t want to say it’s administrative because it’s a hugely impactful document, but I think it’s a process question,” she said.
Residents outside the city of Clovis have expressed concerns about how a potential annexation could change their property values and way of life.
Property values would almost certainly go up, according to Dirk Poeschel, a land development consultant working with the developers.
“That has to do with better police and fire protection, lower insurance rates. There’s just a whole range of things that occur,” he said.
A resident outside the city limits, Jared Callister said the city leaders should focus on building out already planned subdivisions before adding new expansion.
“It helps keep things orderly. It helps avoid this Oklahoma land grab mentality,” he said. “A first-come first-serve mentality.”
Councilmember Jose Flores said the demand to live in Clovis will drive expansion.
He pointed to a lack of growth in recent years in Fresno, also mentioning the growing community of more than 100,000 homes planned north of the San Joaquin River in Madera County.
Flores said the reputation of Clovis schools and communities will only continue to drive demand.
“I call this an insurance policy for the city of Clovis,” he said. “Let’s have as much developable land that we can control.”
This story was originally published March 4, 2021 at 5:00 AM.
