Plan for new affordable housing in Clovis keeps hitting opposition from residents
Clovis residents continue to oppose the city’s infill rezone program, which aims to increase housing supply and density, as the proposal enters its final stage for approval.
The plan to redesignate 20 underutilized parcels for high- or very-high-density residential land within established neighborhoods is one of the outcomes of a 2024 settlement agreement after a lawsuit accused Clovis of not complying with a state mandate to provide adequate affordable housing opportunities.
The 20 parcels, selected by the city’s planners, are scattered across Clovis and have the capacity to accommodate 1,303 dwelling units, which is sufficient to meet the court-ordered requirement of 1,284 units.
After two years of planning and several community informational sessions, the infill rezone program was scheduled to be discussed and put to a vote at the July 6 council meeting. However, due to the absence of Councilmember Matt Basgall, the five-member council postponed the item.
On Monday evening, several dozen Clovis residents packed the chamber, only to be told public comment would be during the Aug. 10 meeting.
Since November, council members and city staff have received more than 100 written comments from residents regarding the infill rezone program, according to the documents attached to the council meeting agenda.
While some applaud the city’s proposal to enhance housing opportunities, the majority voiced concerns about the impact of multi-family apartments on neighborhood safety, traffic, property values, school capacity, noise and privacy.
“My house backs up to one of these properties. This will only increase the amount of people walking around this area at night,” wrote Erin Crowe, a homeowner. “I have already had someone walking around my backyard one night smoking weed, and knocked over my plants and broke them. I have seen young teenagers walking around the businesses late at night and early in the morning, not to mention the privacy factor.”
Multi-family residential design changes proposed
No apartment proposals have been submitted, according to city officials. But last month, the city’s planning commission approved friendlier design rules for multi-family residential projects, paving the way for developers to build more apartment complexes.
The major proposed changes include reducing parking space requirements, removing the mandate for large apartment complexes to provide children’s play areas, lowering open-space requirements and scrapping a frost window design rule for apartment buildings of two or more stories — created to prevent people from peeping into adjacent single-family homes.
The updated design standards still need the council’s adoption before taking effect. It is not yet determined when the item would go before the council.
Residents reactions to apartments in their neighborhoods
Sherry Louise Pedersen, a Clovis homeowner since 1984, said she’s upset with the selected rezone locations because she doesn’t want her neighborhood to become “crime ridden as so many of the high-density housing projects become.”
In the written comments, many homeowners expressed concern about the value of their homes if apartments are built in their neighborhoods.
“My wife and I worked hard for years to save up and buy a home in a quiet family neighborhood and now a year after we finally realized our dream, two apartment buildings are now planned to go up right next to us,” wrote Greg Gillenwaters.
Said Ankara Lee, a Clovis resident: “Pretty soon this city will look like Fresno, and no one ever says they want to move or live in Fresno.”
Besides the potential negative impact on property values, homeowners from Harlan Ranch and Loma Vista are upset that vacant lots in their communities have not been developed.
“When this neighborhood was developed, the vacant parcels were clearly promoted as future commercial sites intended for community-enhancing businesses such as cafés, restaurants, and small local shops,” said Matthew Silva, a homeowner at Harlan Ranch. “These assurances were not a minor detail. They were a central selling point and a key factor in the decision many of us made to invest our savings and our families’ futures into this community.”
Joseph Payne, who purchased a house at Loma Vista, said he and his neighbors were promised “so much more” in community features than what they are receiving.
“We were told there would be a beautiful, never-before-done shopping center and restaurants at Shaw and Leonard, only to receive fast food and low-quality retail that you could have driven down Shaw to go to already,” Payne said. “There is already high-density residential housing and apartments that have been built in this area. Loma Vista was supposed to be so much more than what it has become.”
