Tag: loma vista

County planning director claims massive sprawl development is not sprawl

What do you call 30,000 homes being developed outside a city boundary on farmland?

This is what Norm Allinder, Madera County planning director thinks, according to a new article from the Fresno Bee:

“This doesn’t perpetuate the legacy
of sprawl,” he said. “Gunner Ranch is contiguous; it’s a logical
expansion for urban development.”

The yellow star is the area he is talking about, in relation to the clearly identifiable City of Fresno.

And this is what they’re planning there:

Principal owner Tim Jones’ vision for his nearly 6,600-home
development a few miles north of Woodward Park is a subdivision with six
separate themed districts. Riverstone will compete for home buyers with
southeast Fresno, northwest Fresno, southeast Clovis and a new
community planned south and east of Clovis North High School. Click to read more!

Clovis now has an Urban Greening Master Plan

Clovis recently released an an “Urban Greening Master Plan,” a new plan which calls for adding more trees, more green infrastructure, and promoting more sustainable transportation.

Now by recently, I do mean July, which is a little embarrassing. Embarrassing, because this is the first I have heard of it. Not only did I miss the release of the final plan, but I also missed the release of the draft, and nine public workshops held in 2014.

Although to be fair to me, a search through Google News reveals zero articles on the subject. Also, the final report shows the first community meeting with a grand total of 28 attendees (13 with white hair), and according to the workshop summaries, the 4th, 5th and 6th workshops had attendances ranging from 1 to 5 people. Click to read more!

One year later: Clovis crosswalk still not done

What takes longer to build, a half mile of road widening, or a crosswalk? If you’re in Clovis….

During April of last year, I documented the construction of a new enhanced crosswalk in Clovis, connecting a small trail system, with an elementary school. The area is residential, except for the large church adjacent to the crosswalk.

This crosswalk was special, because it was to be the type with flashing lights embedded in the concrete. Pedestrians were to push a button to turn on those lights, and also a series of flashing signs placed before the crosswalk.

This is an example across town, although this one is fancier because the system detects pedestrians automatically, and there’s a center median. You can see the lights in the pavement, and one of two flashing signs (in each direction) on the far right. Click to read more!

Clovis: A pedestrian-oriented development without any sidewalks…?

In 1993, the Clovis General Plan called for the concept of “Urban Centers” to be included in future sprawl/growth.

In 2003, after years of work, the “Loma Vista Specific Plan” was released, setting (what appeared to be) strict guidelines on the development set to happen as the city took over agricultural land to its east at the southern edge of the city. The city was ready to grow and it appeared that they wanted to correct at least some of the mistakes of previous sprawl expansion.

Rough Boundary of Loma Vista Plan area. Residential development is clearly underway in the west. The majority is still prime agriculture, for now.
Photobucket Click to read more!