What happened?
At its Tuesday meeting, the Clovis City Council approved an agreement with the county for a new library; rejected a request to provide water to county residents; approved a funding agreement for a senior affordable housing development; and learned the results of a survey showing the majority of respondents want affordable housing.
Fresno County is one step closer to breaking ground on a new Clovis library after the Clovis City Council approved an agreement Tuesday to exchange the existing library building on Fifth Street for the vacant land where the new library will be built.
The new 26,000-square-foot library will be located near the city’s new senior center and transit center in the Landmark Square civic center off Third Street and Veterans Parkway in Old Town Clovis.
Plans for the library were previously delayed after contaminated soil was found in 2021 at the Landmark Square site and required remediation.
The Clovis branch of the Fresno County Library opened in its current 8,627-square-foot building in 1976. The county first approved the new, larger library in 2015, estimating it would cost $12 million at that time.
At Tuesday’s meeting, City Engineer Thad Avery said the county will be responsible for constructing the new library within three years. The city will retain the current library building located among its administration buildings and across from the Clovis Police Department.
Fresno County Deputy Director of Planning Bernard Jimenez said that revised design proposals for the library will be shared with the council and public for feedback, and that it will be complementary to the new senior center.
Clovis rejects county request for water
The council also unanimously rejected a request from Fresno County that the city of Clovis permanently supply water service to 29 homes in County Service Area (CSA) 10A located near Leonard and Herndon avenues, one mile east of the city limits.
Chris Bump of the county’s Public Works Department said that CSA10 was under a “compliance order” because nitrate levels in the water exceeded acceptable levels. The county had already met with the State Water Resources Control Board, and as a result was investigating possible solutions. A denial from Clovis would mean the county would continue to look for solutions.
Clovis Mayor Lynne Ashbeck said that if the city approved the request, it would be “a precedent we’d never recover from.”
Senior affordable housing development
Among the items on the meeting’s consent calendar, the council approved a Permanent Local Housing Allocation Program funding agreement in the amount of up to $1.4 million for the development of a 51-unit affordable senior rental housing project at 135 Osmun Ave.
A rendering of the site plan included in the meeting agenda packet.
The council previously denied a developer’s request to build a two-story housing complex at the location where a boarded-up church has sat for several years.
Central California Housing Corp. and Better Opportunities Builder, Inc. has proposed developing the site as affordable housing units for very low- to low-income individuals 62 and older, earning no more than 60% of the area median income.
A state appellate court ruled last year that Clovis must take action to zone for more higher-density, affordable housing. The city is involved in ongoing litigation with housing advocate Desiree Martinez, which was also on the council’s closed session agenda.
Survey shows residents want ‘affordable’ housing
Last, the council received a report from Director of Economic Development, Housing and Communications Chad McCollum on the results of a national community survey conducted in the fall to gauge Clovis residents’ level of satisfaction with the city.
McCollum noted that among survey responses, “housing jumped out as interesting,” including a precipitous drop in the perception of availability of affordable housing, which a graph showed went from 60% to 30% over 10 years. But he added that “we don’t know what ‘affordable’ is.”
According to the staff report, 77% of respondents considered city investment in affordable housing essential or very important; 73% said affordable housing was a major or moderate problem in the community and 71% rated it essential or very important for Clovis to address affordable housing in the coming two years.
In addition, about 86% of respondents prioritized city investment in land use planning, and 77% deemed it essential or very important for Clovis to focus on planning, development and growth management in the coming two years.
McCollum said that “air quality” was also reported as being “very low” by respondents. “But we have nothing to do with that,” he said.
The survey was conducted by a contractor called Polco over a period of six weeks. Surveys were sent to 3,000 randomly selected households, and 394 people responded.
Clovis has contracted with Polco every two years since 2013 to conduct these surveys on issues regarding public safety, housing, economy, utilities and parks.
Clovis survey results were compared with comparable cities in California and several other states. McCollum presented a long list of areas in which Clovis emerged as “No. 1” in comparison with other cities, such as being a place “to raise children,” having a “sense of community” and “quality police services.”
The Clovis City Council will meet again on Feb. 5.
