Documented by Rachel Youdelman
Summary: What you need to know
- Will Shaw Avenue have to close, as staff recommends, during construction to widen it? The council directed staff to maintain the “signature amenities” of the design of the Loma Vista Marketplace development during the construction work to widen Shaw Avenue, whether closure takes place or not. The consensus of the council was to keep it open. Council directed planning staff to further consider how it would be done.
- The council approved with a 4-1 vote a change in the municipal code to allow for the delivery of medical marijuana in city limits. Pearce was the “no” vote. This item was heard in the previous meeting, with 3 in favor, 1 “no” vote (Pearce) and 1 absence (Basgall). It was brought back so the full council could vote.
- The council received a report from a consultant regarding how the city calculates development-impact fees (DIF) and how Clovis compares with similar communities. Other means of financing city infrastructure, particularly Community Facilities Districts (CFDs), were considered, in a first workshop to determine more sustainable ways to raise revenue for financing city infrastructure.
Council and Staff
Lynne Ashbeck, mayor
Vong Mouanoutoua, mayor pro tem
Drew Bessinger, council member
Matt Basgall, council member
Diane Pearce, council member
John Holt, city manager
Andy Haussler, assistant city manager
Scott Cross, city attorney
Karey Cha, city clerk
The Scene
The Clovis City Council met on Jan. 8, 2024, for its first meeting of the new year. Ashbeck called the meeting to order at 6:02 p.m., and wished everybody a Happy New Year.
Basgall led the flag salute. Clerk Cha called roll; all council members and staff were present.
About 60 people attended in person, about 85 viewed via YouTube, and a handful via Webex. The meeting was extraordinarily long at five hours, ending at 11 p.m., and Ashbeck made several jocular “past my bedtime” comments.
There are several ways to participate in the council’s meetings: in person, you may comment on specific agenda matters as they are discussed, or on those not on an agenda at the scheduled time. Just show up. Commenters are normally limited to five minutes each. Note that laws regarding public meetings preclude council members from making definitive responses about matters that are not on the agenda. You can also call in to a Webex when the meeting is in progress, or you can submit a written comment. Easy instructions are found here.
All council members are elected at large; none represent specific districts of Clovis. To contact any of them with questions or to comment about issues, phone 559-324-2060 (one number for all) or email:
Lynne Ashbeck lynnea@cityofclovis.com
Vong Mouanoutoua vongm@ci.clovis.ca.us
Matt Basgall mbasgall@cityofclovis.com
Drew Bessinger drewb@cityofclovis.com
Diane Pearce dianep@cityofclovis.com
Members of the public may attend meetings at the Council Chamber, 1033 Fifth St., Clovis, CA 93612, or online via Webex. The next meeting will be Jan. 16 at 6 p.m. Videos of past meetings and agendas are available here.
Agenda item 1 The council proclaimed January “National Slavery and Human Trafficking Prevention Month.” Representatives of the Fresno EOC’s Central Valley Against Human Trafficking and other collaborating organizations were present to speak briefly about their work. During the ensuing discussion, Bessinger said that “there is evil out there,” and repeated an anecdote he has often told about the rescue of a trafficked teenager at the Fresno airport when he was its chief of police; the perpetrator in that case “died in custody,” he noted. He cautioned parents to be mindful of their teenagers’ activities; Bessinger revealed that he himself had “two difficult teenagers,” suggesting that intrafamilial conflict was a factor in potential trafficking.
Mouanoutoua spoke for several minutes, thanking everyone and asking what more could be done. Pearce said that a proclamation was “just a piece of paper” and that “what you folks do” is important. The word “evil” was repeated often, and Ashbeck said that “evil was met by the goodness in your hearts.” Everyone posed for a group photo.
Agenda item 2 The council received an update on the Clovis Senior Activity Center from its director, Amy Hance, who said the age requirement for participation is 50, but that they “don’t check IDs.” Hance showed a video of a choir rehearsing in the new space and photos of groups of people participating in various activities. Hance noted that since the opening of the new center seven weeks ago, the number of participants has quadrupled. Ashbeck remarked that “every dime” spent on the new center was “worth it” and said that the center’s success to date demonstrates “the power of gathering together.”
Public Comment This is the segment of the meeting for members of the public to raise any issue that does not appear on the agenda but is within the council’s jurisdiction.
Malcolm Gibson, retired journalist and Clovis resident, was the sole commenter. Ashbeck appeared to recognize Gibson from his past frequent meeting participation; addressing him as he rose from his seat, she said, “Why did I know you’re going to stand up?” She also seemed to know details of Gibson’s private life, adding, “Don’t fall, you’ve got a wedding to go to in Boston.” Gibson, who has spoken of his hearing impairment, did not appear to notice what she said. Gibson spoke about the issue of affordable housing and the public perception of Clovis as a discriminatory town which “thumbs its nose” at affordable housing and advised the council to make “the Clovis way of life” work for everyone.
Consent Calendar, agenda items 3-14 Approved 5-0. The “consent calendar” is a group of agenda items considered routine; they are decided with a single vote. A council member, staff person, or a member of the public may pull any single item for discussion; otherwise, the vote proceeds without discussion. No items were pulled for discussion.
Agenda item 15 The council voted 4-1 to approve a change in the municipal code to allow for the delivery of medical marijuana in city limits. Pearce was the “no” vote. This item was heard at the previous meeting, with 3 in favor, 1 “no” vote (Pearce) and 1 absence (Basgall). It was brought back so the full council could vote. Pearce pointed out that the agenda noted the previous vote was “4-0-1 with Basgall absent, but that the correct vote was 3-1-1, remarking that her vote was a “nay.” Holt said that the record would be corrected.
Agenda item 16 The council unanimously approved a request for an April 13, 2024, Old Town street closure on behalf of Hot Rods Fresno, a group whose request to close streets for their car show had been tabled because of objections from some Old Town merchants who were concerned about the multiple Saturday street closures in April. Shawn Miller, the city’s business development manager, made the presentation, and Cora Shipley of the Business Organization of Old Town (BOOT) clarified that her organization would withdraw objections for the current year but asked that in the future, the car show management apply to have their show in months which don’t have multiple Saturday street closures. Remarks were made by Ashbeck, Mouanoutoua and Bessinger.
A representative from the car show now noted that they had always said that either Saturday or Sunday would be suitable, but at the previous meeting a different representative said that he objected to Sundays because he was a “pastor,” though he provided no other details.
Realizing everyone was in agreement, Ashbeck said, “We’re good, we’re done, we should stop selling the car.”
Agenda item 17 The council received a report from Ken Hira of Kosmont Companies, introduced by Haussler and with whom the city contracted to do an analysis of how the city calculates development-impact fees (DIF) and how funding in Clovis compares with similar communities. Hira also presented another means of financing, Community Facilities Districts (CFDs), also known as Mello-Roos districts, which are special tax districts established in California in 1982 via the Mello-Roos Community Facilities Act; the special property tax is a means to raise funds for building infrastructure (water, sewer, roads, parks, police and fire) in new real estate development.
The city hired Kosmont to do the analysis because, as Ashbeck has often expressed, the current manner of funding via DIF is likely unsustainable and other means of funding will be necessary to ensure the city’s future growth decades into the future.
Direction to Kosmont had been made at the council’s June 5 meeting to provide analysis in two workshops. Today’s, in which methods for financing infrastructure were discussed, was the first; and the second workshop, regarding costs for water infrastructure, will follow in a couple of weeks. That in turn would be followed in the spring by a re-evaluation of fees.
Council members asked questions throughout Hira’s presentation, and the detailed discussion continued for over an hour.
It was pointed out by Haussler that Clovis’ DIFs were higher than those of other communities but that Clovis offered a “higher level of amenities,” such as availability of recycled water and faster police- and fire-response times. The goal of the fee structure has been that “development pays its own way.” Ashbeck and others remarked that it does not always pay its own way, hence the need to seek different ways of funding infrastructure.
Advantages and disadvantages of CFDs were discussed. Julio Morales, a colleague of Hira’s with expertise in the subject was attending via Webex but was watching a sporting event, so his availability for comment was in doubt, and jokes were made about who was winning the big game. He eventually spoke and said that with a CFD, debt was not the city’s. Haussler said that with the current model, the DIF, the city is the debt holder.
Mouanoutoua, Bessinger and Ashbeck engaged in the discussion, asking questions and comments. Basgall and Pearce were silent.
Ashbeck said that the reason Clovis has not used CFDs is because the late, long-time council member Harry Armstrong was opposed to them. She said that this report from Kosmont raised questions for the future and that “we gotta stay on this,” meaning the issue was far from resolved.
Public comment on the matter was opened, and several local real estate developers spoke. Jeremy Cook of Cook Land Company said, “Set up the CFDs and you’ll get the development.” Mike Prandini of the Building Industry Association said that Kosmont presented information “already known to us.” Arakel Arisian of Arisian Group talked about CFDs based on lot size. A woman whose name was unintelligible but who appeared to be a developer spoke about fee “pay-outs” but was unclear otherwise.
Everyone seemed to acknowledge that the issues would not be easily resolved. Ashbeck thanked everyone and said that there was “more to be done;” she summarized that the solution to the problem was “a collection of things.” Bessinger wanted to enlist CFD experts whom “the industry” wants. Mouanoutoua said, “I want to say, ‘go for it.’ ” Pearce said that she wanted to “support the direction my colleagues support.” Basgall said he agreed with all that was said, but that he thought another 2008-style recession was coming, though he gave no reason for thinking that.
Agenda item 18 The council, after a very long discussion, directed planning staff to come up with a way to keep Shaw Avenue open and maintain the “signature amenities” of the design of the Loma Vista Marketplace development during the construction work to widen the major street. At issue was the temporary closure of Shaw Avenue, but discussion entailed suggestions for major changes in the design of the development, which has been under construction for over 10 years and was first planned 20 years ago. Some council members seemed to think that closure of Shaw Avenue could be avoided by eliminating features such as an underpass.
Planning Director Renee Mathis, City Engineer Thad Avery and City Planner Dave Merchen made the presentation. Mathis explained that the general partners of the Loma Vista Marketplace requested that the city maintain Shaw Avenue frontage access with no more than two to four weeks of closure time to their shopping center when the Shaw Avenue work begins in about a year, in 2025. Mathis continued that staff has provided several street closure alternatives but that she recommended that council direct staff “to continue with a full closure as planned, because it provides the highest public safety and convenience.” She also noted that “it’s the most cost-effective alternative, because it offers the fastest overall construction schedule.” The full closure, however, would last from eight to 12 months.
The problem arose because the Shaw Avenue work was originally scheduled to take place in an earlier phase of the project but was delayed.
The development was publicized as having excellent walkability, and a pedestrian undercrossing is designed for a major intersection.
All council members asked questions and made comments. Regarding the underpass, Pearce said that she has heard from “some community members” about a “deep concern” because “there’s a history and a concern with those types of environments . . . for a lack of safety there. I’m certain lighting is part of it and all of that” [sic], but she was otherwise not explicit about what she meant. Bessinger asked about a different treatment of the intersection, but Avery said it would entail a redesign of the entire project with a new environmental study. Basgall said Shaw Avenue needed to stay open, and he was otherwise OK with the underpass.
Public comment was opened on the item. Several representatives of shops in the development, such as Starbucks, Me-n-Ed’s Pizza and Panda Express, opposed closing Shaw. Tax revenue of $50 million a year would be lost, said Dan Zack of Zack Urban Solutions. Peter Orlando of Pearson Realty, responsible for leasing space at Loma Vista, speaking at about 9:50 p.m., said he “got the chance to skip a meal” as he waited to comment. “We cannot have a full closure of Shaw Avenue, OK?” he said. Others were fervent that Shaw not close — pizza wouldn’t be delivered, and “Wall-Street-driven” stores would not open. Others would not start construction until they knew when the street would be open.
Other suggestions were thrown around, such as adding a round-about, which Avery explained were impossible. Ashbeck summarized the dilemma as “keeping the Loma Vista promise” while avoiding the closure of Shaw Avenue. Mathis emphasized that a street closure would be a “short-term pain,” and that the goals of walkability and successful commerce should be maintained. She wanted confirmation that the consensus was to keep the underpass as planned. “Is anyone in charge of this meeting?” joked Ashbeck.
Ashbeck summarized: “We all want to keep Shaw open.” The goal, she said, would be to keep the “signature amenities” of the project, such as the underpass, and “if it’s not underground, it better be like the Eiffel Tower.”
Agenda item 19 The council voted unanimously to award $1.48 million of the city’s Permanent Local Housing Allocation (PLHA) state-provided funds for affordable housing to the Central California Housing Corp. for the development of 51 units of affordable
senior rental housing at 135 Osmun Ave., with rental rates based on income. Staff Management Analyst Claudia Cazares made the presentation with a colleague new to the staff.
Mouanoutoua wanted to know if after 55 years, could the apartments change to market-rate. Cazares said they could, or they could be refinanced and kept at affordable rates. Representatives of the Central California Housing Corp. said they “don’t transfer to market rate” so the apartments would stay affordable.
City manager comments Holt mentioned staff participation in the Hmong New Year celebration.
Council comments
Basgall had no remarks.
Pearce said that her brain was not functioning and wished everyone a Happy New Year.
Bessinger said that he’d talked enough.
Mouanoutoua said that he will attend a Martin Luther King Jr. breakfast event on the coming Saturday.
Ashbeck commended Solid Waste Manager Yvette Rodriguez for quickly handling a task on a Friday afternoon. Contractor Republic Services had missed a trash pickup for a resident, and Rodriguez sent a city crew to take care of it. Effusive thanks were received from the resident. It was an “awesome example of Clovis,” said Ashbeck; it was an “I can’t believe it moment” which in Clovis happens often, she said. Discussion regarding complaints about Republic ensued.
At 11 p.m., the council adjourned to closed session. Once again, the affordable housing case which the city lost, Desirée Martinez v. City of Clovis (Fresno County Superior Court case F082914), was on the closed-session agenda. Cross said there would be no action taken on the matter, but no one said why the case has been appearing on the closed session agenda for months on end.
If you believe anything in these notes is inaccurate, please email us at fresnodocs@fresnoland.org with “Correction Request” in the subject line.
