City to continue new subdivision public hearing

City: Kit Fox unlikely in the area

The Porterville City Council will continue their public hearing on the Villas at Sierra Meadows 4 and 5 Development project on Tuesday night. The project includes the annexation and development of a 80 single-family residence subdivision on roughly 20 acres on the southwest corner of West Gibbons Avenue and South Jaye Street.

At their last meeting on January 17, city staff explained the city had received a letter from the Department of Toxic Substances Control, DTSC, concerning potential contamination at the project site. Council opened the public hearing, received public comment concerning the habitation of the San Joaquin Kit Fox, SJKF, in the area of the project, and agreed to continue the hearing until Tuesday’s meeting in order for the city to gather more information.

To mitigate the concerns about potential contamination, the property owner contracted Awengineering who conducted testing, sampling, and a chemical analysis on the soil in the area and determined no detectable levels of contamination would be of concern to the DTSC.

In addressing worries about the Kit Fox, the city consulted their Special Status Species and

Vegetation map and concluded it’s unlikely that the kit fox is in the area.

“While animals can move from one place to another and it is not impossible that the speakers did encounter SJKF, it is unlikely,” reads the staff report attached to Tuesday’s agenda.

In addition to the annexation and development of the site, the public hearing will address an amendment to the

general plan to rezone the area to low density residential.

Currently the area is designated as exclusively agriculture by the county, but is pre-zoned by the city as low density residential. To the north and east of the site, single-family units are already developed, and to the west of the site is St. Anne’s Cemetery.

The city is recommending the council approve

the project after they continue and close the public hearing.

During the scheduled matters portion of their meeting, the council will discuss becoming a Key Community Partner and lead applicant for the Tulare County Regional Transit Agency (TCRTA) with a Letter of Commitment to the United States Department of Transportation (DOT) for their “Thriving Communities Program.”

“”Thriving Communities Program” is a federal grant funded program designed to

provide technical assistance, planning, and capacity building support to advance a pipeline of transportation and community revitalization activities that increase mobility, reduce pollution from transportation sources, expand affordable transportation and housing options, improve health outcomes, facilitate efficient land use, preserve or expand jobs, and enhance connections to healthcare, education, and food security to benefit disadvantaged populations and communities,” explains the staff

report.

The TCRTA sent a letter of interest in participating in the program to DOT, and received notification that they have been selected as a finalist and could be awarded up to $25 million, part of which would go to the city and the Tule River Tribe.

If selected to receive the funding, the money would be used to receive “two years of highly technical assistance to assist in planning and developing a pipeline of transportation, housing and community revitalization

activities.”

Although it’s on the consent calendar and could be approved without discussion, the city has been awarded a $177,952 grant through the California State Parks Per Capita program and is looking to use the funds to improve the local skatepark. According to the staff report for the item, the city must use the funds for park rehabilitation, creation and improvement, and has decided to use the grant money for skatepark improvements.

Improvements to the skatepark will include a shade structure, additional skatepark elements, and solar lighting. The city is looking for council approval to send out requests for qualifications for the skatepark project.

This meeting is scheduled for Tuesday, February 7, beginning at 6:30 p.m. It can be attended in person or streamed live via the city’s Youtube channel.