Clovis is building an ‘urban village.’ Will it be a second downtown, or more houses?

Twenty years ago, Clovis took a fairly bold step in urban design.

Recognizing the growing population, elected leaders approved a plan for 3,300 acres (a little over 5 square miles) on the city’s southeastern edge. Loma Vista, as the area was called, would be more than an expanse of cookie-cutter single-family homes. The “urban village” featured an array of housing options, some entirely new to Clovis. Plus commercial and business centers, parks and school facilities linked with biking and walking paths along vibrant streets to someday form a self-sustaining community of 30,000.

“It was an aspirational vision for what kind of place we want to live,” said Clovis City Councilmember Lynne Ashbeck, who in March 2003 helped approve the Loma Vista Specific Plan. “For me as an elected official, I say it all the time: If we can’t plant a flag for what we want to be, then we’ll keep being more of the same.”

More of the same, Loma Vista certainly wasn’t. At the “heart” of the new growth area (as described in city brochures) was an expansive village green, a public park covering 6.2 acres. Surrounding the village green were areas zoned for high-density residential, mixed uses and public facilities, such as a post office and library, so that people living in the vicinity can walk or bike for all their shopping, dining, entertainment and personal needs.

In other words, creating a quasi-downtown out of what used to be farmland.

Opinion

Clovis didn’t invent the urban village concept. Other cities have successfully built downtowns from the ground up or repurposed land to do so (like San Jose did with Santana Row or what San Mateo is doing at Bay Meadows.) Still, it was new to the central San Joaquin Valley — a significant step for a city where many longtime residents wanted Clovis to remain a small town and maintain its rural leanings.

Since Loma Vista was adopted, the population of Clovis has grown from 70,000 (69,918 in the 2000 census) to nearly 125,000 according to current estimates. Much of that growth has occurred in the southeast area. Yet key elements of the 20-year-old specific plan remain unfulfilled. The Loma Vista of 2022 remains largely an expanse of single-family housing developments (with more on the way) and the three Clovis Unified Schools that make up the Reagan Education Center.

Loma Vista is considered 70% “built out” in that more than 6,400 single-family homes have either been built or permitted. An additional 981 have been approved. (The specific plan estimates between 10,000 to 11,000 total residential units.) Only one multi-family development has navigated the pipeline: a 215-unit apartment complex under construction by Wilson Homes at the corner of Ashlan and Locan avenues.

And aside from a new fire station and corner strip mall containing a Starbucks and an AM/PM that sells hard liquor, there’s no sign of an urban village or any commercial retail. Leaving residents to drive 3-4 miles for basic needs.

“There’s no question it’s taken a little bit longer than we thought,” Ashbeck said.

Construction to begin on village green

Loma Vista will soon reach a critical juncture. Last month, city officials awarded an $8 million bid to Marko Construction Group Inc. to build the 6.2-acre village green north of Gettysburg Avenue between Leonard and DeWolf avenues. (Directly north of Clovis East High, for those vaguely familiar with that part of Clovis.)

Besides two large grass areas, the project includes a central clock tower with a fountain, an amphitheater, playground, maintenance building and restroom, monuments and street signage. Street and utility improvements are already finished.

City leaders envision the Loma Vista village green as a common area for residents as well as a community event site that will supplement Old Town Clovis.

“Old Town has been carrying that load for a long time,” Councilmember Bob Whalen said. “It would be nice to spread that out a little bit.”

Construction is scheduled to begin Aug. 29 and to be completed a year later. What happens after that will be the next test for city leaders. Once the village green is finished and open for public enjoyment, will they stick to the conceptual design with its three-story apartments, mixed-use buildings and traffic-calming streets? No matter how many years that takes? Or will they cave to developer demand and rezone for more single-family homes?

“There will be that pressure,” said Whalen, whose 20-year council run ends in November. “There’s always that pressure.”

Besides the new fire station, the only development near the village green is the apartment complex under construction at Ashlan and Locan. According to Clovis City Planner Dave Merchen, preliminary discussions with nearby property owners have been about projects that conform with the housing densities established by the specific plan. No applications have been submitted.

City commitment to urban village

Ashbeck, a council member since 2001, says Clovis has done a good job “staying the course” on big projects. She compared Loma Vista to the Clovis Technology Park on Highway 168 and Temperance Avenue in that the idea was ahead of its time and took longer than expected.

During the many years the land sat vacant, she said, developers pressured the city to rezone for single-family homes. But city leaders refused, and today the Clovis Technology Park is home to California Health Sciences University and several other businesses.

“Loma Vista seems a little bit like that to me,” Ashbeck said. “It’s a stay-the-course type of a plan.”

Although Ashbeck represents only one vote on a council undergoing unprecedented turnover, she believes the city is committed to seeing Loma Vista built out as designed. Fifty years from now, Ashbeck doesn’t want future Clovis residents to look around and wonder why the leaders of today allowed the city to become a sprawling grid of tract houses and strip malls with little connection or sense of place.

(Psst: Like what happened to Clovis’ larger, more unruly neighbor.)

“Loma Vista was a big vision,” Ashbeck said. “It is gorgeous — different. We don’t have anything that looks like that, and it’s kind of a test of staying the course for policy makers and keeping your eye on 50 years from now.”

Whether Loma Vista becomes a satellite downtown for Clovis or more urban housing sprawl will be determined a lot sooner than that.