Dear Council members, Commissioners, and planning staff, As we enter Tier II waters it is important that we understand that there are under currents that may result in long-term adverse impacts on Visalia. But first, let me share the current situation as it relates to home building in Visalia and the San Joaquin Valley Today there are few custom home builders. Most home builders are large entities that work throughout the State or the US. They demand quick turnarounds and little deviation from projects that they have built in other cities.
Because home prices (and rents) have increased dramatically over the last 10 years, their primary object is building a home or apartment complex as inexpensively as possible. They desire higher densities (more units per acre), lower impact fees, less amenities and faster processing times.
Typically, these home builders enter city hall with a set of building plans that were most likely used in other cities. In other words, not unique to Visalia.
These home builders are most interested in building subdivisions but not neighborhoods unless of course planning staff and Commission demand neighborhood amenities, good design, attention to detail (e.g. entryways into the neighborhood, corner lot details, perimeter landscaping, choice of street trees and streetscape appearance), and good long-term maintenance.
First, let me say that this memo is not intended to be critical of staff, Commission or City Council. We have a good team and most cities in the Valley would envy our organization. However, I believe as a group we can demand residential developments that are better designed and can withstand the test of time.
Recently the City Council considered a 32-acre residential project (Higgins) that was composed of mostly of 5,000 square lots, thirteen 3,800 square foot lots and no park to speak of. Further, I suspect that the building plans for this residential development are off the shelve plans that have been used in other cities. The development design backs the project up to a TID ditch rather than incorporating into the development as an amenity, it creates 13 very small lots with little backyard, it has no park for the neighborhood’s children, it has no entryway features (tree-lined median) and it created numerous side yards that over time may suffer from lack of landscaping maintenance.
As I have stated before, higher residential densities are not necessarily a bad thing, however, higher residential densities without effective design guidelines, proper long-term maintenance, neighborhood amenities and attention to design details can result in a subdivision that becomes blighted over time. Who will be responsible for this “blight”? The answer is all of us.
In conclusion, I would suggest that we convene a summit this Fall to discuss how Visalia might avoid long-term blight in our neighborhoods, and how we can ensure that Visalia is building neighborhoods and not subdivisions. A two-hour bus tour would be great to see firsthand the good, the bad and the ugly.
I’ve taken some time to redesign the Higgins project so that it is more neighborhood-like rather than just a subdivision. Note the centrally located park, the tree-lined linear park along the TID ditch, and the 19 double-frontage lots that face either the neighborhood park or the linear open space corridor along the ditch. A double-frontage lot is a design feature where the house faces one street, and the garage faces the other street thereby almost creating two front yards.
Greg
APPROVED HIGGINS SUBDIVISION
REDESIGNED HIGGIN’S SUBDIVISION