Visalia - Completing four years of effort, developer Dave Paynter has filed a 17 acre plan for a shopping center at the site of old "Sin City" apartments at Mooney and Walnut right across from the Visalia Mall.
After working on bigger plans, Paynter - the Tustin-based developer of the Costco shopping center in town - said "we have to go with the size project we can accomplish now" predicting he might be able to begin construction in early 2002.
"We have tenants that want to be in the market right now," says Paynter whose site layout and parking plan was reviewed this week by city planners on Wednesday.
The 168,000 sq. ft. project covers the entire Mooney frontage from Walnut south to Dennys restaurant showing removal of all current uses from Weatherby's down to Dennys. Paynter already owns three buildings around Weatherby's but does not own the furniture store property, at least not yet.
Paynter has had discussions with most of the property owners along this property the past few years. Some say they have heard from the developer more recently that the project was still alive while others doubt Paynter will be able to follow through to buy their property as he has promised in the past. None of the property owners contacted for this story wanted to be identified. Some were hopeful for a sale and others skeptical.
The site plan shows the two big name restaurants and a possible fountain where Weatherby's is today - the popular chain Mimi's Café and Johnny Carino - an Italian franchise launched by the same group that created Macaroni Grill.
Paynter said he is working with a number of new stores for Visalia but said he had letters of intent from only two stores he could talk about - Linen and Things (a competitor to Bed, Bath and Beyond) and Old Navy who would move their store from the Visalia Mall. "We think we could have the center open by the third quarter of next year," Paynter says. Paynter believes his shopping center will be a big regional retail draw for Visalia and "help keep Mooney strong."
A few years ago Paynter tried to get the city council to go along with an idea to allow a supermarket at the site. But the council balked in part because they wanted the well placed site to be a regional draw and a supermarket would hurt the Best Buy Market only a block away.
Council encouraged Paynter to work with the owners of the Visalia Mall for awhile to see if some sort of cross-Mooney center with a bridge and joint uses might work out. But that didn't go anywhere because JP Realty - the owner of the Visalia Mall seemed to have other fish to fry (they own centers all over the West). Council members and city manager Steve Salomon even made a fruitless trip to company headquarters to try to shmooze the mall owners.
As Paynter was trying to lure tenants to the site, he had worked to secure options on Mooney frontage from the multiple property owners along the strip. Some of those options have expired. Paynter says when the time comes he is confident he will be able to acquire the property from willing sellers.
The site plan shows additional Mooney frontage that will be taken as a result of the upcoming widening of Mooney including all the parking area now in front of the Weatherby's store. The furniture company leases their space.
Paynter made the local daily a few months ago when a default notice on one of the parcels made it look like he would lose the property to a lender at auction. But that didn't happen and Paynter scoffs at the idea he would give up on this project after all the time and effort and money he has spent on it.
Now Paynter is locked in a political competition with rival Monterey developer Don Orosco - each seeking not just tenant approval but city council approval for their projects. Paynter and Orosco are talking to many of the same national tenants that include Costco, Target, Ross, Best Buy and Pets Mart.
Orosco's plans are south of Packwood Creek - the historical development line of south Mooney. For the past few years a consensus has developed to allow new development across the creek although no formal action by the city council has been taken.
The city is issuing an Environmental Impact Report on the Orosco project in the next few weeks to be out for public comment. The planning commission and city council will have their say on the project that has grown to as large as a million square feet by some accounts, covering multiple parcels on both sides of south Mooney.
The competition between Paynter and Orosco is likely to spill over in this fall's election where three seats will be up for grabs at the city council.
Mayor Don Landers, who will seek another term this November, has suggested that a final decision on the Orosco project is not likely until after the November election.
Paynter however, does not have the hoops Orosco has in terms of city approval since the old Sin City property is already properly zoned for regional retail. But Paynter's biggest problem is that expenses to buy all those properties pushes the cost of the dirt higher than Mr. Orosco has to pay. But Mr. Orosco has some high infrastructure cost to pay for.
The Mooney and Walnut site now is a vacant field with Paynter having to spend at least a half million to demolish the old 200 unit apartment complex and remove an asbestos problem there.
Paynter says he favors projects that "reinvest in the core shopping area of Visalia" a not so veiled reference to his opposition. Paynter went through this process before when he built the Costco shopping center having to assemble multiple properties to build it - in that case with city redevelopment help. Now Visalia Mooney redevelopment project doesn't have the money to help on his deal - at least not yet identified.
Orosco, too, doesn't mind the competition having been a vocal opponent himself just one election ago of the Fresno developer Ed Kashian's plans for an entertainment and shopping center at Plaza and 198.
At the time Orosco suggested that allowing a big development at Plaza/198 was like Fresno's plans to build the River Park project owned by Kashian and that if the city allowed to be built it would hurt Mooney Blvd. Now critics of Orosco say his project is like the Fresno River Park plan that is hurting reinvestment on Blackstone in Fresno.
Orosco disputes his center will hurt Visalia noting that the project "follows the long term goals of the 2020 plan" that called for eventual opening of the development line after the year 2000, after most of the existing Mooney strip had been developed.
Critics of the Orosco project suggest that his development would hurt Mooney by relocating current Mooney stores like Target and Costco but not offering a firm plan to backfill those spaces.
But clearly Paynter is talking to the same tenants like Target and some tenants like Old Navy that are clearly relocations - not new tenants. Paynter says many of the 7 buildings planned for the center are new to town however. Orosco, too, makes the same claim - that the synergy of a new center will attract new retailers to town making Visalia's retail clout even stronger.
Visalia's Planning Commission will hear a report at their regular meeting July 23 at 7 p.m. of plans for the Orosco project along with a discussion of the Westlands Akers/198 project and Shannon Ranch. Mr. Orosco himself is expected to make a presentation about his plans to the commission.
Plan Would Build Joint-Use Hospital In Kings River Region
Dinuba - Dinuba's Alta District Hospital is preparing to file for Chapter 9 bankruptcy protection by August 1, says its administrator Max Jack. The plan needs the approval of the City of Dinuba who has helped back the struggling health care district. "The filing will allow us to keep offering service free of debt," says Jack. The move was approved by the district board July 10. The city has backed the health care district in the past year with an emergency loan of $2.5 million to keep the doors open and Alta has tapped over $1.2 million of that fund to date.
Dinuba Supervisor Steve Worthley says the filing appeared necessary "to create a fire wall between the hospital and their creditors" to get the district back on their feet. Chapter 9 bankruptcy is only available to public entities like the hospital district.
Rather than continue to try to keep the doors open in Dinuba long term, Jack says the board has conceptually approved a joint use plan to build a large state-of-the-art hospital with three other hospital districts including Reedley, Selma and Kingsburg that would serve all the communities perhaps in a location between the cities. "We have our first meeting this week," to study the idea says Jack.
Jack says none of the health care districts have the funds to do a major seismic upgrade of their hospitals as demanded by the state and profitability at all four hospitals is marginal in any case. "Separately none of us can afford to do this but together we believe we can," he says. Kingsburg District Hospital is in bankruptcy as well.
Jack says the location of a new hospital "would be one of the first order of business" of a joint study. The boards of all four hospitals are likely to meet to begin discussion on the idea in the next 30 days, he says. Jack says it was probable a location between the towns might be selected. The Kings River area lies between all four towns. "We want to be close to population centers."
"We are all experiencing out migration of patients to Fresno and Visalia." That might not happen if a new hospital were built. "We figure if a new hospital has the support of physicians, then the patients will follow," he notes.
The new campus would be a new acute care hospital with emergency room, perhaps a rural health clinic and ancillary health care businesses including medical office space, he suggests. A major need is out patient dialysis service, he says.
Jack says the current Alta campus could be used in the future for skilled nursing (there is already an 18 bed facility there), other health care options or municipal use.
A new hospital would make redundant not just Dinuba's facilities but the other three towns health complexes as well. What to do with the old units is the problem. In Lindsay right now where the community is trying to figure out what to do with the now vacant Lindsay hospital.
The move to declare bankruptcy this month came after the Dinuba hospital failed to gain a new loan with Bank of Sierra even as it is in default on an old loan with the bank. As of July 1 the hospital owned creditors some $1.4 million.
The issue of the future of Alta Hospital helped rally community support in town for the past year as many worried that not having a local ER would impact the quality of life in the area and hurt economic development efforts. Some, like businessman Fred Ruiz, vowed to steer more business toward the small hospital.
Former Dinuba Hospital administrator Bob Montion - now at Tulare District Hospital says all small hospitals in the state face the same problem - low and slow reimbursement for their services. "You've got to have lots of volume and substantial cash reserves" and if you don't "you're in trouble."
Montion says when he was at Alta they looked at bankruptcy as a possibility as early as 1992. "It is particularly hard on a town that has counted on the hospital for the past fifty years like Alta," he says. Montion says discussion with other hospitals to do what they are talking about now have gone on before. "This may be the only way out," he suggests. Adventist Health Care recently bought Selma District Hospital and passed muster with voters to do it. The hospital chain owns both Hanford hospital and a Bakersfield hospital as well. "They are a significant player now in the Valley," says Montion.
Visalia - Visalia city council member Jim Harbottle says he won't run for another term on the council. "I might as well quit while I'm ahead," says Harbottle, former Visalia police officer turned attorney. "I came in with a mandate to improve public safety and step up the pace of economic development," and that has been accomplished. Harbottle was more than a friend of the police department at city hall pushing for tough architectural standards downtown, spearheading the plan for a new transit center on Oak St. as part of the city redevelopment downtown, becoming a key advocate for creek restoration in town.
The projects are now underway with the transit center likely to attract a new UC Merced Center and the creeks restoration changing the long term face of Downtown Visalia. This week council approved a plan that would make Mill Creek a showpiece through the city center. The project would focus from Ben Maddox all the way to Akers.
While this cop turned councilman was tough on crime, it appears the guy had a green thumb and a vision for planning some were not expecting from a flatfoot. While he enjoys public service it is clear Harbottle doesn't have enthusiasm for campaigning and fund raising - the necessary evils of another run for office.
Friends say Harbottle has had a tough few weeks with the loss of a number of close friends and doesn't have the energy needed to devote to campaign right now.
Among others, Harbottle's friend Steve Abbott died recently and now this week Abbott's wife passed away. Harbottle says there is something about being a police officer that runs a body down - the average life expectancy is only 58 years and many don't make it past 4 years after retiring. Harbottle retired 5 years ago.
The news means that there will be one open seat on the council this November with only planning commissioner Phil Cox confirming at press time he would be a candidate.
Earlier incumbents Don Landers and Jesus Gamboa said they would seek reelection.
Developer Andy Mangano told the Voice he was considering a run. But sources say that is unlikely. However, the field is now more open with a vacant seat on city council.
Tough issues remain up in the air as an election approaches including west 198 development, south Mooney/Packwood Creek development, auto mall issues, Kaweah Delta hospital plans and a proposal to allow a private surgery center near Akers and 198.
One guy who says he hasn't given up on running for council is former mayor Wally Gregory. Contacted recently by the Voice, Gregory says that now that he has fought off prostate cancer recently "I've got lots of energy," he says. "Some days I feel like going out and taking papers out." But the former city council member says if he did "I wouldn't take a penny of anybody's money if I did run." Gregory was involved in an election time controversy over fund raising efforts by his treasurer, George Ouzounian. Ouzounian was later cleared of any wrong doing by the US Attorney.
Locals Must Come Up With New Smog Control Plans
San Joaquin Valley - This week environmental groups made it clear they thought the San Joaquin Valley Air District and the EPA were dragging their feet on tougher smog rules for the valley, giving 60 day notice they would sue the agencies.
But EPA has already said they are reclassifying the Valley from a Serious to Severe classification for Ozone. This same week the SJV Air District presented a plan to local governments at the TCAG (Tulare County Association of Government) meeting telling locals "they need to come up with new smog fighting solutions or we'll do it for you." says County Planner Ted Smalley.
Local governments have only till September to suggest a host of local measures that we can use to cut air emissions. The key word in the implementation of the measures - are they reasonable?
In considering new measures the plan suggests local cities show why or why not a list of measures is economical or technically feasible, that the measures achieve reductions sooner and can be measured.
By early October the Air District will adopt a list of measures to show EPA how we will attain the cleaner air and by May of next year the master plan will be submitted to the California Air Resources Board and one to the EPA. The attainment deadline is November 2005.
Each county in the San Joaquin Valley must come up with their own list of measures that are likely to include many we are already trying - more bike lanes, traffic flow improvement, public transit, alternative fuels programs and ride sharing measures, says Smalley.
"We are going to be brainstorming ideas over the next month," says Smalley who has a list of control measures considered by other jurisdictions across the country that are all over the board. Among the more interesting ideas:
Job Related Ideas:
Employer ride share incentives
Paid parking instead of free
Employer pays for in house meals on ozone days
Close government offices on ozone action days
Promote telecommuting
Traffic Flow Measures:
Coordinate traffic signals
Remove on street parking
Fewer stop signs
Ban left turns
55mph during ozone seasons
More park and ride lots
In Downtown Areas:
Restrict truck movements for deliveries by time
School district encourage walking to school
Area wide tax for parking
Convert parking lots to other use
Provide incentives to do high density development around transit centers
Zero bus fares
Create incentives for car pooling
Close some roads or make them pedestrian only
Bicycles:
Provide free bikes
Cash rebates for bikes
More bike trails
Bike ordinance requires bike locker for companies with 100 or more employees
Polluter Removal:
Buy cars older than 1975
Control Idling:
Limit car dealers vehicle starts
Outlaw idling n parking lots
Alternative Fuels:
Provide tax relief for buying an alternative fuel vehicle (like a hybrid)
Outlaw diesel
Other:
Promote cleaner lawn and garden equipment.
Putting the Air District and EPA on notice this week were the Sierra Club, the Medical Alliance For Healthy Air of Fresno, the Latin Issues Forum and the Center For Race, Poverty and the Environment. The Air District responded to the group's allegation that not enough was being done by pointing out that in 1987 the Valley did not meet health based standards for ozone for 60 days. But the year 2000 that number had decreased to 31 days.
Still many residents agree the air stinks here and the issue is what clean-up strategies can we use that are economically feasible?
Another hot button issue remains this summer and that issue is of dust control. The SJVAPCD is considering tightening rules on dust that have some farmers upset. Farms are already unregulated now and a draft measure would force farmers to keep dust down on dirt roads. Farmers also still burn fields during summer days when the air is the worst.
Got some ideas you want to share with government regulators? Write or email the Valley Voice at P.O. Box 571, Visalia, CA 93279 or vv@lightspeed.net and we'll pass them on.
Visalia - Visalian Rob Phillips, now age 22, found himself on the street from about the age 13 through 18 - many of those years on Main St. in Visalia itself. After getting in trouble with the law, Rob was lucky enough to find himself in Judge William Silveira's Drug Court which helped him turn around. Phillips lost his alcohol and drug problem and since last November has been enjoying working as a chef at Main St.'s popular Café 225 - a success story of what timely intervention can do to help troubled youth.
With the help of Drug Court, employee Gail Johnson, Rob became interested in the idea of reaching out to the same runaways and drifter kids he was part of only a few years ago, helping to found a new non profit organization that aims to help homeless youth here. Phillips says kids will listen to him "knowing I won't sugar coat things."
To the young runaways who seek an exciting life on the streets, "I tell them they have no idea what it's like out there" in the world of hunger, sexual and psychological exploitation, burning hot sun and freezing cold nights and the emptiness you feel when you have no family.
A few years ago Phillips was telling his story to a Channel 30 TV reporter telling him that "some nights I have nothing to eat but an old chicken bone" a story that earned him the nickname of "chicken bone" with the kids that still hang out on the street, much of the night at the Downtown coffee houses.
Now Phillips is on the board of a new non profit group - Partners For Youth Vision Inc. - a group coordinated by Gail Johnson and led by a board of caring Tulare County residents who want to help homeless youth to connect to services and help shelter them first with some sort of a drop-in center and soon - a homeless shelter for those hundreds of youth that "live in" or pass through Visalia every year.
How big a problem is it? Research done by a group comes up with over 2000 homeless youth that "reside" here, many who are not reported as runaways. A 1999 California Dept. of Justice report suggested the category of runaway youth amounts to 2283 youth that year with 365 from Visalia. Surveys by a need assessment done about a year ago here found that youth here have a broad definition of homeless that means not just a life without a physical address but definitions like "a step parent who doesn't want me in the house", "no clothes or clothes so dirty and smelly they embarrass you", "not feeling safe, no food, no one to talk to, feeling alone", "staying at friends, it was not my house."
The report concludes that these youth have learned not to trust the system and they avoid contact with programs that might assist them. Health problems can be major including sexually transmitted diseases, head lice and sores that go without medical attention. There is a wide range of mental health problems often coexisting with physical and substance abuse problems.
Life on the street can age a young person fast. 19 year old Gar Caswell told a focus group here that "They say each year you spend on the streets adds about five years to your life. I feel like a forty year-old woman. I feel like a little girl that never had a childhood. Inside I'm very loving, sweet, and gentle, but not a lot of people see that."
Determined to help these kids, counselor Gail Johnson along with Judge Silveira began talking up the possibility of a shelter in Visalia over a year ago. Earlier this year they got a $25,000 planning grant from the California Endowment to help plan a Drop-in Center, an outreach program for homeless youth and maybe a permanent shelter for these troubled kids. The City of Visalia is involved and in fact, city administrator Donna Bailey is chair of Parents for Youth. Kaweah Delta has offered to get involved as is the YMCA and Boys and Girls Club.
As a result of a series of focus groups and one on one interviews, the assessment of the needs here found youth sought a place that was "non institutional" where they could feel safe and comfortable. They agreed the program "should not mix homeless youth with homeless adults."
The needs assessment came up with a plan for a 24 hour shelter that would offer a safer environment, a place to stay, a place to access services. Many suggested that the youth be allowed to set the rules led by caring adults.
By far the biggest problem homeless youth have is drug and alcohol problems. A survey done in Los Angeles found 71% of homeless youth had an alcohol or drug problem. A difficult balance for the new non profit will be how to handle youth who come to the drop-in shelter high with the potential fear in the community that a center could be simply a "flop house" says the needs assessment study. Buy it if you bar access to these kids you are contributing to homelessness.
Drug use by the families of homeless youth is a major problem. A survey done of Tulare County Juvenile Drug Court participants found that 75% of the parents or guardians were regular drug users.
Tulare County can make the case that its youth population needs their help. Consider a few facts:
• Tulare County's unemployment is 15% compared to 5% for the rest of the state.
• 37% of children live in poverty compared to 19% for the state.
• Child abuse cases are 30% higher than the state average.
• Our drop out rate is one third higher than the state average.
• Juvenile misdemeanors in Tulare County are three times the state average.
• Total number of youth enrolled for drug and alcohol treatment in Tulare County last year was 779.
• Teen pregnancies are one of the highest rates in the state.
Gail Johnson says the Partners for Youth Inc. is filing their incorporation papers in Sacramento this month and is applying for a $250,000 state grant to launch their effort. They hope to get funding this fall.
In the meantime, they are soon going into the fund raising mode. "People can donate to us through the Tulare office of the United Way right now," says Johnson, by earmarking their offering to Partners for Youth Inc. Donations can be mailed to United Way Of Tulare County, 1975 S. Blackstone, Tulare, CA 93274.
The problem of homeless youth on Main St. has been a touchy one with merchants over the years. Rob Phillips remembers a few years ago when front page news stories about homeless youth on Main St. riled some property owners and store owners in part because they didn't understand and because "a few youth were out of hand" blocking sidewalks and harassing people. "It's a more positive scene now on Main St.," says Rob.
Porterville - Porterville will get a 53,000 sq. ft. Food For Less store if a plan submitted to the City of Porterville gets approved. Fresno developer Latco Enterprises has submitted development plans for a parcel next to Walmart's retail store on Henderson in Porterville.
Planner Randy Rouda says a design review application is expected to be submitted soon to the city council and that staff has already reviewed the plans.
Food For Less stores in the central valley have recently been purchased by Fleming Foods from the franchisee Leonard Whitney.Food For Less already has two stores in Visalia and has reportedly been interested in Tulare.
Latco has developed other Food For Less sites in the Valley. Rouda says the site for the store is already properly zoned.
Tulare - Staples, Inc. will build a new office supply store next to Walmart in Tulare if the project gets final approval. Del Lago property owner Frank Lagomarsino says the property is in escrow to Pac West who builds stores for Staples. The project was approved by the city's planning commission this week. The 24,100 sq. ft. office supply store would be located in the same site rejected by rival Office Depot some months ago.
Lagomarsino says another developer is looking to build out more retail space clear to Laspina. "If the deal goes through as we expect, the store could be under construction in September," says Lagomarsino.
Staples is a Massachusetts based company with more than 1300 outlets worldwide. The company has a store in Visalia. It would be the first chain office supply discount store for Tulare
The above stories are the property of The Valley Voice Newspaper and may not be reprinted without explicit permission in writing from the publisher.
July 18, 2001
