Retail
Areas Vie For Women Shoppers
New Packwood Center Lacks Female-Favorite Stores,
But They’re Working On It
Visalia - In the battle for the minds and pocketbooks of Tulare County’s female shoppers, the retail area around mid Mooney Blvd., anchored by the Visalia Mall, still has the most allure - the greater fashion store star power than Visalia’s newest shopping district on the south end of town - the new Packwood Creek center.
In coming months that allure could actually grow as the new Park Place center dominated by fashion retailers and across the street from the mall adds Kohls Department Store, Ross, Dress Barn and Men’s Wearhouse to the half dozen (pardon the popular phrase) “chick magnet” outlets at the Visalia Mall including Gottschalks, Penneys, Old Navy, Victoria’s Secret, American Eagle, Wet Seal, Claire’s Boutique, five bath and beauty stores, and I could go on and on.
Meanwhile the store mix at the new Packwood Center - to date - has been a mixed bag of retail outlets whose focus - hardware (Lowe’s), electronics (Best Buy) and general discounter (Target) don’t tend to race the female pulse. News that Pets’ Mart is coming doesn’t add much fashion excitement, either.
Not that Packwood developer Don Orosco hasn’t targeted the female shopper. As originally envisioned the center was to have a boutique cluster of stores (see picture) that showed strolling women shoppers as its focal point.
Now there is word the center’s new stores coming next year will include some female favorites - not apparel - but national speciality stores that enjoy high female popularity, Michael’s Crafts, Pier One, Cost Plus and likely Linens N’ Things.
Cost Plus competes with Pier One and typically has a larger store - about 18,000 sq. ft. offering casual furniture, housewares, gourmet foods and beverages. The company has over 200 stores nationwide. Linens N’ Things competes with Bed, Bath and Beyond with a smaller store averaging 8000 sq. ft. The company has over 400 stores nationwide and in Canada. They feature home textiles and accessories.
Orosco has aimed for a soft atmosphere spending some $2 million on landscaping for Packwood Creek that includes large pottery pieces to accent the center along with water fountains and palm trees.
Mid Mooney developer Dave Paynter’s Park Place shopping center will get full Mooney Blvd. visual clearance in the next few weeks as the three remaining buildings in front of the center will be demolished. Paynter says the proximity of the mall across the street was a key reason why he was able to land Kohls. “Then Ross and Dress Barn wanted to be next to Kohls,” says Paynter.
The reasons retailers target the female shopper? “That’s simple,” says Paynter, “Women do most of the household buying. I know when I go shopping with my wife all I want to know is how long will this take?”
A recent industry survey found that while men did just 18% of the holiday shopping for their household, women do 58% and 20% of the households share the duty between men and women.
Men may be going to Packwood Creek for power tools at Lowes, DVDs at Best Buy and lining up all hours at Krispi Kreme but the big draw for females will be the clustered stores at the mall, department and discount stores. One estimate has it an average mall visit lasts 76.4 minutes.
A noticeable exception out at Packwood is the new locally owned Ashoori Jewelry store that’s bound to draw the woman shopper.
Targeting Apparel Stores
Packwood’s broker, Walter Smith of Pearson, Grubb and Ellis, confirms that Cost Plus and Pier One will be side by side near the Mimi’s Café expecting to open next summer. Regarding Linens and Things, he says there is discussion but no deal as of yet.
“With Michael’s and Pier One and Cost Plus we think we have improved the tenant mix to attract the women shoppers.” On the shopping center’s west side next to Target, Smith says they are targeting the fashion and apparel stores including some small boutiques that could go with a 40,000 to 60,000 sq. ft. retailer. “We’re targeting women’s and men’s apparel for the westside,” says the broker.
One problem in attracting new tenants - the cost of workman’s compensation, says Smith slowing chains like Suzi’s Deals from expanding in the California market right now. “That’s true for Costco too,” says Smith. There had been reports the center was trying to attract Costco to land behind Lowes.
Even home improvement stores like Lowes work to attract more female shoppers than their competition Home Depot, seeking to add more decorative accessories to the usual offering of hardware and 2 x 4s.
Women tend to be earlier shoppers for Christmas starting their shopping right after Thanksgiving hitting a variety of stores. Meanwhile, one third of men haven’t started their holiday shopping 10 days before Christmas. Women tend to bargain shop at a leisurely pace browsing store after store while men are clearly impatient with this pace suddenly ready to buy - and then leave.
A few other tidbits on women shoppers. A survey found that 46% of women would rather go shopping than have sex.
Teen Girls Rule
Teen girls rule the world in shopping styles and their clothing and shoe closets bulge the most as a result. Families with strollers are female oriented shoppers and they tend to visit clustered store centers as well as nearby discount stores. It’s a fact that both Mooney centers are within a few minutes drive of each other that make this boulevard a powerful retail address and provides other retail districts on 198 (the Kmart center for example) and downtown with an obstacle hard to overcome in attracting national retail outlets. It makes sense for cities to pay close attention to shopping patterns and retail districts as well since their budget is based on retail sales. Tulare County racked up $2.17 billion in retail sales in 2000. Retail growth in Tulare outshines other towns in recent years as the city added new national retailers and fashion oriented outlet mall tenants. But Tulare County doesn’t have the huge store selection that a larger metro areas do largely because of our lower per capita income - 48 out of 58 in California and about 2/3 the state average. If you want a snapshot of the female shopper take a peek in the cabinets of your bathroom and count the number of bottles of notions for females vs those for men and you will discover who spends the money. To the degree downtown boutiques and shops can build a cluster of female friendly stores similar to stores found at the mall - a downtown district too, can attract the female and family shopping segment who want both the variety and the fashion.
New Suit Against Auto Mall Asks Court To Allow Referendum
Visalia - A new lawsuit filed by the Save Our Corridor group this week asks the court to allow citizens to vote on the West 198 auto mall despite objections by the city’s attorneys. After the group circulated petitions in September that gained 4200 signatures, the city refused to certify the petition even though the city agreed it had enough signatures to qualify for the ballot.
On November 3 city manager Steve Salomon - acting as city clerk - determined the petition would not be certified because it had fatal flaws.
Now, apparently the court will decide, likely a member of the Tulare County Superior Court bench unless they decide to bring in an outside judge.
The city hired an outside attorney to advise them on the matter after city attorney Dan Dooley declared a conflict. Attorney John Brown gave some reasons why it could not be certified that included the fact the petition was filed too late to challenge one of the actions the city took - to change the general plan allowing the “ag” designation to be removed to put the land in a “service commercial” designation.
The petition to challenge the city’s action was filed within a 30 day period to challenge a second action of the city - a change of zone on the property. But Mr. Brown has argued that because it did not cover both actions, the petition was void and had not been filed in a timely way.
The new filing by Fresno attorney Richard Harriman asks the court to reject those arguments suggesting the city’s assertion that the zoning law and general plan has to be consistent does not apply to a charter city. He also argues that a court typically “liberally” interprets referendum petitions that allow the electorate to vote on issues. He says mistakes pointed out by Brown in the group’s petition wording were inconsequential and caused “no confusion” by those that signed the petition, a key issue the court will consider.
Further, Mr. Harriman argues that the city itself set up an inconsistency when it failed to change their own West Visalia Specific Plan when they adopted the new general plan amendment - the subject of an earlier lawsuit filed by Mr. Harriman on behalf of the corridor group a few weeks ago.
The new suit means there are two lawsuits pending on the auto mall to be heard by the court.
The city has apparently hired another outside attorney firm to fight the West Visalia Specific Plan charges - a San Francisco firm, Schute, Mihalay & Weinberger. Attorney Brown is handling the referendum lawsuit.
Harriman says he believes the referendum matter will be heard in the next 30 to 60 days, although these suits always have a mandatory settlement hearing perhaps in the next few weeks.
Also the new lawsuit asks for a “preliminary injunction” against city expenditures on public works in support of the auto mall - Visalia Auto Plaza at least until there is an election.
Caught in limbo here is the Manganos - the developers - who believe they have an entitlement to use the land the way the city decided on a 3 to 2 vote. They have their own attorneys who will likely help fight these cases in their favor even if the city goes toward a vote that could remove those entitlements.
On the other side of the coin, the bottom line for corridor leader Greg Collins - “all we want is a binding vote on this up or down.” At least two council members agree. But this week in a closed door vote they voted against such a vote relying on interpretations of Mr. Brown.
The upshot - the auto mall remains stalled until the two suits are settled. A few weeks ago a third suit by dealer Don Groppetti was settled removing one more obstacle in the way of the controversial project.
Visalia Sales Tax Increase Would Add Police & Firefighters
Visalia - Visalia voters will get the chance March 2 to increase the city sales tax by one quarter cent making every one hundred dollar purchase cost another quarter. “That’s a small price to pay” for knowing that the police or fireman you call shows up right when you need them, says council member Don Landers. The extra cost might cost the average Visalia household another $46 a year.
“It’s just about an emergency situation,” says city police chief Jerry Barker. “The state continues to take money from local governments,” says Barker, and this tax increase would be used only to pay for public safety, he says. “We need this measure now,” agrees city council member Phil Cox.
Landers noted that three city councils have studied this issue. He points out that the tax is the fairest way to increase revenue and taps the visitors who shop in Visalia to help pay for the services the town needs.
Barker says public opinion surveys showed “strong support” for the tax increase that will help reduce response time of officers to calls for service. The most recent survey found 68% of the registered voters would support the plan. The sales tax measure does not require a tough two-thirds majority to pass. The council has agreed the sales tax measure would “Sunset” in 8 years requiring a re-vote. The council promised to form a citizens advisory group to oversee the spending.
The plan focuses on staffing. It would:
• Hire and equip 28 new police officers to patrol neighborhoods and cut down gang violence and drug trafficking
• Use these officers to open both a North and South side precincts
• Upgrade the outdated 911 emergency dispatch center to improve response times
• Hire and equip 18 new firefighters
• Open 2 new fire stations in the Northwest and Southeast
• Build a new firefighter training facility.
This week the council voted 5 to 0 to back a staff suggestion to put the matter on the ballot March 2.
There is concern that voters will have a lot on their plate this March with the new COS bond proposal, the Visalia Unified bond and a statewide bond being proposed by Governor Schwarzenegger. Also look for an initiative to repeal on employer paid health insurance, and a $25 billion statewide education bond. Still, this coming November’s ballot is likely to be even more crowded. Nearby cities including Selma - a big auto sales town - has a higher sales tax than we would at 7.87% compared to the new rate in Visalia - if it passes - 7.5%.
City Closer To Buying Eastside Railroad Land
Visalia - The City of Visalia is closer this week to buying some 23 acres from the Union Pacific railroad that would bring the city’s total acreage in the Ben Maddox to Burke, Goshen Ave. to Center block to nearly 35 acres - the home of the new civic center.
The Visalia city council is seeking an EPA grant of around $1 million to both assess and clean up an expected petroleum contamination of ground on some of the property, says Redevelopment District’s Bob Nance. The grant application is to be filed December 4th.
“We applied for the money last year” but didn’t get it. “This year we believe we have a stronger application.” Nance says the city should hear more by Spring 2004.
Sources say the city is working with our congressional delegation and lobbyists to encourage the approval of the project.
The city has been negotiating with the railroad company for a number of years and apparently only the clean up issue remains to be resolved.
“I think it’s safe to say we are moving closer to a purchase,” says city manager Steve Salomon. “The railroad has been very cooperative.”
Purchase of the property would help the city assemble the property with others nearby including the big Farm Bureau site across the street (stockyards) and CalTrans yard soon to be vacant to market it to another agency and private developers in the push to infill this old industrial area east of Downtown.
The city already purchased some 11 acres at Goshen and Burke and has acquired other nearby parcels recently including the southwest corner of Burke and Goshen.
A few months ago the city saw a plan drawn up by Quad Consulting for preliminary site plan of the area that included a large lake and creekside trail leading from Downtown to the west back to the civic center site laid out to face the two waterways that course through the old railroad yard.
The yard “probably had some oil distributing” activities in the past that caused the petroleum finds in a Phase 2 study the city paid for in the past year. A Phase 2 study investigates potential contamination issues related to a potential property purchase.
The EPA has a “Brownfields” program to help cities clean up old rail yards in towns across the nation. One of the most successful has been in Denver where an old yard is now the “hippest” place in town bringing in residential, business and retailers along with trendy restaurants to a place only bums hung out in, in past decades.
“That’s the case here where this part of town has carried the name “hobo jungle” for years.
The city considers the redevelopment of the area from Santa Fe to Ben Maddox one of its major priorities supported by all the council members. The city has been pushing the development of downtown heading east as you can see along Oak Street east of the Depot Restaurant where two blocks of new development is going up. That includes the new city “Transit Center” built on an old rail yard itself that the city purchased some years ago from the rail company.
Oak Street itself is expected to be pushed east along the tracks to Burke to access the area.
The purchase of the big vacant railroad piece includes all the Ben Maddox frontage now occupied by JB’s Cement and Don Rose Oil. But it doesn’t include the Si’s Automotive lot or the old concrete batch plant along Center St.
The city has been moving ahead on the creekscape improving trails and planning lakes (ponding basins) in the next few years to help improve the look of the area changing it from a dusty tumbleweed filled rail yard to Visalia’s downtown-east. Enhancing waterways may help encourage private investment nearby the city sees as critical to the plan.
Just how soon the actual civic center is started will largely depend on how much the council pursues the plan and city finances. Expansion of Kaweah Delta downtown will make the current city hall prime medical property in the future.
The potential passage of an increase of one-quarter cent in the sales tax - set now for March - will provide some funding for public safety facilities in town that include police and fire facilities at the new civic center.
In the next few weeks the city is expected to hire another consulting firm to continue the planning process for the redevelopment of east Visalia.
Condors Coming Back
Tulare County - The success of the captive breeding program for the endangered California Condor has got naturalists thinking about releases of the magnificent scavenger birds in Tulare County.
“We’re probably 4 to 5 years off, but it’s just a matter of time,” says naturalist Mark Hall of the US Fish and Wildlife Service. The agency manages Blue Ridge National Wildlife Refuge in Tulare County - the place where the birds would be released. “This is part of the historical range of the condor,” says Hall and the Blue Ridge is a good roosting area with a large rock outcropping, he says.
Hall says an older condor fitted with a radio transmitter flew into the Blue Ridge area just this summer.
The impressive bird features a wing span up to 9 and ˝ feet, says Hall. “If one ever flies over you, you’d certainly remember it.”
The number of birds dwindled in the 1980s to as few as 22 and was near extinction, experts say, but now due to the captive breeding program that releases young condors into the wild, there is some 225 birds in California and in the Grand Canyon area of Arizona.
Pinnacles Release
“This month we plan a release in the Pinnacles (west of Los Banos) area,” says Hill, where six young birds will be released. Recently condors from southern California near Ventura have been flying with birds released up by Big Sur and now “they are hanging out together,” says Hall.
“We’ve really made some slow steady progress over the years.”
Hall says once they decide to move forward on the Blue Ridge release the naturalists will take the young birds to the release point, east of Lemon Cove and north of Springville, and set them in boxes typically outfitted with netting to allow the birds come out and acclimate themselves. Then in about two weeks the birds are released. The naturalists track each bird and sometimes have to help out. “They don’t have parents so sometimes we become the parents,” says Hall.
Since they are just learning to be scavengers, the program sometimes puts out stillborn calves to ensure the young ones get their fill. “The first few months are the most important,” he says. The birds feed together and ordinarily the parent “would run interference for the young one.” Some birds have trouble competing when carrion is scarce.
Yokhol Plan
The return of the condor to Tulare County could affect any plans to build a reservoir in Yokhol Valley not far from Blue Ridge although the potential construction of that reservoir is only a small possibility. Yokhol is one of several alternatives being considered for expansion of water storage on the San Joaquin River.
COS biologist Rob Hansen says a few years ago Springville area hang gliders reported seeing condors soaring nearby and the USFWS confirmed the birds probably were condors. The birds ranged north up the southern Sierra as far up as Sequoia Lake, says Hansen.
Hall points out that while some see little value in preserving birds that are essentially vultures, “the issue is one of values.” He says they do carry out a practical function of “eating carrion and cleaning up.” On top of that - these condors are the largest land bird in North America.
Hunters are blamed for the deaths of some condors and in fact Governor Davis announced in February that one of the rare birds had been shot by a poacher in Kern County. Poisoning of the birds who may be eating animals that are filled with lead shot is considered one of the major killers of condors over the years.
Fish and Wildlife Service says that while there were thousands of condors in the area before the coming of the White man, that population fell to just 600 by 1890 and down to 60 in 1965. Breeding of captive condors began in the late 60s, but it wasn’t until the mid 80s that the number began to climb with successful breeding programs. The last wild condor was captured in 1987 to help in the breeding program.
COS Bond Includes Funds For 4-Year Classes, Hanford and Tulare Campuses
Visalia - There was a $7.5 million surprise package in the plan adopted by COS trustees this week to ask voters in March to approve a $95 million general obligation bond. The bond would generate state matching funds taking the total to be spent up to $160 million. Of that $77.7 million would be spent in Visalia, $63.8 in Tulare and $18.3 in Hanford. The surprise was that trustees supported a $7.5 million expense to build a 4-year facility on or near the Visalia COS campus - the first major step toward building a 4-year campus of higher learning. The funds could be used in collaboration with another college, say to build a campus “somewhere in the Visalia area,” says COS Vice President Don Goodyear.
The bond funding would require a 55% vote of the electorate in the March 4 election. The cost of the $95 million bond is put at $21.50 for every $100,000 of assessed valuation on all property within the COS district.
In Visalia the bond monies would pay for:
• Build Allied Health and Nursing Building
• Modernization of Business and Foreign Language Building
• Construct a new classroom building in place of the Industrial Ed. building
• Modernize Industrial Shop into Maintenance and Operations building
• Design and build a Sequoias Center for Advanced Studies
• Modernize and build a Student Service Center and Bookstore
• Modernize Instructional Media for Social Sciences
• Create parking for 200 cars and additional land acquisition
• Purchase remaining houses for additional parking. In Tulare the bond would pay to:
• Build the Tulare Center Phase I + $28 million in state match
• Construct parking roads and other Tulare Center infrastructure
• Fund Planning and building of Phase II of Tulare Center
• Fund Design and construction of Phase III of Tulare Center. In Hanford the bond would pay to:
• Construct Hanford Educational Center
• Pay off COS’s share of loan for land purchase with matching dollars coming fro local schools and City of Hanford
• Fund infrastructure for Federal Grant for labs and additional classrooms.
Plans to establish a 4-year campus here have been bubbling for years without coming to a boil. A committee made up of members of COS, the City and Fresno State University have been meeting for a year to try to move the plan off the dime by increasing enrollment at the COS/FSU center. FSU plans to offer more classes at the Visalia campus. Meanwhile, interest by other colleges, including Cal Poly and Fresno Pacific, appears to show strong demand for more classes.
Having a pot of $7.5 million should give the momentum to build a college in Tulare County a big boost.
In addition, local officials are working with Sacramento to see what funds could be made available for a 4-year school. The two counties of Tulare and Kings is the largest area in the state not served by a 4-year college. It also has the lowest number of individuals with college degrees. Not having a college nearby is considered a prime reason why.
Biz Notes
Downtown Tulare has a new Walgreens and now look for one out at Prosperity and Hillman on the city's hot northwest quadrant. Orange County developer Paul Quong has the southeast corner of Hillman property under contract and is working to land a Walgreens at the shopping center site. The drug store chain has been aggressive in putting multiple stores in nearby towns like Visalia where they already have three. The Visalia Walnut and Court Walgreens is now a 24-hour store, the company recently announced.
As Gottschalks goes - so goes the central California economy? If the locally based department store is a mirror for the valley's prospects, then things are looking up even if immediate returns don't suggest a widespread rebound. Fresno based Gottschalks reports its third quarter financial returns show a $3.2 million loss - the same number as one year ago. Same store sales showed a decrease of 1.9% while a total sales reflect a closure of eight stores in the past year. Yet their stock has been pumped up from $1 a share to nearly $4 a share this week from May to the end of November. Analysts site a cut in costs at the retailer including some staff consolidation. Apparently Wall Street believes all we have to do is wait for the expected rebound to filter down to the central valley. The rise in dollar value of the stock has apparently prompted chairman Joe Levy to sell about 10% of his stock in November.
As reported in the Voice in recent months, Visalia based Pappas Telecasting is close to buying KRFE Channel 59 in Fresno which currently leases from the owner, Sanger Telecasters. Last week Pappas announced they are interested in purchasing the station for $25 million in cash. Pappas has operated the sister station since January 2001 offering the WB network of programming.
Charlie's Shoe Repair on Center St. - a fixture in downtown Visalia for 43 years - has relocated to Mooney Blvd. this past weekend, says owner Gordon Morton. "Our business has really changed" over the years, says Morton, from repair to sales since "boots are being made to throw away" and can't be repaired. Morton says the new spot next to Foster's Freeze will give them additional selling space for their retail boot line. Taking their place back downtown will be a body piercing place, The Skin Lab.
Tulare - For the first time, COS students are active on the new Tulare campus - plowing new soil as it were. The college's Ag Enterprise Project course is working with around 10 students who are "learning by doing," says David Mendonca, instructor for the program, learning about farming not just in the classroom but at the dirt level. The college has the 500 acre property set aside for the Tulare college campus and the new COS farm. The farm is being used first with students allowed their own 30 to 65 acres where each student plants a cash crop - cotton or wheat for example - and plants it, fertilizes it, tends to it and finally harvests it. The crop is then sold and proceeds are split between the college who has paid for the seed and inputs and the student who has nurtured it, he says.
The project is modeled after a Cal Poly course, says Mendonca. The student gets classroom time of course to study farm bookkeeping and economics and plan their crop.
The program plans to expand into an animal science and ornamental horticulture, says Mendonca, two specialities at COS. The student gets college credit for the course - 12 units - once certified.
Mendonca says a school farm lab is being set up that will allow ag companies to conduct field trials involving seed and varieties as well as chemical tests and conservation techniques.
All proceeds of the sale of crops is used by the college farm account. As to the "profit" from the crop - the student gets a hefty 75%.
How Are We Doing on Ag Land?
By Jim Sullins
If you haven't noticed, Tulare county is changing. How we feel about those changes is based on our many different points of view. In the near future as Tulare County updates the General Plan, we will have the opportunity to evaluate and discuss those changes county wide. In each of these discussions, I expect the preservation of Ag Lands will be an important part of those discussions and since we are the number two, and sometimes number one Ag county in the state and nation we should not be surprised.
In a recent public hearing, I heard it stated that according to the Tulare County Ag Report, agricultural land in Tulare County had increased in the last year. This concerned me, as there may be a misunderstanding on the acreages reported in the Annual Ag Report. The acreages reported are harvested acres estimated from several sources by the Tulare County Agricultural Commissioner. Tulare county "total harvested acreage" varies from year to year mostly as farm ground used to grow field crops such as corn and alfalfa, are fallowed or re-planted and put back into production. In a review of the total harvested acres reported from 1983 to 2002 the average year to year variance in acreage was about 1%.
Has there been a change in the harvested acres in Tulare county?
Yes, if you take a ten year average from 1993 to 2002, the average harvested acres is 1,539,498 acres, and compare that to the ten year average from 1976 to 1985, the average harvested acres is 1,605,536 acres, a difference of about 66,000 acres, a decrease of about 4%. Is this significant? Perhaps, as based on the 2002 gross average value per acre of $2040, that 66,000 acres would be $134,640, 000 additional ag production value in the county, almost enough to make us number one again. On the other hand, these statistics do not tell us what those acres are now growing; maybe its houses, a shopping center, a cheese plant, or some of those acres may now be set aside for wildlife or a park. Nevertheless we do not seem to be farming as many acres now as we did 20 years ago.
How does Tulare county compare to the rest of the state?
According to the California Farmland Mapping Program, which has mapped about 90 percent of the state's farmland, California contains about 100 million acres of which about one-half is privately held and nearly 60 percent of those 50 million private acres is in some type of agricultural production. Over 11 million of these acres are largely cultivated and irrigated cropland, classified as "Farmlands of Statewide Importance". However less than 5 million acres are considered "Prime Farmland", that is farmland with no physical limitation to its agricultural use. Only 15% of all the states agricultural land is Prime Farmland, and represents only 5% of the states total land. Interestingly, this is approximately the same number of acres California has dedicated to urban land use.
From 1998 to 2000, the conversion of all farmlands exceeded 90,000 acres, of that 19% was Prime Farmland. This represents a 30% increase over the period from 1996 to 1998. Much of this change was in our most productive agriculture regions including the central valley. According to the Department of Conservation from 1990 to 2000, the top 10 agriculture counties in the state, converted over 220,000 farmland acres to non agricultural uses. During this same 10 year period, in Tulare county 20,947 were reported as converted to non agricultural uses. This represents approximately 1.3% of the average harvested acres over the last 10 years, an annual rate of 0.1 %. The California Department of Conservation reported that from 1998 to 2000 Tulare had a total conversion to nonagricultural use of 13,524 acres and 10 % of that was Prime Farmland. This represents an annual rate of about 0.2%. From 1996 to 2000, California annually urbanized an average of 45,000 acres of open land for a total over 80,000 acres, representing an annual rate of 0.7%. Of this, about one third was irrigated farmland, and one in five acres was Prime Farmland.
What does this mean for Tulare county?
We seem to be converting our farmland at a much slower rate than the state as a whole; over the last 10 years at a rate one-seventh that of the state average, however over the last four years it appears that our rate has doubled, yet it remains much less than the state average. Our conversion of Prime Farmland is about one-half the statewide average.
Planning processes, such as the Rural Valley Lands Plan and the Williamson Act, that we have used up to this point seem to have been working. As we prepare for the upcoming General Plan update, we need to keep looking at the changes we see in the county and ensure that our planning process keeps us on track to make Tulare county what we want it to be. We seem to be doing a pretty good job at ag land preservation, however preserving the ag land does not necessarily mean the preservation of agriculture. However, this may have to be a future topic.
Baseball
Moves Indoors
Visalia Baseball
Academy Offers Chance to Hone Skills Out of the Weather
Visalia - Former high school baseball coach Mark Chamberlin has opened Chamberlin Baseball Academy in Visalia this past week offering indoor baseball practice in a gym format - out of the weather. Chamberlin who coached varsity baseball at Golden West for 10 years also played a little pro baseball himself. Now he's teaming up with other pros at the academy to help individuals or teams sharpen their playing skills.
"There are lots of baseball enthusiasts here - club teams and youth teams who want to keep that competitive edge," even in the off season, says Mark. What helps is having your swing critiqued by a pro player like Johnny Estrada a catcher for the Atlanta Braves who was helping out this week at the Academy. Then there is the "visual feedback" that video camera and TV playback system offers, says Mark.
Other pros you might see down at the Academy include Aaron Hill a short stop with the Toronto Blue Jays, Shane Costa who is with the Kansas City organization and pitcher Adam Pettyjohn the Exeter High standout who was recently traded from the Detroit Tigers to the San Francisco Giants. These pros are ready to offer their own brand of baseball in half hour or longer clinics.
With batting tunnels, a T and toss section, live bull pen and a chance not just to bat against a pitching machine but live pitching, the player from rookie to oldsters gets a chance to feel the heat. Cost ranges from $35 per hour for individual lessons to less than that for multiple or group lessons. Chamberlin says the new gym will be convenient to weekend players open 9 to 5 on Saturdays and 10 to 5 on Sundays and 3 p.m. to 9 p.m. Monday through Friday.
Chamberlin thinks the new gym will be especially popular during these gloomy gray winter days coming up. Come springtime, he expects to have a baseball field in the back of the gym for base running practice and infield fielding.
"This has been a dream of mine for a long time. I've seen these indoor baseball gyms work in lots of other towns and figured it was time to start one here."
The day we visited catcher Johnny Estrada who played ball at COS and now plays for Atlanta was giving some expert tips to a young 11 year old catcher. Where else is this kid going to get that type of help?
The baseball academy is located near the corner of Goshen and Shirk at Marcin Court, one block east of Shirk off Goshen Ave. Telephone 636-BALL (2255) for times available.
The above stories are the property of The Valley Voice Newspaper and may not be reprinted without explicit permission in writing from the publisher.
December 4, 2003
