Tulare County · issues
Civic issues
Topics getting the most attention in Tulare County public meetings, ranked by how frequently they come up.
Monson ag hauling facility dispute (PSP 26023)
Neighbors say the Nagra site is really a commercial truck terminal, not an ag service business, and worry about heavy truck traffic at a congested rail crossing on Avenue 384. The commission punted, ordering staff to verify the ag claims (including receipts) before deciding. Expect this one back.
Rural land divisions and small-lot zoning
Four property owners won approval to divide agricultural and residential land — from a small Orosi commercial lot to a 280-acre farm gaining a homesite. These splits shape where future homes and businesses can go in unincorporated areas.
Eight-foot wall for gated compound near Highway 137 (PZV 26045)
A couple developing a six-parcel gated residential compound near Tulare got permission for a taller-than-normal block wall to block highway noise, stray vehicles and ditch-side trespassing.
Goshen development and infrastructure
The county approved the final map and improvement agreement for Phase 4 of Tierra Linda Holdings' Goshen subdivision and formed an assessment district to pay for street maintenance there.
Permanent supportive housing capacity nearly exhausted
The county has 235+ behavioral health beds and 136 more coming online at the renamed Monarch facility, but can't force people to accept them. Members and staff discussed how relationship-building at shelters and warming centers might get more unsheltered people into beds and treatment voluntarily.
Proposition 1 housing bond on the ballot
Members discussed the National Low Income Housing Coalition gap analysis showing only about 25 affordable units per 100 extremely low-income renter households, and a Self-Help Enterprises plug for Proposition 1 on the November ballot to fund more affordable housing.
Springville subdivision stuck on water service
Sierra Ridge Estates' 54-lot map got a five-year extension because Del Oro Water Company can't yet provide adequate water service — the final map can't be approved until utilities confirm service.
Kern County Homeless Response System
Kern County shared how it funds and runs its homeless programs — tiny homes, a navigation center, and a self-governing safe camping site — while facing hard choices as ARPA funds run out and the state demands proof programs move people into housing.
2026 Point-in-Time Count Results
Tulare County counted 1,023 people experiencing homelessness in January 2026, down 13% from the year before — the second straight annual decline. Street homelessness dropped from 890 to 677, likely reflecting new low-barrier shelters, but smaller towns like Dinuba and Exeter saw increases.
Prohousing Designation renewal
The task force mapped out its 2026 agenda: regional presentations from Fresno and Kern counties, housing element briefings from each city, a transitional rent benefit talk from Kingsview, and possibly a visit from the psychiatrist running the new crisis stabilization unit. Members flagged the core problem — almost nobody can be housed without a subsidy, and there aren't enough of them — plus worries about immigration fears skewing the point-in-time count.
Blocked HUD grant round threatens housed residents
HUD's 2025 funding notice was pulled after a lawsuit over caps on permanent supportive housing renewals; a federal judge has HUD operating under the 2024 NOFO for now. Roughly 100 people in Tulare County live in PSH funded by these renewals, and losing them could re-houselessness people who have been stably housed for years. A new, tougher NOFO is expected around summer.
Tulare CARES emergency shelter opening
Visalia's low-barrier warming center served 100 people in December and logged 138 new check-ins in 17 days of February, pulling people into services. Meanwhile a new Medi-Cal benefit will pay six months of rent for homeless residents engaged in county behavioral health care, with Kingsview as the sole provider.
Kaweah Delta maintenance agreement and flood control ordinance update
Kaweah Delta Water Conservation District is building four recharge basins, including the $15 million, 380-acre Hannah Ranch South. They store flood water to replenish aquifers, but FEMA reimbursement for 2023 storm damage has stalled parts of the work.
Bringing four Dinuba-area residences into compliance
New owners of a 3.31-acre parcel west of Dinuba are cleaning up code violations inherited from the previous owner, including substandard housing once used for employee housing. The approved permit lets four residences stay while building permits bring them to code.
Behavioral Health Housing Program
A new CalAIM benefit now pays up to six months of rent for Medi-Cal members in Enhanced Care Management who are homeless, unsheltered, or exiting institutions. Eligibility is narrow — tied to clinical and behavioral health risk factors — and rent payments stop after month six, so a plan for what comes next is required upfront.
ERF Round 5 grant competition
The state's fifth Encampment Resolution Funding round has only $93 million — a third of prior rounds — and half of it must target encampments on state highway right-of-way. County mapping found zero unsheltered residents on the right-of-way in unincorporated areas, so the county likely won't apply alone and will instead support Visalia and Tulare city applications.
Fresno County homeless services model
Fresno County recently stood up a dedicated Office of Housing and Homelessness to centralize its homeless response, from Continuum of Care duties to encampment resolutions. The pitch to Tulare: a single office with clear board direction and outcome tracking can coordinate funding and services better than scattered departments.
36-lot subdivision extension east of Kingsburg
The Kings River Land Company subdivision got two more years to proceed on its approved map.
Developers building on top of flood control channels
New development keeps popping up right on the edge of district channels, especially around Mill Creek and along Highway 99, blocking maintenance access. Commissioners want a county ordinance or policy requiring 15–20 feet of access along every channel before more homes are approved.
Allensworth Civic and Entrepreneurial Center setbacks
The new civic center in the historic community of Allensworth needed relief from 50-foot setbacks to fit its trash enclosure and shade structures. Commissioners agreed strict enforcement would cut about 6,000 square feet from the buildable area and hurt parking.
Agricultural parcel divisions (Tipton and Tulare)
Two routine ag parcel splits — 132.57 acres near Tipton and 80 acres near Tulare — were approved without opposition, a small step in the county's ongoing farm land division activity.
Pixley residential lot split
A 7.41-acre parcel east of Visalia would be split into four lots under 2.1 acres each. Neighbors say the rural roads can't handle more traffic, wells are already failing, and kit foxes live in the adjacent ditch. The commission wants staff to answer groundwater and wildlife questions before voting.
TSM 25-004 eight-lot subdivision north of Porterville
The Grizzles' 40.5-acre property three miles north of Porterville can now be split into eight parcels under the Foothill Growth Management Plan. Private roads must be built to Class 1 county standard, and the map was found exempt from environmental review.
Pixley Travel Center development
A 36-acre travel center near Highway 99 and Avenue 120 with a giant convenience store, fast food restaurant, and truck, RV, gas, and EV fueling. It's a by-right use in an industrial zone and is expected to bring 40-60 jobs and major sales tax revenue to Pixley.
KCAO Food Bank Service Center project
Kings Community Action Organization is building a $22 million, 84,000-square-foot campus in Hanford with a 200-bed low-barrier shelter, centralized kitchen, and 40,000-square-foot food bank. Phase one is fully funded at $8.7 million but construction has slipped to mid-2027 due to federal clearance delays. The presentation gave Tulare County partners a look at what a neighboring county is doing about homelessness and food insecurity.
Traver Ranch Development Project
Santa Lucia Ventures proposes a comprehensive rebuild of Traver with new housing, a reconstructed Merritt Drive, new water wells, a new wastewater treatment plant, roughly 17 acres of parks, and land reserved for school expansion. The developer has held town halls and is voluntarily adding infrastructure the county doesn't require, like storm drains so kids stop walking to school in the mud. The Board approved the reimbursement agreement covering county review costs, and full entitlements will come back through a general plan amendment, zone change, and environmental impact report over the coming year.