Clovis is adding more than 1,000 acres to its sphere of influence, south of Highway 180 originating at the lower left hand corner of this Google Earth image, to Shepherd Avenue to the north. The Clovis Community Hospital campus is at the lower left hand corner of this image.

The Fresno County Local Agency Formation Commission has approved plans to add 1,035 acres to the City of Clovis’ sphere of influence.

That designation is given to land that may be urbanized and possibly annexed in the future. In this case, city officials believe the land south of Highway 168 and Shepherd Avenue, just northeast of Clovis, will eventually be developed for commercial and residential uses, generating thousands of jobs for the region.

 

In fact, a press release from the city said “Clovis’ General Plan identified this area for significant job generation, designating over 500 acres for jobs, 225 acres of open space and 325 acres for residential uses.”

It goes on to say, “The area is unique for assembling development land due to the fact that four families own approximately 85 percent of the area and share the city’s vision for top-quality job and residential projects for the site.

“More steps remain to develop the project, but the property owners and city of Clovis officials are very optimistic that including the property into the city of Clovis sphere of influence is the first step to creating a regionally-significant, quality job-based, mixed-use development.”

Clovis Mayor Drew Bessinger added in the release that “this is a huge opportunity for Clovis and the region to see significant quality job growth. We have worked together as a region to make land available that can accommodate at least 10,000 jobs.”