On Monday May 17, the Clovis City Council unanimously voted (5-0) to appeal a court decision that found the city’s state approved Housing Element was out of compliance with state law.
Clovis Mayor Jose Flores said in a press release the decision to appeal the court’s ruling was after consultation with the City Attorney’s office.
“We are confident that we have a strong case to have the decision overturned,” Flores said.
The Housing Element in the City of Clovis allows for multiple sites throughout the city to have high density housing, which are required by the state to encourage the creation of affordable housing.
After rigorous review and working alongside the state to pass the Housing Element, the City of Clovis was finally approved and said to be consistent with the state law along with the recent enactment of the strict laws created regarding housing accountability.
The Central California Legal Services (CCLS) took part in the state review process as the case’s petitioners, but based on the arguments shared by them, the court still chose to reject the state’s decision and approved the city’s Housing Element. The court found it possible for the selected sites to be developed with other lower density housing.
The court also acknowledged the city’s responsibility to have housing sites available for this development, but not to develop the low-income housing themselves.
Overall, the court determined that there was no discrimination occuring against low-income households if the City of Clovis’s Housing Element was approved and executed.
On Friday, May 14 private developers broke ground on the development of an affordable housing project, Butterfly Gardens, located at Willow and Holland Avenues in Clovis. The development will house up to 73 individuals including those who are at-risk of becoming homeless and/or for those with disabilities.
In the press release Flores said, “Although we appreciate the court saying we’re not discriminating against low-income households here in Clovis, we need to be able to utilize our Housing Element in order to make land available for developers.”
He continued by stating that Butterfly Gardens is, “proof-positive that this private-public partnership can and will work in the City of Clovis.”
The City of Clovis states they “remain committed to providing affordable housing opportunities for its residents,” and that work for the next Housing Element Cycle is scheduled to be complete in 2023.