The City of Clovis Planning Commission on June 26 approved a conditional use permit to allow the County of Fresno Department of Social Services to operate in a business park on the northwest corner of Dakota Ave. and Peach Ave.
This approval will allow the County of Fresno to centralize its Department of Social Services to centralize its operations. Currently, the County of Fresno DSS operates in 26 different buildings at five different locations throughout the county. The new plan to operate out of this location will see 2,300 staff members work in the business park throughout the day.
The County of Fresno DSS is expecting to service 1,500 clients per day at the new centralized location.
The Cook Land Company will maintain ownership of the land and buildings. The County of Fresno will simply be a tenant on the land.
An additional parking lot will be built on the southeast corner of Dakota Ave. and Airways Blvd. to supplement the increased workforce that is expected to work in the business park.
Most of the business park is made up of standard office buildings and warehouses, but the area also includes the California 9/11 Memorial. In response to a question from Commissioner Mike Cunningham, a representative of the Cook Land Company spoke about the efforts they will take to prevent potential graffiti or vandalism on the property.
The representative told the commission that any graffiti found will be removed within 48 hours, if not sooner and that a camera surveillance system will be in place that allows the Clovis Police Department to monitor the memorial. Commissioner Cunningham was satisfied with the answers that were given.
There were no public comments and the vote of approval was a unanimous 4-0.
Commissioner Alma Antuna was unable to attend the meeting due to a family-related emergency.