Heritage Grove, the second urban village after Loma Vista, will be built near Clovis Community College and Clovis North, spanning four square miles, bounded by Shepherd, Willow, Copper and Sunnyside Avenues.
Although the project has no timetable, the first project on the site is underway.
“I would say our first project is coming out of the ground in Heritage Grove and that is a project, which is being called Ranch 13,” Director of Planning Dwight Kroll explained. “That’s being done by Lennar Homes and that’s on the northside of Shepherd between Sunnyside and Clovis Avenues.”
Work is slowly starting at the Heritage Grove site, but the City of Clovis looks to bring some uniqueness to this project.
“It’s intended to be sort of a unique community, around 30,000 people. It is related to the educational facilities on the west side of Willow and that would be the community college and Clovis North. It also has design attributes that creates somewhat of a student village, similar to San Luis Obispo or Chico, and Davis,” Kroll said.
Students from around the Clovis area, including Fresno State can take advantage of this opportunity in the future.
As a part of the 2014 General Plan update, land was assigned at the time and the design guidelines were put together for Heritage Grove. It’s up to the community now to get started on the project.
“It’s up to the community to develop the projects according to the plan. It could take 10 to 15, or 20 years to do, we just don’t really know right now,” Kroll said.
For example, Loma Vista (the first of the urban-village projects) was designed in 2003 and the development is still taking time to finish, but Kroll pointed to economic factors and how that can slow down the development of certain projects.
COMMUNITY THEME:
The plan for Heritage Grove is expansive.
The Heritage Grove Master Plan features a strong message of what the City of Clovis wants to bring to the community.
“The intent of nurturing communities where neighbors know each other, shop together, share the same schools and identify with an authentic sense of place.”
With that in mind, the planning group has certain goals outlined based on two predominant characteristics; Clovis’ agricultural and cultural heritage.
The City of Clovis intends on celebrating these characteristics to help create a project that’s both durable and aesthetically pleasing. In the plan, the city cites “maintenance, durable materials and water efficiency” as guiding principles.
In terms of residential benefits, future buyers can find themselves living in an area very adaptable to any lifestyle. Optimal roads will be constructed to enable easy driving for all modes of transportation, including metropolitan rapid transit.
Residents can utilize their own vehicles but relying on public transportation is encouraged. One of the goals for Heritage Grove is to provide an environment where automobile ownership is no longer necessary.
Also, fitness enthusiasts will have some extra care as pedestrian and bicycle trail systems in the area will be a particular focus. The plan states that “the orientation of landscaping, travel ways, village districts and business areas are directed to the human scale.”
Heritage Grove will feature a community park that includes an amphitheater for various entertainment purposes, along with fields with lights; for soccer, baseball and football.
Play areas for kids will be included as well.
An area for community art will also have a place at the Heritage Grove community park.
The Heritage Grove Community Park is considered to be a multi-use active and passive amenity. Parking slot areas will be available off the street to better facilitate day-to-day parking in the area.