Tiny homes break ground
The tiny home movement is officially underway in Clovis as the first home recently broke ground in an alleyway near Baron Avenue and Second Street.
With the foundation in place, the home is now getting prepared to undergo the framing process, according to Maria Spera with the City of Clovis. More are expected to follow in the coming months.
The city unveiled the Cottage Home Program in August in an effort to encourage infill residential development in the Old Town area. The City of Clovis developed several “Cottage Home” plans that may be utilized on properties having alley access. These home plans of less than 400 square feet of livable area are intended to orient onto alleys and provide for a unique pedestrian street environment.
Cool Hand Luke’s now open for lunch
Under its new franchise group, Clovis steakhouse Cool Hand Luke’s is now open daily for lunch with new menu options in an effort to give the restaurant a modern appeal.
Their new 25-item lunch menu features some of Luke’s popular dinner entrees, sandwiches, burgers, salads and more. There are six brand new entrees incorporated into the lunch menu including unlimited soup, salad and fresh-baked sourdough rolls for $8.95.
In October of 2016, the concept was bought by San Luis Obispo-based franchisor Heritage Restaurant Brands, whose principals also operate Huckleberry’s and Perko’s. Adding lunch was one of many positive changes to Cool Hand Luke’s, according to Greg Graber, CEO for Heritage Restaurant Brands.
“We’ve made significant improvements to nearly every aspect of the Luke’s dining
experience and adding lunch was a ‘no-brainer’ for us,” said Graber. “Our new lunch menu is
priced affordably with many great choices yet is designed to get our guests in and out quickly if
they have the need to do so.”
In addition to its new lunch menu, Cool Hand Luke’s has inserted new items to its dinner and cocktail menus and added happy hour. The steakhouse also now offers an updated website that allows customers to order online.
“Cool Hand Luke’s has a great reputation,” Graber added. “Clovis enjoys it so we thought we’d take something that was already good and make it great by making some menu improvements that improve the quality and contemporize the brand.”
559 Beer enjoying new location
Although Rhett Williams’ idea to bring a microbrewery to Clovis wasn’t well received at first, he strived to make it a reality.
That perseverance led Williams to acquire the necessary licenses and permits to start 559 Beer, and open a small tasting room in Old Town Clovis.
The tasting room, which opened in the spring of 2015, provided Williams the opportunity to introduce his product give consumers an up-close personal feel to all the beers.
“The greatest thing about [opening the tasting room] was exposing people to craft beer and agriculture, which we’re known for here in the Valley,” said Williams. “Slowly and surely things started picking up and it got to where we were literally bursting at the seams in there.”
The growing popularity of 559 Beer got Williams thinking of expanding, and in the spring of 2017, the historic hotel building located just a couple hundred feet away opened up. As a prime location for an expansion, the Williams family jumped on the opportunity and took occupancy of the building in October.
Today, 559 Beer operates as a full tavern inside 356 Tavern on Fourth and Pollasky avenues. In addition to beer and wine, guests can order food and enjoy it on picnic tables made of lumber from the Shaver Lake area in a family-style environment.
“We wanted to identify as a family,” said Williams. “356 is actually the address of the building and a tavern was originally a place where people would get together and have bible study, family meals and get to know each other. That’s why I wanted to name it [356] Tavern, and it’s worked out well.”
Two Cities Coffee Roasters brewing up business in Old Town
Two Cities Coffee Roasters, a new coffee shop that roasts its own product, has settled in the small brick building at 608 4th Street in Old Town formerly occupied by 559 Beer.
Owner Rick Reeves and his team roast the coffee at their roasting facility at 110 West Pontiac Way, Suite 111, in Clovis which they then use in their own coffee and sell through several outlets.
“Our commitment to handcrafted roasting and to the high quality of our coffee beans leads us to hand-select and craft every single-origin and blend that Two Cities has to offer,” says Two Cities’ website. “We’ve searched far and wide to find the best coffee beans, while ensuring that all of our beans are sourced responsibly through fair compensation to and care of the farmers who grow our coffees.”
Rocket Dog opens in Clovis
Rocket Dog, a Fresno restaurant that specializes in gourmet hot dogs and craft beer, just opened a Clovis location on the northeast corner of Willow and Nees avenues.
In addition to its gourmet hot dogs, Rocket Dog serves sandwiches, soups, salads and desserts.
All sausages and sandwiches are served with bottomless russet potato chips with fries available for an additional charge.
City of Clovis promotes new logos on T-shirts
A year ago, the City of Clovis updated its “Bronco Billy” logo that had been in use since the 1975 to make it look more modern and appealing. In the process, the city also updated the Old Town Clovis logo, which now consists of a single beaming light fixture bordered by the words “Old Town Clovis.”
One of the ways the city is promoting its new City of Clovis and Old Town Clovis logos is by placing them on signage and T-shirts, which are now available for purchase at City Hall, 1033 Fifth Street.
Sizes available are S-2X while supplies last.
PSA: Lawsuit scam targets new Clovis homeowners
A statewide lawsuit scam is going after new homeowners in Clovis.
Los Angeles-based law firm Milstein, Jackson, Fairchild & Wade, LLP, as well as others, regularly sends out mass mailings to homeowners all over California with the goal of generating a frivolous lawsuit against home builders.
Those being targeted include residents of Granville Homes, Lennar Homes, Bonadelle Neighborhoods and De Young Properties, among others.
“We have seen this issue happening with all new home builders in Clovis. Granville [Homes] is just now getting underway with building in Clovis and we know this will be an issue for our homeowners as well,” said Charles Adkins, Granville’s Marketing Strategist. “They indiscriminately target anyone who has purchased a new home, regardless of builder, and have been heavily blanketing the Loma Vista new homes of all of the builders and have already blanketed our Copper River [Ranch] homes in Fresno.”
The firm lures homeowners into lawsuits by offering “free” home inspections. In the past, simply filling out a Homeowner Profile Sheet or a Free Home Inspection Report has often obligated homeowners to be included in lawsuits in which every part of their home is labeled “defective.”
If you join a construction defect lawsuit, all of the major components of your home could be listed in the Superior Court file as being defective and your home will be registered at fresnodefectcheck.com, a website used by Realtors and home buyers.
“Should you wish to sell or refinance your home, you will be required to disclose that your home is ‘defective,’” Adkins said. “This may lower your property’s value and make it difficult to sell or refinance. It will put a cloud of alleged defects on your entire neighborhood. This could eventually bring down the value of large neighborhoods and cause a domino effect to home values.”
The firm has an “F” rating on Better Business Bureau and clients have come out and voiced their displeasures on various review sites.
One client complained of getting “sucked into a lawsuit against the home builder” for the defects in her home. After four years, she still hadn’t received an update or definite answer from the firm. She concluded by saying that “communication is a mess” as they switch attorneys assigned to the case very often.
“Customer service also was a disaster and unprofessional,” she added. “Don’t waste your time with this law firm. They talk big but do very little, if anything, to your advantage at all.”