March 2,2015-
Note: this story was written a week before the hyperloop project was announced.
Mothballed since 2008 an ambitious project to build a 7500 acre new town in southwest Kings County is making a comeback this month.
Proponent Quay Hays of Grow Holdings says the “timing is right” to try again to launch the community of 75,000 in the Central Valley with the recession in the rear view mirror.
This month Hays filed a revised application for Quay Valley with Kings County to be located along I-5 south of Kettleman City. The land is mostly all open space, cattle grazing land. The new plan is somewhat smaller than the original when it covered 12,000 acres.
The application will be processed by Kings County and likely will be the subject of public review meetings within 6 months expects Hays.
“Once we get approval we see the first thing to happen is to bring in jobs – a variety of them – along with housing to accommodate people.”
When we last heard, Quay Valley property owners had won a lawsuit against McCarthy Family Farms for breach of contract involving the sale of the water rights and against developer John Vidovich and Sandridge Partners for intentional interference of two contracts involving water for the Quay Valley Ranch project. That was about one year ago when a Kings County jury had unanimously awarded a $128.6 million verdict in favor of GROW and Kings County Ventures.
Hays says since then there has been an appeal to be heard in Fresno County toward the end of next year.
Meanwhile Grow Holdings had filed a preliminary application to build a solar farm on the property in 2011, a plan that has not moved forward.
“We still see solar as a big component of the project” says Hays both utility scale and rooftop noting plans to recycle water and other green measures.
Hays says the team that has been put together to push the project forward has “great experience” in building other new towns in California.
While they call it a new town the community vision sounds more traditional.Here is the first line from their plan.
“Imagine beautiful homes near water, open space, and organic agriculture, with front porches on well-ordered, tree-lined lanes with walkways and bike paths, and an expansive village green with
benches and flower beds.”
Whether the plan moves forward or not will be up tot he Kings County Board of Supervisors.