Visalia lost a guiding light last week.Former mayor of Visalia Greg Collins passed away Thursday August 6 at his home after a debilitating illness. Arguably an important architect for Visalia, he started his public service as a city council member in 1975 when the population of Visalia was about 50,000. It is 150,000 today.Greg was 76 years old, survived by his wife Dorothy, daughter Kelcey and son Christopher.He was my friend.
Collins literally shaped Visalia, as can be illustrated from this map of the community.Take a tour and you will see Greg’s hand everywhere in this city.
It was Collins among others who advocated the idea that the town should grow in a concentric manner anchored by Downtown.That theme is now widely accepted conventional wisdom in Visalia.
That meant limiting growth on its perimeters so that today we are the only Valley city that has no presence on Hwy 99.What’s the message? If you want to see Visalia, get off the freeway and walk around to experience this Tree City without the Fresno sprawl.Besides restrictions to the south limits were placed on growth to the north as well with city development not allowed to extend beyond the St John’s River.
To the west Collins carried the idea of saving our heritage oak forest establishing a “scenic corridor” entrance to the city.Collins was only the latest Visalian wanting to protect the oaks, remembering a delegation lobbying the State Highway Commission back in 1957 and a tree planting group in 1920s.
To the east Greg, the conservationist, promoted sinking basins that would replenish our groundwater as he helped save the Kaweah Oaks open space and established an oak tree nursery for the city.
If he backed preservation of agricultural land beyond Visalia promoting a controversial ag land preservation rule,he was a strong advocate of development within the city that has helped make it prosperous and boosted property values within the city.
He lobbied CalTrans to depress the 198 freeway below ground level – limiting noise and traffic impacts and preserving the streetscape in Visalia while speeding visitors to our national parks.
Speaking of the National Parks, Collins was there with other preservationists like his mentor Alan George to save the Mineral King Valley from Disney development years ago, and the pristine alpine Valley is still pristine today, part of Sequoia Park.
Collins won the battle over bringing a national hotel brand to Downtown Visalia, considered highly controversial back then.He was among those who persuaded Downtown merchants to tax themselves to support themselves by forming an improvement district. He has been a big supporter of preservation of our heritage buildings including the Darling Hotel that he convinced the county to finally sell and put the art-deco beauty on the market and on the tax rolls. We know what happened then. Now everyone wants to stay there as well as eat at the rooftop restaurant.
Civic Center plan & Swimming Pool
Speaking of expansion of Downtown, it was Collins’ idea to acquire the old railroad properties in East Downtown – the former Hobo Jungle to become the future Visalia Civic Center – now about ready to open but Greg won’t be there to cut the ribbon,or will he?
By the way, a key unresolved issue for Greg, the former water polo coach, was for the city to invest in a competition swimming pool. Now the current council seems poised to build it and name it after Greg Collins. Still undecided -where to put it? Collins told me two weeks ago -put it the middle of town – around the Civic Center area. Collins backed the idea of selling 21 acres the city owns at Akers and Riggin on the agenda to happen later this summer. The money would be placed in the Parks and Recreation budget who would oversee construction of a new public pool.
Speaking of preserving the economy in Downtown, Collins was a key player in keeping Kaweah Delta hospital in the Downtown area while many lobbied to move the district hospital to the outskirts of town.Today it brings thousands of job to the city center and has attracted competition to do the same like a giant magnet.
Because of the limitation on development over decades, the Mooney strip has been in-filled and renewed along the 3-mile stretch with new players, new retailers and services. So Mearl’s closed but the drive-in became The Habit. Gottschalks became Macys. The ramshackle 20th Century apartments (remember them?) is now Kohls.
Mooney rebirth
What did the growth limitation do? Take Sequoia Mall. It took a while but Visalia saw a transformation with four new retailers we never had – Sprouts, Nordstrom Rack,Barnes & Noble and now Sierra, an REI type outdoor store. A new gym, Crunch Fitness will replace the old Longs Drugs building.
Keeping the development boundary compact created a critical mass of development opportunity and ease of access for shoppers.
Northside growth
The growth limitation also spurred retailers to invest in a new vibrant shopping area north of Downtown along Hwy 63 as well in a part of the city that has historically been the low income area of town. Today it is the home to many national retailers- Target and Burlington- and restaurants including a second In-N-Out. The nearby retail also anchors new housing for Visalians in the north part of the city connected by walking trails and 4-lane landscaped thoroughfares- and a second way to get to Highway 99.
South Mooney is still strong but the north quadrant of the city snagged a second Costco that draws shoppers from northern Tulare County as the south city Costco draws from the rest of the county.All this boosts city sales tax revenue that has climbed regularly for decades. Now we will get a Sam’s Club and Chick-Fil-A on south Mooney want to be here too.
Collins pushed for design standards for a well planned industrial district that has impressed competing Fresno leaders with why Visalia continues to attract more industry.The city’s series of general plans has protected the big industrial area offering CEQA support against lawsuits while allowing for growth to the north – key to its success today.It is a huge job generator for Visalia with three Amazons, UPS and Ace Hardware and plans for new Carvana inspection center with 700 jobs likely opening next year.
Not every battle won
Collins didn’t win every battle over the decades. Collins fought against rezoning land on Plaza for an auto mall after dealers invested millions in the newly established east Visalia auto district- a battle he half-won with dealers today in both areas.He backed the idea of Mooney auto dealers to move to one of the auto districts leaving the retail strip to retailers Today the Plaza auto area includes used car dealers, CarMax now open and MyCarPark, about ready to open.
He half won the battle to limit retail development south of Packwood Creek.It turns out the city council did vote to allow growth for a large development to the south but the city has halted new projects at the Visalia Parkway. He lost the battle but not war.
He could not convince the County not to allow the Sequoia Gateway project at Hwy 99 and Caldwell proposed in 2018 but it appears market forces and slow pace of freeway construction have done the job to date.
The Visalia Chamber of Commerce announced Greg was Man of the Year in 2025. He was remembered for his strong advocacy for local parks, urban forestry (Tree City USA), and preserving Visalia’s historical character.Greg stepped down from council in late 2022.
Collins was also an author penning a book on water in the Valley in 2024. Called Seven Generations: The Past, Present and Future of the Tulare Lake Basin offering a one sentence summary. “The question becomes, will man learn to manage his water resources, or will he simply revert to business as usual?”
One review of the book suggests “The “Seven Generations” of the title comes from a principle of the Arapaho nation of indigenous people, who believed that decisions should be made in the present that will last through seven generations for that community to remain sustainable. Collins calculates that roughly five generations have elapsed since Californians began tinkering with the natural forces governing water in the Valley.”