Auto Sales Zoom Here – Up 18 Percent in Tulare/Kings
First quarter auto sales are up 18 % in Tulare/Kings Counties says Visalia auto dealer Don Groppetti. Citing a private report Groppetti notes that while the rest of California has slowed some”we were late to the recovery party” and now may be late to feel any downturn. Asked if truck sales are still the top growth sector he says that compacts and SUVs appear stronger than a year ago.
Statewide the California New Car Dealers Association reports light vehicle registrations were up 3.8% for the first three months of 2016 compared to 13.6% for the same quarter a year ago. They predict a market trend “on an upward path for at least the next 12 months.” Expect sales of 2 million units in 2016.
COS Plans To Lease Mooney Lot For Restaurant
College of the Sequoias plans to lease out that big parking lot at Mooney and Myrtle across the street from the campus- near Habit Burger-to a developer. They plan to lease the 36,000sf space long term for a commercial use likely to include a restaurant.Leasing agents Harvey May and Matt Graham have been hired to solicits bids and 3 letters of interest have already been received.A COS report says three bids include fast food or fast/casual restaurant options, with sit-down, drive-through,and multi-tenant options, as May 9th. The agreement states that construction will commence by August 31 2017, and be completed by August 31 2018. Bid results will be brought to the Board of Trustees for the award of the lease agreement and will be opened by the Vice President of Administrative Services on June 16.
Building Permits Steady In Visalia
Visalia total building permits were $31 million in May, the same amount as May 2015 according to the latest building report. Single family home permits were down 3% but 11 new multi family projects totaled 76 units, most of them at the new Country Club apartment complex near Houston and Demaree. Residential remodels year-to-date are up a strong 27%.
Realtors Like Brown’s Proposal-Build By Right”
The California Association of Realtors has applauded a “build by right” proposal by Gov. Jerry Brown that would create a voluntary permit streamlining approval process for developers to use.
“With a historically low home ownership rate of 54 percent and record high rents, the dream of owning a home in California has become increasingly more difficult to attain,” said C.A.R. President Pat “Ziggy” Zicarelli. Gov. Brown’s proposal, in the May revision to the 2016-17 budget, includes a “build by right” proposal that would create a voluntary permit streamlining approval process for developers to use. The proposal will exempt from detailed local government reviews developments already zoned and approved for housing when 5 to 20 percent of the newly constructed units are set aside for low-income residents
Refrigeration Distribution Co Getting New Warehouse-More To Come
A permit to build a 30,000sf warehouse has been issued to landowner/developer Butch Oldfield to construct a facility for RSD in the Visalia Industrial Park. RSD is the largest independently owned refrigeration parts and equipment wholesaler in the western United States. Proudly serving the west since 1907. RSD has grown to include 75 locations covering 10 western states, including Alaska, Arizona, California, Colorado, Idaho, Montana, Nevada, Oregon, Utah, and Washington. Oldfield is working with a company on a second large 50,000sf facility. The industrial park is said to be out of existing warehouse space and so if growth is going to happen,new projects must be built. A proposal for a 60,000sf warehouse on Sunnyview has also been received by the city.
State Cuts Impact Hwy 99 Widening Here
The California Transportation Commission recently adopted a five-year transportation funding plan that cuts $754 million and delays another $755 million in transportation project spending to address a $1.5 billion shortfall in gas tax revenue. The cuts will affect the schedule to widen Highway 99 from Tagus southbound, a $49 million project that will now be delayed.The cuts and delays reflect the largest funding reduction since the current state transportation funding structure was adopted 20 years ago, CTC officials said in a press release.
The STIP’s primary funding source as established by the state legislature is the price-based excise tax paid by drivers at the gas pump. The cuts in revenue occurred over the past two years due to lower gasoline prices. The CTC estimates the amount of funds projected to be available over the five-year STIP period. The excise tax in 2010 was set at 17.3 cents per gallon and is adjusted annually by the State Board of Equalization based on fuel prices. On July 1, the tax will be reduced to 9.8 cents from the current 12 cents.
Member of the BOS Phil Cox who sits on the TCAG board says “ Tulare County will be ready using local funds to assure the project is shovel ready” whenever there are funds in the next few years.
Canadian Electric Bus Maker Announces New Porterville Factory – 400 Jobs Promised
In a May 25 news release Vancouver-based GreenPower Motor Company Inc. (TSXV: GPV) (OTCQB:GPVRF) (“GreenPower”), announced that GreenPower has entered into an agreement with the City of Porterville in California to acquire a 9.3 acre property for $660,000. The closing of this transaction is expected to occur in 45 days with a payment of $66,000 by GreenPower to the City of Porterville and the balance payable pursuant to a Promissory Note with an amortization period of ten years, a term of five years and bearing interest at the rate of 2% per annum.
GreenPower has submitted a permit application to the City of Porterville for a manufacturing facility for its all-electric buses on this property for approximately 150,000 square feet of buildings including 6,000 square feet of office space. The City of Porterville has provided GreenPower with its initial comments on this application. GreenPower has also been working with a manufacturer of modular buildings for the construction of the buildings on this site. The Company intends to build the facility in compliance with “Buy America”, a program of the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009 to take advantage of certain tax breaks and incentives.
“We are very excited about locating in Porterville, having the necessary manufacturing capabilities for Buy America compliance and being positioned to pursue market opportunities in California,” stated Fraser Atkinson, Chairman of GreenPower. “We understand that we will be the only manufacturer of all-electric heavy duty buses in the San Joaquin Valley so we will be seeking to become the preferred supplier.”
“The City of Porterville is located in the San Joaquin Valley air basin and is actively pursuing diesel bus emission control strategies in conjunction with ongoing funding and grants from the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, California State Diesel Emissions Reduction Act (DERA) and the Air Resources Board (ARB).”
Among other customers the Porterville school district will be one with some of he oldest operating buses in the the state. Reports suggest the company may hire as many as 400 workers at the new plant that could be making electric buses by 2017.
Porterville Walmart Gets New Hearing
A public hearing will be held by the City Council of the City of Porterville on Tuesday June 7, 2016 to consider approval of the Riverwalk Marketplace Phase II project, including certification of the Final EIR and approval of the amendment to the Viejo Robles Specific Plan, a Conditional Use Permit and Tentative Parcel Map. The project, located at the southeast corner of Indiana Street and Springville Drive in Porterville, would include the construction and development of approximately 202,854 square feet of primarily retail uses among five building pads, anchored by a 161,602 square feet Walmart store. The Walmart store would offer, among other things, groceries and general retail merchandise and would operate 24 hours per day. The project has sought its permits since 2011 but has been stymied by opponents, led by a major super market chain, who have charged the EIR is inadequate. In the latest chapter the court said only the project’s greenhouse gas emissions needed reexamination – not the full EIR. Once the new document is certified by the city it can return to the court for approval and some day the town gets a Superwalmart.