A nearly 40-acre parcel near Sunnyside and Sumner avenues in Fowler would become a 180-home subdivision with the cancellation of a Williamson Act contract. Google Earth image
A 38-acre agricultural parcel just outside Fowler could become 180 single-family homes after the Fresno County Board of Supervisors approved the cancellation of the property’s Williamson Act contract Aug. 25.
The board approved the cancellation of Agricultural Land Conservation Contract No. 8271 for property located on the southwest corner of South Sunnyside and East Sumner avenues.
The Fowler City Council approved the tentative tract map and annexation Feb. 3, pending the county’s cancellation of the agricultural contract. Fowler’s General Plan designates the property for medium-low-density residential development, while Fresno County’s General Plan designates it for agricultural use.
The applicant, property owner Joseph Crown, will pay a $477,250 cancellation fee before the property can be officially annexed into the city of Fowler.
Crown serves as president of Crown Homes, a Fresno-based homebuilder, which will be developing the project.
The project would also include about 1.9 acres of parkland and 1.1 acres of trail alignment, reported the Mid-Valley Times in February. Proposed lot sizes range from 5,000-12,881 square feet. The homes would start at around $380,000, Mid-Valley reported.
County staff found the project met all five findings required for cancellation, including that the development would create a contiguous urban pattern and that no similarly sized, non-contracted parcels within Fowler’s sphere of influence were available for the proposed use.
The property is currently zoned for exclusive agricultural use with a 20-acre minimum parcel size. The Williamson Act limits contracted land to agricultural operations and certain compatible uses, prompting the cancellation request to allow residential development.