CLOVIS
-- Over the past decade major new home builders have sold
only a handful of homes selling for over $850,000 in the
Clovis area. But, the costliest and most exclusive new
homes are planned for an area adjacent to the San Joaquin
River hiking trail, the Copper River development
east of Clovis. The new community represents a hign-end
estates on-spec, or without pre-signed buyers.
These are tract homes in
the $1 million range. Homes selling in that price range
accounted for less than 2% of all transactions in California,
last year. But, a million dollar home isn't what it used
to be. In fact, such houses are a radical departure from
the values of the past. Today million dollar homes are
mass produced, as more boulders are moving into this high-end
real estate market.
In Clovis, everyone wants
a piece of the countryside with a view. So these mansions
with at least four-thousand square feet, with four car
garages, master suites large than many Clovis homes, and
high-speed digital hookups to the Internet are on the
horizon at the Copper River Country Club.
These new mansions are the
perfect answer for those who don't have the time of patience
to build themselves a traditional custom home on San Joaquin
River bluffs.
No wonder. This Spring Clovis
will connect to the rest of the world via its spiffy new
Highway 168 cross-town freeway. At capacity, it is expected
to carry 100,000 vehicles daily. The Clovis City Council
in July rezones more than 10 acres on the north side of
Herndon Avenue east of the freeway and north of Blackhorse
Center from rural large-lot housing to commercial.
This makes way for huge shopping malls and big-screen
movie theaters fronting on State 168 freeway off-ramps.
Adjoining landowners are poised to cash in. The rapid
growth of homea and businesses in the area has given rise
to population explosion. Currently Clovis boasts of nearly
70,000 souls. But, the way things are changing, City planners
expect the population to more than double by the year
2020 as Clovs bumps up against Fresno.by the year 2020
as Clovis bumps up against Fresno.
In a surprise, this week,
Clovis schools learned that additional costs of building
new schools to accommodate the district's sudden growth
will cost $292.4 million more than the administration
has in the bank. And when that's gone, there's going to
be some very hefty school bonds to contnue to provide
a quality education to the expected 41,000 students by
the year 2010, according to Asst. Supt. Roger Oraz.
Until now, the Clovis schools
have used Developer Fees and other sources of local
monies to leverage construction funds from the State of
California.
Worse yet, the Clovis
Redevelopment Agency is looking into expanding Clovis
schools attendance boundaries to take in the Viking
Elementary School, currently in the Fresno Unified
School District.
Meanwhile, poor air quality
spells bad news for business and quaity of life in the
Clovis area. The progressionof air quality in the region
has already gone from bad to worse. The federal Clean
Air Act requires the EPA to take action within six
months.
[Editor's
Note:The championship Copper River Country Club
is locared at 11500 North Friant Road. Holes: 18 -- Yardage:
6629 -- Par: 72 -- Telephone: (209) 434-5200, Fax: 434-8962
Semi-private course, opened in 1994.]
Copyright© 2000 Clovis
Free Press. All Rights Reserved.
