Kingsburg council declines to open second round of single‑family allocations

The City of Kingsburg City Council voted on Feb. 5 not to open a second competitive round of 2025 growth‑management allocations for new single‑family units, after staff said only 11 units remained in the 2025 allotment.

Community Development Director Holly Owen told the council the city’s Growth Management Ordinance sets a strict calendar for allocation rounds and staff did not believe it was imperative to open a second round now given the limited number of units remaining. She explained the typical schedule if a second round were opened: an application period through March 31, staff rating and ranking in April, Planning Commission consideration in May and council review in June.

The decision followed public comment from developer representatives who said they needed at least one allocation to continue entitlement steps. “From what I understand, we only need 1 to continue the application process to get everything submitted,” said Nick Peters, who identified himself as representing San Joaquin Valley Homes. Peters said his company planned to return in September with a full subdivision submittal for the remainder of the units it expects to build.

City staff and a developer later clarified how the ordinance treats allocation requests. A staff member explained that applicants may request the full number of anticipated units up front, but councils commonly phase awards across years. Staff also told the developer that Planning Commission and council typically will not act on tentative maps that do not have allocations because doing so would be “at risk.”

Several council members said they were not inclined to reopen the process and observed that deadlines had been clearly communicated. A motion was made and carried to not reopen the second round of allocations; the transcript records the motion and the chair’s announcement that the motion carried.

Why it matters: the allocation process governs how many new single‑family building permits the city will accept in a given cycle and affects developers’ entitlement timelines. If council had opened the second round, the earliest possible city review of tentative maps would have been May (Planning Commission) and June (council); otherwise applicants would wait for the September application period and subsequent winter review.

Next steps: The council’s decision holds the remaining 11 single‑family allocation units until the council’s discretion to roll them forward in September or take other action. Staff offered to meet offline with the developers to resolve application‑process confusion.

Votes at a glance: Council recorded a motion “to not open up the second round of allocations.” The motion was made on the record and the mayor announced the motion carried. The transcript does not list individual roll‑call vote tallies or names attached to the mover/second on the audio record.