Tulare County delays one Goshen subdivision phase pending easement talks with Kaweah Delta

The Tulare County Board of Supervisors on Aug. 26 approved most items on the consent calendar but set aside final approvals for one phase of a planned Goshen subdivision after county staff and the developer raised access concerns for a nearby irrigation channel.

The actions came after Reid Henke, with the Resource Management Agency, described two final maps and associated assessment-district actions for a Goshen development. "Phase 2 establishes 66 residential lots in Goshen, and... phase 3... establish[es] 122 residential lots in Goshen," Henke said. Henke told the board he and staff had been contacted by the Kaweah Delta Water Conservation District about access to Mill Creek Ditch near the Phase 3 boundary.

Why it matters: County staff said the ditch’s current maintenance access aligns with adjacent parcels; the Phase 3 map, as drawn, could put new lots and fences along the property line where Kaweah Delta needs to operate, which the district’s engineers warned could limit access during flood or maintenance events.

Henke described the issue in detail: "At the extreme southern end, the ditch kind of jogs a little bit to the east, and that is a place where if the fence line goes right along the current property line, that would limit access for them." Henke said the developer appeared receptive to creating an easement along the corner lots that border the ditch.

Developer Steve Macias of San Joaquin Valley Homes asked the board to allow the Phase 2 map to move forward while the Phase 3 easement is finalized. "We would like... that we could get the the second phase map to move forward... The phase 3 map, we... have a little bit of additional time to figure out the process there," Macias said. He proposed either a conditional approval or a condition that the map not be recorded until an easement is established.

County surveyor Rob Abraham and Assistant RMA Director Aaron Bach joined staff in explaining technical details of the assessment districts that accompany the maps. Abraham said typical district setups include street maintenance and storm-sewer maintenance, and Bach noted this map also dedicates a park that the Goshen Community Services District will maintain.

Board action and next steps: The board approved the bulk of the consent calendar items (items 5–33) by a 5–0 vote, then formally separated items tied to Phase 3 (item nos. 25, 28 and 29) for future consideration. A motion to separate those Phase 3 items was made by Supervisor Townsend and seconded by Supervisor Valero; it passed unanimously. Henke told the board that staff and the developer can condition recordation of the Phase 3 map on the establishment of an easement in favor of the Kaweah Delta Water Conservation District.

What remains open: Staff will return with a recommendation on Phase 3 after the developer and the Kaweah Delta district negotiate the easement. The board indicated it would accept a conditional approval approach that ties map recordation to securing access rights for Mill Creek Ditch.

Clarifying details: Phase 2 = 66 residential lots; Phase 3 = 122 residential lots. Assessment districts attached to the maps are intended for street maintenance and storm-sewer maintenance; a park site within the map is planned to be maintained by the Goshen CSD. County staff said the likely technical fix is an easement along the oversized corner lots adjacent to the ditch.

Speakers quoted in this article spoke during the Aug. 26 Tulare County Board of Supervisors meeting and include Reid Henke (Resource Management Agency), Steve Macias (San Joaquin Valley Homes), Rob Abraham (County Surveyor), and Aaron Bach (Assistant Director, Resource Management Agency). The board’s motion to separate the Phase 3 items was made by Supervisor Townsend and seconded by Supervisor Valero.