Board approves resolution of necessity to acquire land for Avenue 280 widening

The Tulare County Board of Supervisors on a 4-0 vote adopted a resolution of necessity authorizing the county to pursue eminent-domain acquisition of strips of land along Avenue 280 needed for a widening project between the City of Visalia and the City of Farmersville.

The vote came after a staff presentation from Reed Chenkie of the county’s Resource Management Agency, a 15-minute statement by property counsel Daniel Evans on behalf of the Miller family, and brief board discussion. The board vote was 4–0 with one supervisor not in attendance; the motion to adopt the resolution was made by Supervisor Dennis Townsend and seconded by Supervisor Amy Shuckling.

The county described the project as a roughly 2.5-mile stretch of Avenue 280 (between Lovers Lane and Virginia Avenue) to be widened from a two-lane undivided road to a four-lane divided roadway with a median, turn lanes, upgraded intersections, multimodal accommodations, drainage improvements, a bridge replacement and utility relocations. County staff said the project is about 90% through design, that CEQA compliance was completed and a notice of determination adopted in February, and that average daily traffic on the corridor is projected at about 17,500 vehicles over a 20–30 year horizon.

Chenkie told the board the county has 50 acquisitions associated with the corridor: 35 closings completed, 12 pending negotiation, and two existing eminent-domain proceedings. The parcels at issue for today’s resolution are two contiguous assessor parcels owned by members of the Miller family (APNs 127-060-052 and 127-060-053), covering about 49 acres in agricultural use. The county said it seeks a permanent right-of-way of roughly one-quarter acre — a frontage strip about 730 feet long and varying from approximately 9.5 to 20 feet deep — plus a temporary construction easement about 10 feet deep for the same frontage length. The take includes removal or relocation of some driveway sections, fencing and landscaping.

Daniel Evans, counsel for the Miller family, objected to the county’s valuation and to the county appraising the two parcels together. He said the parcels have different uses — a residence and farmland — and that aggregating them for appraisal understates the proper compensation. Evans also urged the board to account for the diminution of value to the dwelling caused by moving a more traveled county road closer to the home; he said a licensed appraiser had estimated a 5% diminution in value and that the family submitted contractor estimates for fence and landscaping replacement and other remediation costs associated with the taking and temporary construction easement.

County staff said the resolution of necessity is intended to preserve the project schedule and does not preclude further negotiations or settlement offers; staff noted an increased offer was transmitted in March in response to a counteroffer and that negotiations would continue. The board’s findings to adopt the resolution, as read by staff, included consistency with approved environmental documents, necessity in the public interest, that the project alignment represents the least private injury consistent with public need, that the subject parcels are necessary for the project, and that the county complied with the offer requirements of Government Code section 7267.2.

After the vote to adopt the resolution the board closed the public hearing on the matter. Staff said right-of-way clearing contracts are planned to be bid in September, with clearing and utility relocations scheduled later in the year.

The decision permits the county to pursue eminent domain while continuing negotiation; the amount of final compensation will be determined through negotiation or, if necessary, by a court or valuation proceeding.