Porterville committee reviews preliminary two-lot parcel map for 1428 Olive Avenue; staff flags street dedication and floodplain issues

Porterville’s Project Review Committee on Feb. 26 reviewed a preliminary residential parcel map proposing to split the property at 1428 Olive Avenue (APN 254-050-060) into two lots. Oscar Tepeda, chairperson and associate planner, said the applicant proposes lot 1 at about 47,785 square feet and lot 2 at about 47,610 square feet and that the parcels meet the RS-1 zone district minimum lot-size requirement of 12,500 square feet.

The committee discussion focused on site access, required dedications for a future street, floodplain concerns and permit fees. Javier Sanchez, engineering and project management director, said a 56-foot future dedication to extend a street across the north side of the parcel was shown on adjacent development and that the subdivision likely could not rely on individual drive approaches to Olive Avenue because Olive is designated a collector in the circulation element. “A drive approach couldn't connect to Olive, but a street could,” Sanchez said.

Sanchez also said the property lies in Flood Zone A and that applicants may need to pursue studies with the Federal Emergency Management Agency to remove or clarify the floodplain designation, or at minimum to show the planned building areas are not within the flood zone. “They may have to go through studies with FEMA to get that out of that flood zone or at a minimum, at least where the structures are planned,” Sanchez said.

From planning, Tepeda outlined the tentative parcel map process and fees: a tentative parcel map fee of $1,500, an environmental-exemption fee of $79 and a county filing fee of $58, and he said the filing must comply with Development Code section 40201 and be prepared by a registered civil engineer or licensed land surveyor. Tepeda also noted a potential cargo container on the site and said cargo containers are not permitted in residential zones except as permitted temporary structures in commercial or industrial zones with a time-limited permit. “Cargo containers...are considered temporary structures, and they're only permitted with a permit, for a temporary timeline, for commercial and industrial zones,” Tepeda said.

Other department comments were procedural or conditional: Clayton Dignam, fire marshal, said the fire department had no comments on the split itself but reminded the committee that access, water connections and turnarounds will be required at building permit stage; David Payne, water utility superintendent, reported no immediate comments from water; and Joe Gueza, field services superintendent for streets, and other public-works staff had no immediate comments but noted standard infrastructure improvements would be required if the parcels are developed. Several staff members said the applicant will receive a written letter with departments’ comments in about two weeks and staff would follow up with the applicant outside the Project Review Committee process.

The committee also noted a separate agenda item, PRC-2025-014 for a portable plan, was postponed at the applicant’s request and will be rescheduled for the next meeting. No formal votes or approvals were taken on the 1428 Olive Avenue parcel map during the Feb. 26 meeting; staff indicated further submittals and any required studies would be handled through the tentative parcel map and building-permit processes.

The Project Review Committee closed the meeting after staff confirmed follow-up with the applicant and issuance of the written comment letter.