PORTERVILLE, Calif. — City planning and technical staff on Oct. 15 reviewed a proposal for a new Super Family Foods complex at 131 West Orange Avenue and told the applicant several code and permit issues must be addressed before the project can proceed.

At a Project Review Committee meeting chaired by Oscar Cepeda, the city’s associate planner, staff summarized the proposal as a 21,509-square-foot grocery, a 1,000-square-foot laundromat and a 1,000-square-foot lease space — a total of 23,509 square feet — on four combined parcels. Cepeda said the site is in the downtown mixed‑use zoning district and carries a downtown mixed‑use general-plan designation.

Planning staff told the applicant that city code requires at least 50% of a building’s frontage to be at the minimum setback (0 feet) along Orange Avenue. Cepeda noted that “the development code does require that minimum 50% of the building be at the minimum setback, which would be 0 feet, from Orange Avenue.” The project’s current layout and a neighboring church to the northwest raised a practical conflict: the applicant said meeting the 50 percent requirement could force the building to rotate so its main facade would face the minor street instead of Orange Avenue, reducing visibility.

The plans also show a 30-foot curb cut where the code limits curb cuts to 20 feet, staff said, and must comply with the city’s downtown design guidelines and development-code provisions for fencing, landscaping and lighting. Cepeda said the project meets minimum parking counts (77 required, 78 shown) but that commercial developments on lots larger than 15,000 square feet must provide a plaza or outdoor dining area.

Because the grocery plans to sell alcohol, staff said the applicant will need a conditional-use permit and a city-council letter of public necessity and convenience. “The applicant would need a letter of public necessity and convenience from the city council, in order to, in addition to the conditional use permit,” Cepeda said. Staff warned the current mix of on-sale and off-sale licenses in the area may mean the site is already overconcentrated under local rules; the State Department of Alcoholic Beverage Control (ABC) also makes its own licensing determinations.

Staff outlined application fees and procedural steps: a CUP processing fee of $1,164, a preliminary environmental determination with a $79 fee, a public-notification radius (500 feet) with a $26.50 service fee, and a $58 filing fee payable to the Tulare County Clerk. A lot-line adjustment or lot merger will be required; staff listed a $616 parcel-action processing fee and said deed/title documentation and legal descriptions must be provided.

Engineering staff (Javier Sanchez) said utilities are generally available but drainage and any required street-front improvements — including a landscape parkway and offset sidewalk — will be part of the design review. Sanchez also said downtown standards require decorative street lighting at both frontages and that the project team should expect typical utility and drainage conditions.

Fire department staff (Clayton Dignam) said the fire comments track previous submittals and focus on water-supply access, fire sprinklers and monitoring, extinguishers and required clearances; a commercial kitchen or food production area would trigger additional suppression requirements. Building plan review will proceed through the building department, and public-works staff flagged standard backflow and separate meters for landscaping where applicable. Refuse staff confirmed the applicant plans to install a cardboard compactor and asked that it be sited inside the building, which the applicant said it intends to do.

No formal decision or vote was taken. Cepeda and the applicant agreed to continue discussions about whether a code deviation or text amendment is needed to address the setback and to complete required parcel-merger paperwork and technical plan revisions before returning to the city for permits and hearings.

Meeting adjourned at 1:53 p.m.