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Commission recommends Allensworth community plan update and specific plan to Board after multi‑year local effort
Summary
After presentations and community testimony, the Planning Commission recommended the Board of Supervisors certify the Negative Declaration and adopt the Allensworth Community Plan update (GPA25-00006) and Specific Plan (SPA25-00001); commissioners recorded a 5-0-1 recommendation vote.
The Tulare County Planning Commission on March 11 voted to recommend that the Board of Supervisors certify a Negative Declaration and adopt a general plan amendment and specific plan to update the Allensworth Community Plan.
Emily Gage of the Resource Management Agency presented the proposal, which would expand the community’s development boundary and convert approximately 2,799 acres into a community urban development boundary as part of an approximately 3,845‑acre district. Gage said the Negative Declaration concluded no substantial evidence existed that the plan would cause significant environmental effects; individual future development projects would still undergo separate environmental review. "The specific plan proposes community or cultural districts used interchangeably which will direct future development in Allensworth," Gage said.
Representatives of the Allensworth Progressive Association described a multi‑year outreach effort (2019–2025), collaboration with USC landscape architecture students and faculty, and grant work with the Strategic Growth Council. Desiree Bealos, co‑associate executive director of the association, and Denise Khadar, a community leader, said the plan responds to local priorities such as water, sewer, roads, housing and economic development and thanked county staff for technical assistance. "This has been an absolute labor of love," Bealos said.
The commission made three separate motions — to recommend certification of the Negative Declaration, to recommend adoption of the general plan amendment (GPA25‑00006), and to recommend adoption of the specific plan (SPA25‑00001) — each of which passed on votes recorded as five yes, zero no and one abstention.
What happens next: The Planning Commission’s recommendations will be forwarded to the Tulare County Board of Supervisors for a final decision. Staff noted that the community has already secured substantial implementation funding; during the meeting the director reported that Allensworth has received more than $50 million for related efforts.
Sources: staff presentation and community representatives during the March 11, 2026 Tulare County Planning Commission meeting.
