Planning commission backs zone change and mitigated negative declaration for Castle Family Health Center expansion

The Atwater Planning Commission voted unanimously to recommend that the City Council adopt an initial study and mitigated negative declaration and approve associated entitlements — including a zone change and general plan amendment — for an expansion of Castle Family Health Center at 1775 3rd Street.

Community Development Director Johnny Lan told the commission the project would add an approximately 8,000-square-foot building and site improvements on a roughly 1.63-acre site. He said the mitigated negative declaration was completed and posted by staff in May 2026 and that the rezoning of two parcels from low-density residential to commercial office (and a land use redesignation to institutional) is required so staff can finish processing site plan, architectural review and lot merger approvals.

Corey Billings, the property owner of an adjoining parcel and CEO of Bloss Healthcare District (self-identified), said patrons were parking in his lot and stepping over an existing four-foot fence, creating what he described as a public-safety and liability concern; he asked that a fence be installed prior to construction. "So what our thought and request is is prior to construction, we would like to have a fence put up... There's an existing fence there that is 4 foot tall," Billings said.

Applicant representative Jesse Allen Young (self-identified) said the applicant would install a six-foot screening fence on the property line and that the project team had conducted neighborhood outreach including a public meeting and door-to-door contact. "We would be happy to to put the screen 6 foot tall," Jesse Allen Young said, adding the developer is keen to minimize visual impacts and to fit the one-story building to the neighborhood.

A project representative also described outreach and the clinical need, telling commissioners the expansion will have 15 exam rooms, include a laboratory and help bring more providers to the community. He emphasized long wait times currently seen for specialty care and said the clinic is designed to improve local access to primary and specialty services.

Commissioners asked whether a taller fence would be allowable under recently updated code provisions. Staff said administrative code edits removed a prior prohibition on fencing in commercial office zones and that, if the rezone is approved by council, staff would review a proposed fence — including a seven-foot option — for sight-distance and access issues. After brief discussion, the commission moved, seconded and voted to recommend approval of the mitigated negative declaration, the zone change, general plan amendment, lot merger and architectural review as described in the staff report.

The commission’s recommendation advances the project to the City Council for final action on the environmental finding and the rezone.