My late husband, my five children and I have been farming in the San Joaquin Valley since the mid seventies. My children are now second generation growers.
During this period of time we have seen a very disturbing loss of prime level farm land being covered by houses.
When we bought our Elderwood Heights property it was and still is zoned by the county as suitable for one acre home sites. Eight years ago we began working with the county on a development plan for this property. We complied with every requirement paying qualified experts for each test required. We redesigned and reduced the number of lots as requested and are providing 42 acres of open space for recreational use, and a walking and equestrian trail around the entire perimeter.
We have done exactly what the county development plan considers desirable. Is it not better to have homes on land admittedly difficult to farm than to destroy forever more prime farm land for the same number of homes?
Lilian Roberts Kimble
Drive to the site of Elderwood Heights and tell me this is not prime farmland. Citrus Trees are planted from the roadside up to the top of the hill. Also, none of the neighbors in the immediate area were ever notified during this eight year time period.This development is about the money, not what is good for the area.
225 acres of farm land to be chopped up into one acre parcels without a concern for our current water shortage or well/ground/creek contamination from the 160+ homes’ individual septic tanks most to somehow work on granite with drainage running to the creek- it is clear the current second generation owners do not care about the developments’ negative impact on Woodlake
This is a city housing development that is invading our rural living. This is jeopardizing our water and most of the people who live in this area do not have luxury of being a wealthy family who only cares about making more money. One families wealth and “dream” can ruin many families out here by running us out of water and contaminating the creek bed, among other issues. Our entire life savings are put into our properties, the Roberts family does not even live in the Elderwood Heights area. The residents in this area were never informed over the 8 year planning stages and found our by luck. Large housing developments belong in city limits.