The city of Exeter annexes property for subdivision on North Filbert street, which will include 33 new homes
EXETER – For the first time in nearly 20 years, Exeter annexes 10 acres for a new subdivision within the city, and will soon be preparing to break ground.
Exeter is just around the corner from welcoming in a new subdivision on North Filbert Street, which will house 33 residential homes. There is not a set date the homes will be finished, but city manager Adam Ennis hopes to get the project started soon. This is a big deal for Exeter, as it’s the first time in years that they are actually building new homes, but also because of the current housing insecurity in Tulare County. The homes will be built on a 10 acre lot right at the border of Exeter’s city limits.
“The housing market here in town has been pretty stifled for the last few years. There’s just no inventory,” Ennis said. “I’ve heard people say they would sell their house if they had another one to buy somewhere, but nobody wants to sell their house because they can’t even go and find another house.”
The last subdivision that the city had built was in the early 2000s, which is Park Place. Housing development was difficult during Exeter’s turbulent few years of financial hardships, but as they began to stabilize their finances, they were able to start opening their doors to potential developers. Ennis said that one of their major goals now is to work with developers that are interested in building in Exeter, and getting them whatever they need to get a project going.
“We got everything signed off, we’ve got a subdivision agreement, and so now they’re looking to get rolling out there on that,” Ennis said. “We’ll have our first subdivision in about 15 or 20 years, and now getting ready to start actually working on it.”
Ennis said that there are already advertisements for the new subdivision on social media platforms, and the city will be working alongside realtor Tricia Kirksley to get the ball rolling on selling these homes. This major development milestone is proof of Exeter’s growth, but Ennis said the city council is trying their best to be careful with how quickly they expand. There are many features the council, and the city, want to keep the same or similar, such as downtown. Ennis said that the council is being careful not to mess up the “small town feel,” that Exeter presents.
Ennis said that new subdivisions are not only beneficial to the city, but also help residents. Exeter is right in the outskirts of many larger cities, such as Visalia, Tulare or Porterville. This makes it attractive to those who want to live in a small town, but need to commute to their jobs in larger areas. He compared Exeter to Clovis, since they are both “bedroom communities.”
Fifty years ago, Clovis mimicked Exeter in both size and charm. Now, however, they are larger and have an even more developed small town feel, since many who work in Fresno decided to buy homes in Clovis. Ennis hopes that Exeter can mirror Clovis’s growth, and be a bedroom community for local cities.
“We’ve had to develop stuff from scratch because it had been so long since the city had done any of these that we kind of had to recreate things,” Ennis said. “They’ll be getting started on that project soon, so it’s exciting to see that come around.”
