SHAFTER, Calif. (KERO) — The City of Shafter approved a tentative tract map in May for approximately 1,200 Lennar homes on the northern side of the Gossamer Grove neighborhood in the southeastern corner of Shafter — an area where high-speed rail is expected to run.
The conflict is not new. Shafter and Lennar agreed to a general plan for the area in 2005, several years before voters approved high-speed rail in 2008.
Shafter Mayor Chad Givens said, from his understanding, Lennar has been waiting for answers from the rail authority for years.
"One thing I want to make very, very clear: people who are first to that land is not high-speed rail; it's Lennar. Lennar has held doing any work over there for as long as they could, waiting for conversation, waiting for direction, waiting for answers with high-speed rail."
Givens said the tension between the developer and the rail authority came to a head a few years ago.
"This didn't come to a head this year. This came to a head a few years ago with Lennar saying, listen, we really don't have anywhere else to build in Gossamer except here, and we really would like to know if you're either going to work with us on the land and talk about what we can do, or if you're not, can you just give us an answer."
According to Givens, Lennar attempted to work directly with the rail authority to resolve details for the tract before the city approved the map. The developer now plans to build what was planned out two decades ago.
The High Speed Rail Authority issued a statement saying, in part, "The Authority conveyed its concerns to the city because the approved tract map is not compatible with the already environmentally cleared high-speed rail alignment."
Lennar was contacted for comment Thursday and opted not to respond.
Givens said the city's position has not changed. Shafter is asking the High Speed Rail Authority to honor a 2018 settlement both sides agreed to, or come to the table to negotiate something new.
"I think trains make a lot of sense," said Givens, noting congestion on other major throughways like Interstate 5 and Highway 99. "But we gotta design this accordingly. And I think the problem that people have with Shafter is that we're pushing against them. No, we're not pushing against you. We're asking you to do the right thing, which means have some transparency in the way you're gonna build the project, have some communication through how this is – what this is gonna look like."
In a later portion of its statement, a spokesperson for the High Speed Rail Authority said the authority's focus is on collaborating with the city and the developer to ensure local planning aligns with the state's transportation plans, and that it is continuing to evaluate the situation in an effort to deliver the project.
This story was reported on-air by a journalist and has been converted to this platform with the assistance of AI. Our editorial team verifies all reporting on all platforms for fairness and accuracy.
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