The Yokohl Ranch team has submitted an Area Development Plan (ADP) for the first phase of development. The ADP contains details, standards and land use designations consistent with the more conceptual Master Development Plan document.

On February 12, 2008, the County issued the official notice that it plans to prepare an Environmental Impact Report (EIR) for Yokohl Ranch. Often referred to as a Notice of Preparation (NOP), the notice described the elements of Yokohl Ranch and asked for public input on the issues that the project's EIR should analyze.

The Yokohl Ranch NOP also included the Initial Study that the County performed to determine which issues may be significant and require further analysis in the resulting EIR. Typically with projects of this nature, the Initial Study concluded that there may be many potentially significant impacts. However, the Initial Study did not analyze nor mitigate any of the potential impacts. It simply listed impacts that MAY be significant. These potential impacts will be analyzed in great detail in the County’s EIR for Yokohl Ranch and mitigation measures will be proposed to reduce or eliminate many of the impacts.

As part of the NOP, the County conducted a public Scoping Meeting. This meeting allowed another opportunity for members of the public and other entities to inform the County of additional issues outside of what was presented in the Initial Study that they believe should also be addressed in the EIR.

The NOP, Initial Study, and Scoping Meeting are the first steps in a very lengthy, detailed and comprehensive EIR preparation process. No project approvals were granted by the County or any other entities during the Scoping Meeting.

Following the Scoping Meeting, the County began to conduct a thorough environmental analysis of the Yokohl Ranch property and prepare a Draft EIR. The EIR will review a wide range of issues including, but not limited to, water supply, air and water quality, traffic, biology and public safety.

Additional future actions include the following:

Distribution of the Draft EIR and all supporting documents (i.e. water supply assessment, traffic impact analysis, etc.) for public review and comment

Preparation of Final EIR and all supporting documents

Tulare County Planning Commission Hearing

Tulare County Board of Supervisors Hearing