Planned Parenthood will not move forward with plans to move from its current location in downtown Visalia to a more visible location on Mooney Boulevard. Staff with the Orosco Group withdrew their application on Friday.
The decision also means that a planned public hearing at the Visalia City Council meeting on March 7 will no longer take place, and the meeting will take place at Visalia City Hall instead of the convention center.
Patrick Orosco, a co-managing partner of the Orosco Group, confirmed the news to the Valley Voice.
“We decided this morning to withdraw our application,” Orosco told the Voice on Friday. “We weren’t left with the impression that anyone in the Visalia city government disagreed with Planned Parenthood’s right to expand. Their concern was the location.”
Orosco said that at some point you have to honor how the city wants to compose itself.
“All in all Visalia has been very good to work with and has been supportive of our efforts to revitalize vacant buildings along the South Mooney corridor,” he said. He added that he didn’t want to expend the company’s goodwill that had been built up over twenty years of working with the city.
Tulare-Kings Right to Life, a local anti-abortion organization, took a victory lap in an email blast sent out Friday evening. The group invited members to the Visalia City Council meeting on March 7, even though the public hearing was cancelled.
The email stated that Planned Parenthood’s “invasion of Visalia” — where it already has an office — was a hot potato that had been “mashed”, and that Tulare-Kings Right to Life “may have won ‘Round 1’ in this fight to prevent ‘Murder on Mooney,'” but the group expected Planned Parenthood to continue searching for another location in Visalia.
“So the fight might not be over yet, but please continue to support our efforts and pray for our staff as they make a difference for life. But it just goes to show that when THE PEOPLE raise their voices against abortion, the blood of aborted babies also CRIES OUT to Heaven,” the email states.
No ‘Plan B’ exists for Planned Parenthood at this point, Orosco said, because the Visalia Planning Commission confirmed the location on Mooney had met all the requirements: it was appropriate for the region and complied with both the general plan and Visalia’s zoning ordinances.
“No fallback plan for Planned Parenthood has been considered,” he said.
Orosco said that Planned Parenthood is disappointed, but was cognizant of the fact that wherever they land, they will be there a long time — and they want to start off on a good foot.
“We have had that building for sale for 3 or 4 years so it’s back to the drawing board,” he added.
Thank you to everyone who opposed this location on Mooney blvd. This speaks to the difference we can make when we are allowed to speak. I’m confident they will find an alternative location, if more space is the need, but I prefer to medical services locate one property and the corner of Cypress and Akers where they provide a plural of medical services is the best example I can provide. The city will zone areas for industrial parks, so why not zone property thats suitable to build a medical park. I dunno if its worthy, but I thought I would float the idea?
Yah keep driving away tax paying businesses like them and cannabis dispensaries. EMPTY BUILDINGS EXACTLY WHAT WE NEED AFTER A RECESSION!!
Is Valley Voice going to an article how Visalia is driving out tax paying businesses like they did about Hanford. Oh Mark isn’t writing the article it’s Catherine. It will be more about facts. Did they ever do a study session for planned Parenthood going in that area? You know how I know this was based on conservative hate because these individuals were opposed to the site before any studies were announced. It shows the fear of conservative majority in Visalia.
I wish I could afford a centrally located building like this. I would offer it to Planned Parenthood for a nominal rent, but only in the condition that they maintain a full service women’s medical clinic for Visalia and all of Tulare County. By. “full service” I mean in-patient surgical abortions at no more cost than the average charged across the US at their other clinics. And also fully welcoming transgender-related medical services for all ages, again with a similar pricing scheme. If any of these services are dropped, then a pre-negotiated back rent would come due and the lease would terminate in the minimal amount of time allowed by law. This is what we should be striving to make available here.
Let’s be blunt! That organization’s money maker is abortions, nothing more, nothing less. They are not there to provide women’s health other than as a secondary service. Most people find facts too unpleasant to accept.
I wonder how they planned on making money here since they made it pretty clear abortions weren’t going to be offered in the Mooney location… some of us get our birth control and check-ups at planned parenthood please stop being ignorant
I urge those seeking correct facts about Planned Parenthood to go to their website to learn about all the many different healthcare services that they make available and provide to both women and men. The number of abortions that Planned Parenthood provides in the U.S. is in the low percentile in comparison to all the other medical services that people are provided through Planned Parenthood. Fact: Abortions are NOT PROVIDED at the Visalia Planned Parenthood Healthcare Clinic.