Are residents feeling any better about the latest site proposed for a new Social Security field office in Visalia? A site on Noble Avenue between Ben Maddox Way and Pinkham Street -- near the Wal-Mart store in east Visalia -- is being pitched as an alternative to property on Lovers Lane near Tulare Avenue.

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"Riled" doesn't quite capture the sentiment of many residents in the neighborhood just west of the Lovers Lane site. It would take a much more, um, rustic term to really sum up how much they didn't want the office, or its clientele, anywhere near them.

The new location (at right), in the process of being sold, belongs to the Pentecostal Church of God and is leased for use by other congregations. Sometimes, on hot days, a snow-cone cart sets up shop along the sidewalk.

Developers brought their drawings for the 12,585-square-foot building to Visalia's Site Plan Review committee -- a panel of city engineers, planners and building officials -- last week for review; the committee asked for tweaks to the plans to address concerns about parking, access for emergency vehicles and trash trucks and parking.

The plans are due back to the committee next week. But before anything gets built, the project will have to go through a public hearing at the Visalia Planning Commission and, perhaps, before the Visalia City Council as well.

The building would replace the current Social Security office at Court Street and Murray Avenue near downtown Visalia.

This map shows the location of the current building as well as the proposed replacements along Lovers Lane and Noble Avenue.

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