Sumner Hill, California facts for kids
Quick facts for kids
Sumner Hill
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 Sumner Hill
Location in California
Sumner Hill
Location in the United States
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| Country | United States |
| State | California |
| County | Madera County |
| Elevation | 535 ft (163 m) |
Sumner Hill is a small, special community in Madera County, California. It's called an unincorporated community because it's not officially a city or town with its own local government. Instead, it's managed by the county.
Sumner Hill sits high up at 535 feet (163 meters) above sea level. It's about 6 and a half miles north of Woodland Park in Fresno. This community was started in 1985. It has 49 homes built on a high piece of land, or "bluff." This bluff is on the east side of Peck Ranch, right next to the San Joaquin River.
The homes in Sumner Hill are known for being quite expensive. In the 1990s, the larger area around Sumner Hill started to be called "Rio Mesa." This name covered about 15,000 acres of land.
Sumner Hill residents had a long legal fight. They wanted to keep their private road, Killkelly Road, which led to the San Joaquin River. In 2012, a court agreed with them. It said that other developers could not claim public access to the river through Sumner Hill. As of 2012, Sumner Hill was the only big neighborhood in the Rio Mesa area.
The Story of Sumner Hill
In 1983, the County of Madera gave permission to create Sumner Hill. This was a new neighborhood for homes. The county had one main rule: the community needed a security gate and a fence around it. This was to help keep the area safe. It also meant local police wouldn't have to travel far to respond to calls in this remote spot.
The Sumner Hill neighborhood officially opened in 1985. It covered about 670 acres of land. There were 49 building lots, and each one was quite large. They ranged from 1 and a half acres to six acres in size.
Some of the first people to live in Sumner Hill were members of the Peck family. They were farmers who had lived in the San Joaquin Valley for many generations. The street names in Sumner Hill were chosen by Carolyn Peck, who owned Peck Ranch. You can find names like Rose of Trailee Place, Killarney Drive, and Bonny-Kerry Lane.
Amazing Views and Nature
Sumner Hill offers some truly beautiful views. From one side, you can look down at Friant Dam, Lost Lake, and the winding San Joaquin River. You can also see the lovely Sierra foothills in the distance.
From another side, you can see across Madera and Fresno counties. On a clear day, you might even spot the skyline of Clovis and Fresno. The road leading to Sumner Hill is a two-lane road. As you drive, you'll pass by vineyards and green pastures. You can also see citrus orchards growing nearby.
The area around Sumner Hill is home to many different animals. You might see deer and geese. There are also smaller animals like skunks, raccoons, and coyotes living in the wild.
By 1992, Sumner Hill had a fun nickname: "Pill Hill." This was because so many doctors from Fresno had chosen to move there. In 2007, a local newspaper, The Fresno Bee, wrote about Sumner Hill. It said the community had some of the most elegant and beautiful homes in the Fresno area. Sumner Hill gets its main water supply from the San Joaquin River.
River Access Road
When the plans for Sumner Hill were finalized in 1984 and 1985, they included Killkelly Road. This was a dirt road that went through the neighborhood. It was meant to give homeowners easy access to the San Joaquin River.
In 1993, Madera County decided it no longer needed Killkelly Road for public use. They also gave up their interest in all other roads in Sumner Hill in 1994. The rights to these roads were then given to the Sumner Hill Homeowners Association. This meant the homeowners association was in charge of these roads.
Legal Challenges
In the mid-1990s, officials in Madera County started planning a new city. They called it Rio Mesa, and it was meant to include Sumner Hill. They hoped to convince the University of California to build a new campus there. However, the campus eventually went to Merced instead.
Around 2004, a company called McCaffrey Group and its partners bought a large part of Peck Ranch. They planned to build 5,200 new homes there. In 2006, the residents of Sumner Hill filed a lawsuit. This happened after the developers tried to stop them from reaching the San Joaquin River. The developers put up gates and hired security guards. They also invited the public to enter the Sumner Hill neighborhood.
In 2008, the Madera County Superior Court made an important decision. It ruled that Sumner Hill was a "private, gated subdivision." This meant it had special access to the river that needed to be protected. The court said new developers could not build trails or other public paths through Sumner Hill. In 2009, a jury decided that the homeowners should receive money for damages.
In 2012, a higher court in Fresno supported the jury's decision. It agreed that the Rio Mesa developers had waited too long to claim public access to the river. The court also noted that the Constitution of California has protected public access to navigable waters since 1879. However, the court did not fully decide on this point, as it found the law about river access to be unclear.
