City Council passes compromise on Fresno neighborhood rezone. ‘This was a slap in the face’

The Fresno City Council on Thursday unanimously approved rezoning about 23 acres in southwest Fresno from neighborhood mixed-use to light industrial use so businesses there could continue operating, despite strong opposition from community members who fought hard for the neighborhood zoning.

The City Council approved what Councilmember Miguel Arias, who represents the area, called a compromise between the business and property owners and residents. The council also directed city planning staff to return in 90 days with a proposal supported by Mayor Jerry Dyer and some residents that would establish another layer of zoning in the area, called an overlay.

On the council’s agenda Thursday was an application submitted by the business owners to rezone a total of 92.5 acres between South Elm Avenue and Highway 41 back to industrial use. The businesses in the area include Mid Valley Disposal and a pharmaceutical distribution center, among others.

The neighborhood mixed-use zoning was established about five years ago with the passage of the Southwest Fresno Specific Plan, a policy document that guides future growth and development in the area. During the drafting of the plan, city officials worked for years with many southwest Fresno residents whose goal was to reduce the number of polluting industries in their neighborhood and attract new housing and retail opportunities. The area includes most of Fresno’s historically redlined neighborhoods.

Because of the specific plan, the industrial business operations are no longer consistent with the city’s zoning.

Neither the business owners nor residents supported Arias’ compromise, which ultimately won City Council favor.

Eric Payne, executive director of the Central Valley Urban Institute, called Thursday’s vote “a slap in the face.”

“This was a slap in the face to the BIPOC residents who are directly impacted by this rezone, who live within 700 feet of the proposed project site,” Payne said. “Redlining is one of the foundational reasons minority and low-income communities have been saddled with persistent environmental problems. The role of our local government is, ‘We leave no community behind,’ and southwest Fresno continues to be left behind by its local government.”

Payne said residents need more information about the effects of Arias’ compromise, including mapping and use limitations.

John Kinsey, an attorney representing the group of businesses, said Arias’ compromise leaves some businesses “in a very uncertain situation.” Kinsey told the council that the businesses would be interested in the overlay proposal, but there would likely still be an issue for his clients hoping to electrify their operations.

“As you can probably imagine, two of the landowners are very pleased with the outcome, while the other two are left with their issues unresolved,” Kinsey said after the council’s vote. “That being said, we are looking forward to engaging further with the community on the draft overlay district as directed by the council. The landowners will approach the negotiations in good faith and in an expeditious manner and look forward to the same by the community representatives.”

The vote came one day after California Attorney General Rob Bonta, in a letter, urged the Council to abandon the rezone application, calling the proposal misguided and “likely unlawful.” At the time, the Attorney General’s Office was unaware of Arias’ proposed compromise.

“We would welcome a proposal that seeks to address the concerns raised by the Attorney General, California Air Resources Board, and community stakeholders and will continue to engage with the City Council on this in the days and weeks ahead,” Bonta’s office said after learning about Arias’ compromise.

The City Council also approved other major zoning items that residents opposed, including one that city officials argue would allow for more higher-density housing to be built and another for the expansion of the Busseto Foods facility.

The Busseto vote converts nearly 19 acres of southwest Fresno land from medium-density residential zoning to light industrial. That rezone will allow Busseto to build a massive campus where it will consolidate operations.

Those zoning votes also reverse zoning set in the Southwest Fresno Specific Plan.

“I can tell you that our community is really quite fed up,” Dr. Venise Curry told the City Council during public comment. “We fought this fight based on the fact that our community has been redlined and disinvested in. Our community suffers in a disproportionate way on health outcomes consistently.

“We are a part of the city. We pay taxes, and we will not sit idly by or cosign our own detriment,” Curry said. “If we are ‘One Fresno,’ then the way we make ‘One Fresno’ is to be equitable, and this request is not equitable. It is a reversal of a commitment and it is cosigning on the death certificates of millions of African-Americans, Latino-Americans, Hmong-Americans, all the people who you said could not live in West Fresno.”