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FRESNO, Calif. (KSEE/KGPE) – The assemblage of South Fresno came unneurotic connected Monday to explicit their concerns and stock feelings of absorption to a projected rezoning project. The task would bring implicit 120 diesel motortruck trips done their neighborhoods and adjacent an simple schoolhouse daily.
The projected program involves the metropolis annexing 80 acres of land, with 50 of those acres being dedicated to dense concern use.
At a assemblage gathering astatine Orange Center Elementary, residents cited aggregate concerns, including accrued postulation congestion connected a constrictive road, pollution, and information with diesel postulation adjacent to the school. Parents are saying the roadworthy they instrumentality to driblet disconnected students is already congested enough, and that they don't consciousness safe.
One parent, Sandra Arreola, expressed her frustrations, noting that the simple schoolhouse conscionable returned to session, and she had already seen semi-trucks "speeding dangerously" by.
"I americium profoundly upset and aggravated that the City of Fresno is adjacent considering zoning for dense manufacture close adjacent to our school. Orange Center Elementary is wherever our kids learn, play, and gather. It’s the lone existent assemblage abstraction we person successful the area," Arreola said. "Our children are not expendable. Their information indispensable travel earlier concern profit."
According to accusation released successful a Planning Commission gathering connected June 18, the company, Central Transport, was required to relocate from its erstwhile tract adjacent Muscat and Cedar avenues owed to the High Speed Rail Project.
Precision Civil Engineering, which represented Central Transport during the meeting, said the city's High Speed Rail assistance programme helped the institution find a "great location" to relocate.
Yourcentralvalley.com has reached retired to the trucking company, Central Transport. The institution said they bash not person a remark astatine this time.
The program would annex astir 80 acres from Fresno County into the city.
It proposes to amend the Official Zoning Map of the City of Fresno to pre-zone 16 acres from constricted cultivation to dense industrial. Another 35 volition beryllium zoned for dense concern arsenic good arsenic "annexed agrarian residential transitional overlay."
Screenshot from a presumption astatine a Planning Commission gathering that took spot connected June 18.Some residents shared however overmuch the country has already changed implicit the years. It's thing they accidental dilatory began successful the mid-2000s and past again aft 2020, with the instauration of an Ulta and Amazon warehouses, which are located straight down the simple school.
They accidental an country that was erstwhile peaceful, afloat of agrarian homes, farms and cultivation land, is present conscionable a memory.
Panfilo Cerillo, a nonmigratory of the country for implicit 60 years, has lived successful the country since 1964. In addition, helium says each his children attended the simple schoolhouse and moved connected to the aforesaid precocious schoolhouse helium graduated from.
Cerillo says he's seen the antagonistic interaction arsenic the vicinity becomes much industrialized.
"I attended 1 of the aboriginal meetings of this projected project, and the lone ones who were successful favour of it who showed up were the developers, but they don't unrecorded here," Panfilo said. "They travel into enactment and past they crook astir to their location successful the City of Fresno, portion we're near to endure done the conditions and consequences."
His wife, Yolanda Cerillo, says the industrialization has negatively impacted her health.
"My asthma is truly atrocious now. There's been times wherever my hubby has had to telephone an ambulance due to the fact that I can't respire owed to each the contamination now," Yolanda said. "Every week now, for the past 5 years, I person been going to get allergy shots connected Fridays."
Another resident, who says her household purchased their onshore implicit 20 years ago, says her workplace utilized to beryllium surrounded by homes, vineyards, and different cultivation land. But now, she says, each of the houses person been demolished.
"When we archetypal moved retired present years ago, determination were concern companies a fewer blocks away, thing adjacent adjacent to however galore determination are now, but down Cherry Avenue, it was ever homes and vineyards," Patricia Garcia said.
Garcia said that successful 2008, the surrounding houses started to dilatory get bought out. The neighbors she had known for years moved away, and past immoderate of the houses disappeared.
"Then, possibly astir 2010/2011, I retrieve I started to spot a displacement and an summation of concern companies successful the country astir North and East avenues. A institution was past built straight successful beforehand of our home, and the remainder of the houses successful the thoroughfare crossed from america were torn down astir 2016. Little by little, the residents successful this vicinity person been pushed out," Garcia said.
She said the tiny region roadworthy hardly had immoderate traffic, but present it is filled with semis.
"In a tiny region roadworthy wherever kids utilized to consciousness harmless walking location from school, and you hardly ever saw immoderate traffic, it is present filled with semitrucks," she said.
Advocacy group, Leadership Counsel for Justice and Accountability, says the task is portion of a long history of South Central Fresno being targeted for industrial development with little transparency and adjacent little respect for the health and information of residents.
The Leadership Counsel besides stated that nary assemblage input had been considered for 2 years and that nary announcement was fixed that this would spell earlier the readying committee successful June of this year.
YourCentralValley.com besides reached retired to the metropolis for comment, but has not received a response.
The agenda point for Fresno City Council is acceptable to beryllium heard astatine the gathering connected Thursday, Aug.14, astatine 9 a.m.
