Fresno City Council denies development plans for south central area

FRESNO, Calif. (KFSN) -- Neighborhoods and businesses successful the heavy industrialized country of southbound Fresno won't spot large manufacturing projects rotation into their community, for now.

Fresno City assembly members heard passionate pleas from residents Thursday astir imaginable improvement plans successful an country that was antecedently the North Avenue Industrial Triangle.

"I'm present to reason biology racism that has caused the southbound broadside of Fresno to beryllium breathing successful much polluted aerial than the remainder of the city," said Nayamia Martinez with the Central CA Environmental Network.

In 2019, it was renamed the South Central Specific Plan.

"Historically speaking, southbound cardinal is simply a spot wherever it was designated to beryllium a agrarian residential. Many families built their homes trying to get distant from the city," said Fresno City Council subordinate Miguel Arias.

Over time, the metropolis and the region rezoned that country to beryllium heavy concern for large occupation centers, large organisation centers, large manufacturing centers and unfortunately, delight inactive unrecorded there."

Last year, an Environmental Impact Report was drafted.

Then past month, the program was revised and the study was released.

It includes a 1 1000 ft buffer for caller concern improvement astir delicate places specified arsenic an simple school, convalescent homes, and residential areas.

But galore radical accidental it's not capable to easiness the concerns successful an already heavy concern area.

"What I'm proceeding is economical statement that you don't privation Fresno to beryllium non-competitive and yet if you are consistently marginalizing a peculiar portion of the assemblage you perfectly volition not person the benignant of maturation that you would similar Fresno to beryllium capable to toot its horn and to really embrace," said Dr. Venise Curry, talker and consultant.

The astir 5,600 acre program includes onshore successful Districts 3 and 4. 57-percent wrong Fresno City, 43-percent wrong the county.

"Residents who unrecorded successful that country privation to spot rules and regulations to guarantee their safety, and past businesses would similar arsenic fewer rules arsenic imaginable to guarantee that their concern has a instrumentality connected concern implicit time.," said Arias.

The chorus of disapproval from determination businesses seemed to gully a symphony of discontent contradict transition of the plan.

"We powerfully reason this program due to the fact that it volition negatively interaction businesses by restricting their rights, rezone important areas, necessitate electrical vehicles, which are not feasible and make immense request connected an already struggling powerfulness grid," said Brandon Craighead with the Penny Newman Grain Company.

"This peculiar program calls for exertion that is not acceptable for america yet and is not acceptable to prolong our business. We admit each you've done, but we powerfully impulse you to contradict this," said Mark Ford, the CEO of JD Food.

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