1 month ago
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FRESNO, Calif. (KSEE/KGPE) - The Fresno City Council is acceptable to ballot connected a determination Thursday that could perchance acceptable backmost years of advancement for the Southwest Fresno community.
The determination is simply a rezoning plan that would alteration astir 60 acres of onshore adjacent Elm and Annadale avenues from a "neighborhood mixed-use" to "industrial zoning."
"What I privation the metropolis to bash is not hold with this change. It volition bring much pollution. It volition bring much degradation to our community. And we merit overmuch better," said Mary Alice Curry, Chair of the Concerned Citizens of West Fresno.
The exertion claims the rezoning would alleviate fiscal load and beforehand occupation growth; however, Southwest Fresno residents accidental it would wholly disregard the Southwest Fresno Specific Plan, an statement made successful 2017 with the city.
"It truly was a footprint that was expected to beryllium dedicated for the adjacent 30, 40, 50 years to reverse a batch of the mediocre land-use decision-making from the erstwhile 70 years," said Director of the Fresno Drive Initiative Artie Padilla.
With 20 years already taken disconnected the beingness expectancy compared to those surviving successful North Fresno, residents accidental the rezoning would lone exacerbate the already mediocre conditions of the area.
"Our diligent colonisation has asthma astatine a higher complaint than immoderate different portion of the city, we person chronic diseases astatine a higher rate— not due to the fact that radical are not trying to instrumentality attraction of themselves, but if you look around... the motortruck postulation is excessive, the contamination load is excessive and this is what creates mediocre outcomes for our families," said Dr. Venise Curry, a nonmigratory of Southwest Fresno.
Fresno City Councilmember Miguel Arias says helium stands with the assemblage helium represents, adding the rezoning would besides interruption authorities instrumentality arsenic it affects lodging successful an country already experiencing a crisis.
"This is not conscionable astir a rezone of much dense concern successful southwest, it's besides astir eliminating 4,000 lodging units successful the metropolis of Fresno that by authorities instrumentality we would person to marque up the aforesaid nonstop day," said Arias.
Arias says the local, state, and national governments person already invested millions of dollars into reshaping the assemblage for the better, similar repaving roads, a 10-acre park, and different renovations that dense concern usage would wholly undermine.
"If the metropolis assembly and the politician are saying 'yes' to this, they are gutting years of assemblage voices that person engaged successful this process to alteration the assemblage to a healthy, vibrant neighborhood. We are nary longer going to beryllium the dumping crushed for the city's concern development," said Eric Payne, Executive Director of the Central Valley Urban Institute.
Arias hopes different assembly members and the politician volition unanimously ballot against the exertion conscionable arsenic they did 2 years agone erstwhile the aforesaid out-of-town investors attempted to rezone their property.
"It would beryllium a implicit slap successful the look if councilmembers who person blocked dense concern and lodging successful their neighborhoods to let it successful idiosyncratic else's backyard," said Arias.
The Fresno City Council volition ballot connected the rezoning application Thursday morning.
