Judge rules Fresno can proceed with Cesar Chavez street name change. What are the risks?

A Fresno County judge has denied a motion by foes of a street name change to speed up a hearing for a preliminary injunction, allowing the city of Fresno to move forward with renaming portions of major roads in south Fresno to Cesar Chavez Boulevard.

But the order also puts the city on notice that if it opts to begin changing the street signs on California Avenue, Ventura Street and Kings Canyon Road, it’s doing so at its own financial risk.

A hearing is set for March 12 on a motion by 1 Community Compact, a coalition of business owners and residents along the 10-mile stretch of the streets between Marks and Peach avenues, to block the city from changing the street signs. The name change was officially approved by the Fresno City Council in March 2023 to honor the late farm-labor organizer, but the organization wants to stall changing the signs until its lawsuit against the city is resolved.

A trial on the lawsuit is currently scheduled for March 2025, more than a year from now.

The judge rejected an argument that allowing the city to begin changing more than 200 street signs along the route before the injunction hearing would result in “irreparable injury.”

“A street sign can be put back as easily as it can be taken down,” Judge Jonathan Skiles wrote in his brief two-page order issued Wednesday. The city, he added, “is on notice of the March 12, 2024, hearing date.”

“If (the city) chooses to go forward with changing the street signs prior to the hearing date, it does so with the knowledge that it may be required to incur the costs of changing them back.”

The City Council last week awarded a contract for $142,287 to Kroeker Inc. for removing and replacing street signs. In addition to new signs with the Cesar Chavez Boulevard name, the contract also calls for replacing older signs for side streets along the route.

It’s not clear how quickly the company would move forward. A staff report to the City Council last week indicated that the company will be required to seek city approval for the signs and then obtain the materials to make the signs – a process that could take weeks before the actual sign replacement commences.

The council’s actions have engendered strong emotions, from opponents of the name change and from those who support it. For residents in southwest Fresno, opponents say changing the name represents robbing a part of local heritage and history for African Americans and others for whom the street has been an anchor of the neighborhood.

In southeast Fresno, the arguments focus on the long established Kings Canyon moniker recognizing the national park of the same name in eastern Fresno County. Business owners and others also have complained about the expenses associated with an address change, ranging from business cards and letterhead to registering a new address with licensing and regulatory agencies.