West Fresno leaders: Dyer plan for industrial districts should be scrapped, rezone denied
Following two and a half years of research, deliberation, and community engagement, the Southwest Specific Plan (SWSP) was unanimously adopted by our City Council on Oct. 26, 2017. Supported by the Planning Commission, city management and staff, a 21-member steering committee (neighborhood residents, business owners, developers and youth) dedicated significant time and effort to developing a plan for southwest Fresno intended to dramatically and intentionally change the strategy and direction of development, planning and investment in a community that has been neglected for half a century.
The placement of pollution sources in west Fresno — power plants, industrial facilities, rendering plants and landfills — is well established, and continues to negatively impact the generational health and wealth of families. The cumulative impact of chronic exposure to ozone pollution, and particle pollution (PM 2.5) contributes to our designation as having some of the state’s worst air quality, and results in higher rates of asthma, infant mortality, cardiovascular diseases and ultimately deadlier outcomes from COVID -19. It is still true that “life expectancy in West Fresno (93706) is more than 20 years lower than in northeast Fresno (Central Valley Health Policy Institute at Fresno State.)“
The California Air Resources Board addresses the problem of industrially overburdened communities and the steps they can take to address this issue. The SWSP Steering Committee did exactly what is recommended — rezone to neighborhood mixed use. (See pages 20-23 in the link below) https://opr.ca.gov/docs/20200706-GPG_Chapter_4_EJ.pdf.
In February 2021 we became aware of a rezone application, Plan Amendment Application No. P20-01665, which seeks to rezone 92.5 acres of Neighborhood Mixed Use land back to light industrial use. This application is the antithesis of the development and planning direction adopted for our community, and discredits the remarkable work of so many community stakeholders.
We joined with significant numbers of community members and local organizations in successfully opposing the passing of this application at the April 7, 2021 Planning Commission meeting.
Our team toured facilities and actively convened meetings with Mayor Dyer, Councilman Arias, Chief of Staff Tim Orman, City Manager Tommy Esqueda, Planning Director Jennifer Clark, applicants and former Councilman Oliver Baines (who has acted as a mediator during this process). It was our understanding that we were in negotiations with the applicants and the city to develop a Text Amendment proposal.
On Dec. 16, 2021 we became aware of a proposed “citywide” text amendment, distributed to City Council project review committees without our knowledge or support. The proposed Text Amendment (the Neighborhood Industrial Overlay District) specifically endorses the applicant’s Elm Avenue rezone application, and blatantly disregards concerted efforts to preserve the SWSP and will of community stakeholders.
By seeking citywide support for this new text amendment, the city has eroded community trust and risked irreparable harm to an already environmentally and economically devastated community.
The text amendment, adding Section 15-1615 to Chapter 15 of the Fresno Municipal Code, creating the Neighborhood Industrial Overlay District, should be withdrawn, and the Plan Amendment Application No. P20-01665, to rezone 92.5 acres of Neighborhood Mixed Use land to Light Industrial Use should be adamantly denied.
Our community requires an incomprehensible amount of time to heal from half a century of concentrated industrial presence. After 15 years of mediation, diligent advocacy, and the threat of completing litigation, the Darling rendering plant (Darling Ingredients) will permanently cease its local operations in southwest Fresno in December 2023.
We expect other areas in our city to bear the burden of industrial development so that our community has an opportunity for prosperous and healthy growth that restores life and vitality, like the West Fresno City College Campus.
We need our city to learn to do good for all of its residents, to seek social and environmental justice for every neighborhood, and to rebuke oppressive systems, policies and practices that hinder equity in our city.
Mary Curry is chair of Concerned Citizens of West Fresno. This was co-authored by Dr. Venise C. Curry, Concerned Citizens of West Fresno; Debbie Darden, chair of the Golden Westside Planning Committee; the Rev. B. T. Lewis II, Rising Star Missionary Baptist Church ; and Robert Mitchell, vice chair of the Golden Westside Planning Committee.
