The last legal hurdle blocking a controversial respiratory care facility in northwest Fresno may be cleared after attorneys for former Wawona Packing president Brent Smittcamp asked the court to drop the case.

The plan to build a 5,000-square-foot inpatient medical facility on Bullard Avenue between Forkner and Van Ness avenues had nearby residents sharply divided, drawing ire from some who said the 54-bed project didn’t belong in the neighborhood.

Smittcamp and two other neighbors to the project sued the city and Infinite Living — the company behind the facility — after the planning commission and the Fresno City Council approved the project in two heated meetings.

But the motion for dismissal now clears the legal obstacles so the project can move forward, according to the attorney for the project, Brian Whelan.

A request for comment from Smittcamp’s attorney was not returned.

Neighbors Threatened to Unseat Commissioners Who Approved Project

The care facility would provide 24-hour care for people on ventilators or recovering from tracheotomies. Builders plan to put it on a 1.5-acre former residential lot on Van Ness Extension. The 54-bed project would be built across three buildings.

Many patients would be those with life-threatening illnesses. Staff at the facility would nurses, cooks, dieticians, beauticians, and a per diem doctor, according to an operational statement.

Smittcamp’s attorney filed a lawsuit citing California’s Environmental Quality Act, also known as CEQA. Opponents said the facility would bring more traffic to the area and require commercial lighting that they said would be a nuisance.

Related Story: Planning Commissioners Felt Threatened by Opponents of NW Fresno Care Home

Both the September 2023 Planning Commission meetings and the October 2023 Fresno City Council meetings drew heated opposition to the project. Fresno City Councilmember Mike Karbassi appealed the planning commission’s approval, sending it before council.

“I am concerned about the impacts to the neighborhood,” Karbassi said at the time.

Attorneys representing neighbors penned at least two opposition letters before the city council meeting.

One couple went so far as to say any planning commissioners who approved the project would be “remembered and replaced ASAP.”