The Fresno City Council on Thursday rejected a $1 million plan five years in the making that would have determined land use in south central Fresno.

Councilmembers Mike Karbassi, Annalisa Perea, Tyler Maxwell, Luis Chavez, Nelson Esparza, and Garry Bredefeld all said they didn’t want the city rules for industrial buildings under the South Central Specific Plan to be stricter than state standards.

However, Councilmember Miguel Arias said the plan didn’t include sufficient mitigation for the impacts created by businesses that locate near residences.

The council rejected the plan 6-0. Esparza had to recuse himself halfway through the hearing after the Fresno City Attorney’s Office told him a donation from Oct. 25 would have violated SB 1439, which forbids politicians from voting on items from interested parties who give more than $250 to a campaign.

Mayor Jerry Dyer echoed the sentiments of the councilmembers who want the city to adhere to the state standards without surpassing them.

“This originated five years ago at a time when there were fewer local and state regulations addressing manufacturing as well as distribution centers,” Dyer said. “The council at that time passed a resolution that was supported by Mayor (Lee) Brand. The overall intent was to engage the community and to address some of the impacts that industrial use was having in the South Central Specific Plan area.”

The council will decide at the next meeting on an ad hoc committee to consider whether to create a new plan.

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Council Didn’t Want City Rules to Be Stricter Than State Rules

Business owners, industrial representatives, community members, and environmental justice activists showed up in force at the meeting to oppose it — even though many had worked on it.

Business owners said the plan’s zoning changes and rules about being close to residences drastically affected their operations and their land.

Environmental justice activists said the plan doesn’t go far enough to protect people living there.

But looming over the South Central Specific Plan is the adoption of AB 98 — a set of statewide standards signed by Gov. Gavin Newsom earlier this year creating minimum rules about how new large industrial properties should be constructed when they’re near schools, day cares, community centers, and other sensitive receptors.

Planning and Development Director Jennifer Clark said during the council meeting many of the specific plan’s standards exceeded AB 98.

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Fresno City Manager Georgeanne White said the creation of statewide standards means the city doesn’t have to go out and create something new on its own.

And, if it did, she wanted something that didn’t discourage business.

“I would like to see something that obviously gives our economic development teams and business community the ability to create and attract jobs to our region while at the same time obviously trying to mitigate to the best of our ability the impacts that that may have on the community,” White told GV Wire.

Council Needs to Decide What it Wants from a Specific Plan. If Anything

After five years of work, considering consulting fees and staff time, the city has invested about $1 million in the plan, White said. Re-using the work of city staff will depend on the parameters of what an ad hoc committee wants.

For businesses, an environmental impact report included in the plan would have streamlined the analysis needed to build projects, saving developers significant amounts of money. A new impact report would depend on what councilmembers want in a new plan.

A new report could take 12 to 18 months and cost between $200,000 and $500,000.

Also at issue, however, is a ruling from the California 5th Circuit Court of Appeals throwing out the city’s program environmental impact report that businesses and builders use to be in compliance with environmental law. The court said the document didn’t do enough to cover traffic mitigation, and air and water quality.

The inability for builders to use the PEIR makes relying on the status quo more difficult, especially for small- and mid-size companies, said John Kinsey, attorney with Wanger Jones Helsley. He  represents many industrial businesses.

“Coupled with there being no PEIR that does present a number of problems, not just for industrial and South Central, but generally, development across the city,” Kinsey said.

Kinsey praised the council’s decision and direction for a more business-friendly approach to south central Fresno.

President and CEO of Precision Civil Engineering Ed Dunkel said current standards could work for businesses seeking to build in Fresno with AB 98 and a working PEIR.

An email to Leadership Counsel for Justice and Accountability, a group that has opposed industrial development in the area, was not returned.