A Sikh temple in south Fresno wants to install a 75-foot flagpole to adhere to its religious faith. The city says that is too tall for city code.

Gurdwara Nanaksar Sahib, located in an industrial part of Fresno at the southeast corner of E. North and S. Cherry avenues, is seeking to replace its 25-foot pole to fly the Nishan Sahib — a triangular flag representing the faith.

Nishan Sahib is the equivalent of Christianity’s cross and “symbolizes the inherent values of the Sikh faith,” engineer Jaspal Sidhu, representing the temple, wrote the planning department.

The height and visibility of the flagpole is also religiously significant.

The proposed pole would be built 360 feet from Cherry Avenue, next to a new prayer hall under construction. The 25-foot pole is adjacent to the street.

The city planning department denied the temple’s variance request. The temple is appealing to the city’s planning commision. The hearing takes place Wednesday, starting at 6 p.m.

Navkaran Gurm, a volunteer at the temple, expects the planning commission to grant the appeal.

“This is a normal process. There’s no animosity, I’m appreciative of the planning department doing their job. I look forward to our citizen body granting this variance,” said Gurm, who is a candidate for Fresno City Council District 7 in 2026.

Planning Department Reasoning

The planning department said it could not find exceptions within the city code. It did not find that the request was an extraordinary circumstance and concluded there is no physical hardship for the temple nor is the request is consistent with the development code.

“Granting of the variance would constitute the granting of special privilege,” the planning department said in city documents.

The planning department did state that the request isn’t detrimental to adjacent properties.

One neighbor wrote a letter to the department in opposition to the larger flagpole, expressing “a concern that the 75-foot-tall flagpole would be a distraction and potentially hazardous.”

If the planning commission denies the appeal, it could be appealed again to the city council.