As Fresno City Council chambers filled with citizens, advocates, and interests prepared to follow what the body would do with the Southeast Development Area plan, council members ended the meeting suddenly with a 6-1 vote to table the item indefinitely.

Saying that the public had made its opposition to the development plan known at several meetings, Councilmember Mike Karbassi moved to table the item, letting a future City Council decide the plan’s fate.

“I don’t think much has changed since last December, I think we have beat this dead horse good enough. It’s clear there is no political will or ability to actually sustain SEDA within the city of Fresno,” Karbassi said. “There’s nothing more evident to me than that right now.”

But even as election results shape a future governing body even more averse to the plan than the current council, Fresno Mayor Jerry Dyer said talks are already underway with some of the most ardent SEDA opponents to create an alternative to his already diminished South SEDA plan.

He said he has a good idea of what that alternative might be.

“I’m not willing to share it publicly yet, but I have already met with a few of the opponents, and I do believe there may be some willingness to have some honest dialog,” Dyer said. “Because in essence, what we lost tonight was the ability to open up the southern part of Fresno for 23,700 good-paying, permanent jobs in our city.”

Richardson Wanted Decision Made

Residents, council members, business representatives, and others had prepared for a marathon meeting Thursday, similar to the meeting in December 2025, when discussion and public comment pushed the meeting to a midnight adjournment.

City staff brought out chairs for the overflow crowd, and food had been prepared for residents expecting another long meeting. Karbassi’s motion, however, quickly seconded by Fresno City Councilmember Miguel Arias, ended the meeting, causing the crowd to erupt in cheers.

Councilmember Nick Richardson said he wanted to have a discussion and make a decision about SEDA once and for all. He said he hadn’t decided one way or another.

“I was expecting that people’s times wouldn’t be wasted,” Richardson said. “Expecting that instead of just kicking the can down the road again indefinitely, we’d come to a decision on it.”

He said he expects something to be done with that land, whether it falls to Clovis or Sanger.

“Whether it is more invasive, less invasive, more industrial, more residential, whatever it is, in the crawl of time, something will happen in that area,” Richardson said.

Council Candidates Speak on SEDA

Dyer said the reality was that even if he could get the votes, which many insiders had expected he could, the upcoming council could overturn any decision taken Thursday. While all council candidates had taken “no on SEDA” stances, two candidates currently leading in the election had made that position central to their political platforms.

District 7 candidate Ariana Martinez Lott, who may have secured her position after her opponent, Nav Gurm, conceded, said she was happy with the council’s decision Thursday.

She said her vocal opposition to SEDA rang true with many residents she talked to throughout her campaign who brought up their concerns about SEDA.

She didn’t say whether she would have supported overturning a decision had the council made one, but she said she “would’ve had a lot of concerns if something was to get passed today.”

Naindeep Singh, whose race for City Council District 1 is much tighter, with only 199 votes separating him from opponent Rob Fuentes, also said he was happy about the decision. Both Singh and Martinez Lott were present at the meeting.

“I think the spirit overwhelmingly when we’ve talked to residents was ‘let’s focus on Fresno,’ it’s not the time to be focusing on a fringe growth project in the outskirts,” Singh said.

Is Fresno Losing Something Without South SEDA?

Not all were happy about the decision.

“I think what we have right now is a big ‘closed for business’ sign for Fresno,” said Ed Dunkel, president of Precision Civil Engineering.

He said when Amazon and Ulta first came to Fresno, their tax revenue constituted about 25% of the general fund.

“It’s not now, but back then,” Dunkel said. “And we lost so many more of those opportunities, and here we are, telling people again, we don’t want your business.”

Over the years of SEDA discussion, the plan had been reduced as opposition grew. What began as almost a new town, with 9,000 acres of housing, retail, and office space, was whittled down to a plan focused on job centers on largely agricultural land, with far fewer existing residences affected.

Dyer’s South SEDA plan envisioned about 1,500 acres of “research and development” industrial space and about 500 acres of adjoining housing. An economic study commissioned by the city administration forecast nearly 24,000 jobs for the area.

His administration came out with a financing plan he said could pay for the $81 million needed to get South SEDA going.

Darren Rose, president of the Building Industry Association of Fresno Madera Counties, said not having new growth puts Fresno at a disadvantage even as Madera and Visalia continue to expand. He said it will affect affordability for homebuyers and job opportunities for people looking for work.

“Visalia is just killing it, and good for Visalia. I mean, they are a pro-business, pro-housing area, so they will continue to benefit where Fresno lags behind,” Rose said.