The Fresno City Council cleared what they hope is the second-to-last hurdle needed to pass legislation making it easier for developers to build homes on land zoned for offices.
Council President Mike Karbassi and Councilmember Annalisa Perea — who have been on different sides in past debates over the new rules — both voted to approve the new version in a split 4-3 vote. Council Vice President Miguel Arias and Tyler Maxwell joined them.
If the new rule passes a second hearing, it would allow for housing developments in office-zoned districts and near bus stops to be approved ministerially, or, without much oversight from the council.
The matter has been on the Fresno City Council agenda for months, consistently bogged down in ideological clashes as the council tries to construct a more streamlined building process amid a neverending housing crisis.
Karbassi, who has been a strong opponent of the ministerial provision, was swayed to add it back when the council amended the rule to add a 45-foot height limit — about three stories — to new apartments being built through this ordinance that are not located within a half-mile of at least two major transit stops.
The addition would allow the northwest councilmember to see new housing along Herndon Avenue, while also addressing the anxieties of his constituents. In previous hearings on the matter, Karbassi also managed to successfully add a provision to have the city notify councilmembers when a development is approved ministerially in their district.
“By putting some limitations, it’s opening the door to having housing where that use is not allowed, but doing it in a way that’s sensitive to the neighborhood,” Karbassi said.
Earlier Thursday, a group of Fresno leaders and community members met outside city hall to protest a mega-development on the southeast side of town, arguing against suburban sprawl projects and instead hoping to build vertically, or within already established communities. Perea said this policy is the exact kind the protestors have been clamoring for the city to invest in.
“If we are serious about addressing this housing crisis,” Perea said, “and if we believe that every family deserves a stable home, then we have a responsibility to remove barriers that no longer serve the public. Ministerial approvals are the answer to achieve that.”
The second hearing is scheduled for Nov. 20, but there’s no guarantee that the new rule will pass. Councilmembers Nelson Esparza, Nick Richardson and Brandon Vang opposed the vote.
State housing officials revoked Fresno’s Prohousing designation — a perk that gives cities and counties access to millions of dollars in housing grants — earlier this year citing, among other reasons, their inability to pass these new zoning laws in a timely manner.
10-year old downtown housing proposal granted yet another life
Developers Jeff Isenstadt and Mehmet Noyan will be tasked with bringing an eight-story housing development to life in the city’s downtown district. Omar Rashad | Fresnoland
The city council also approved a new development agreement for an eight-story downtown apartment complex behind Chukchansi Park.
The project, called The Park At South Stadium Apartments, is a 160-unit mixed-use affordable housing development at 815 Fulton St. — with 64 units being affordable. The units would be a mix of studio, two- and three-bedroom apartments.
The developer, The Park Partners LLC, is co-managed by Mehmet Noyan and Jeff Isenstadt.
The project was passed by the council in a hearing that lasted less than 10 minutes, a stark change of fortune for the developers who have been trying to get the project off the ground for several years.
The project was part of a rejected bid by Noyan to the State Center Community College District earlier this year to build student housing. Noyan also saw a similar housing project, with virtually the same name, rejected by the Fresno City Council in 2022.
The project has faced fits and starts to get financing since 2015, and received its first grant award in 2016.
The city can back out of the $84 million deal if the developers don’t secure full financial backing by Feb. 28 of next year.
“I think we’ve learned from the mistakes of our past as a city, where we’ve provided development agreements and extended them well beyond their useful life, ” Mayor Jerry Dyer said.
If Noyan’s project is successful, the development would go a long way toward fulfilling the mayor’s dream of seeing a bustling, revitalized downtown district — a goal that has slipped the grasp of multiple leaders before him.
Developers have routinely looked away from downtown, citing outdated infrastructure that is not suitable for modern, dense housing projects.
“We need housing downtown in a bad way,” Dyer said Thursday.
Gov. Gavin Newsom committed $293.7 million to help the city modernize its infrastructure.
The state has paid $194 million to the city since 2023 with a recent influx of $100 million granted just last month.
City gifts quarter of a million dollars to region’s largest food bank
Fresno City Councilmember Nelson Esparza will contribute $50k toward the city’s total donation amount. Omar Rashad | Fresnoland
The Fresno City Council unanimously voted to give $250k to the Central California Food Bank. The region’s largest food bank will use the money to help the San Joaquin Valley’s SNAP/CalFresh recipients following the federal government delaying their benefits.
Dyer said the city’s financial contribution was “the least we can do to step up and help those who are the most vulnerable in our community.”
Natalie Caples, co-CEO of the Central California Food Bank, told the council that there has been a 300% increase in internet traffic this month following the delay in November SNAP benefits, known locally as CalFresh. She added that the trend is similar for call volume at the food bank’s regional centers.
Arias urged Fresno County leaders to also help out SNAP recipients and extended a “challenge” to local congressional leaders.
“I would challenge the federal congressional members that we have in this area to contribute part of their millions of dollars in their campaign coffers towards this initiative, too,” Arias said, “because it is their failure to find a political solution that has created a humanitarian crisis for us locally.”
Arias also threw questions at Caples regarding how equitably the fruits of the city’s funding would be distributed by the food bank. He said he’s heard from SNAP-enrolled constituents who are being turned away from food banks due to supplies exhausting faster than expected. Caples acknowledged how “frustrating” those situations can be, and said the food bank was open to solutions that would more directly assist SNAP-beneficiaries, such as a food drive.
Fresno City Manager Georgeanne White added that while the city’s gift is generous, it won’t be enough to help everyone.
“I mean, I hate to be the realist, but the thought that $250,000 is going to fix the problem in Fresno … it’s just not going to be the case,” White said.
Karbassi echoed those feelings, saying that “it’s really hard to bail out the federal government, because they’ve absconded from their responsibility.”
Fresno City Councilmember Nelson Esparza — who will cover $50,000 of the city’s total gift using his district’s budget — first announced the donation last week alongside local leaders in an event hosted by state Congressman Jim Costa. Though decisions by federal courts have signaled that SNAP recipients may see their November benefits eventually, Esparza remained committed to seeing the city pitch in.
“This remains the right thing to do, to be part of the safety net that catches those residents who may otherwise fall through the cracks this month,” Esparza said at Thursday’s council meeting.
President Donald Trump’s administration announced late last month that SNAP benefits would not be coming to the nearly 42 million people enrolled in the program as a result of the ongoing government shutdown — which is now the longest in the nation’s history.
Since then, a series of back-and-forths between the federal administration and courts has led to a dizzying situation for SNAP recipients and local leaders, with Thursday being no different.
The latest chapter in the story came shortly after the council’s vote on Thursday, where U.S. District Judge John J. McConnell from Rhode Island ordered the Trump administration to deliver SNAP recipients their full November benefits by Friday.
The Department of Justice said it would file an appeal. Vice President JD Vance called the ruling “absurd.”
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