FRESNO, Calif. (FOX26) \u2014 A legal battle between the City of Fresno and the owners of a convenience store is raging on as officials move forward with plans to expand and renovate a longtime neighborhood park.<\/p>\n
The dispute centers around Quick Mart, located near First Street and Clinton Avenue, which city leaders say sits on property needed to complete improvements to Radio Park.<\/p>\n
Plans to transform Radio Park<\/p>\n
The City of Fresno is currently working to renovate Radio Park, a neighborhood park known for the large radio tower standing in its center.<\/p>\n
City leaders say the project is meant to bring new recreational opportunities to an area that has historically lacked access to green space.<\/p>\n
\u201cFor generations, families who have lived in this neighborhood have gone without what so many in our community take for granted in a park, a safe, welcoming, vibrant green space,\u201d said Fresno Mayor Jerry Dyer in a previous statement about the project.<\/p>\n
The renovation plan includes several new amenities, including:<\/p>\n
A splash padA sports fieldPickleball courtsAdditional recreational features<\/p>\n
City officials say the Quick Mart property is needed to complete the park expansion.<\/p>\n
Disagreement over the price<\/p>\n
The major sticking point between the city and the store\u2019s owners is how much the property is worth.<\/p>\n
In March 2024, the City of Fresno offered the store\u2019s owner more than $800,000 for the property.<\/p>\n
However, the owner\u2019s attorney said that amount falls far short of its actual value.<\/p>\n
\u201cOur appraisers are telling us those numbers could be in the four to five million dollar range,\u201d said attorney Richard Conway in a previous interview.<\/p>\n
Conway has also argued that losing the property would be a major hardship for the family that owns the business.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt obviously would be a significant burden to a very industrious, hardworking family,\u201d Conway said.<\/p>\n
City files legal complaint<\/p>\n
In July 2024, city officials formally determined the property was required to complete the park project.<\/p>\n
Last month, the city filed an official complaint against the property owner outlining its need to acquire the land.<\/p>\n
The move is part of the legal process tied to eminent domain, which allows governments to acquire private property for public use.<\/p>\n
What happens next?<\/p>\n
Under eminent domain law, the city must prove two things:<\/p>\n
That acquiring the property is necessary for a public project.That the property owner receives fair compensation.<\/p>\n
While property owners can challenge eminent domain in court, governments sometimes succeed in acquiring land if they meet those requirements.<\/p>\n
Despite the ongoing legal dispute, city leaders say the $10.6 million park project is still moving forward.<\/p>\n
Mayor Dyer previously said the renovated park could be finished by early 2027.<\/p>\n
\u201cMake no mistake, this will be transformative,\u201d Dyer said.<\/p>\n
As the legal battle continues, it remains unclear whether the city and the property owners will reach an agreement or if the dispute will ultimately be settled in court.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"FRESNO, Calif. (FOX26) \u2014 A legal battle between the City of Fresno and the owners of a convenience…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":205128,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[31],"tags":[112,114,113],"class_list":["post-205127","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-fresno","tag-fresno","tag-fresno-headlines","tag-fresno-news"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/205127","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=205127"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/205127\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/205128"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=205127"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=205127"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=205127"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}