FRESNO, Calif. (FOX26) \u2014 The Fresno Planning Commission approved the Southeast Development Area Specific Plan 6-1 on Wednesday, Aug. 19.<\/p>\n
Hundreds of Fresno County neighbors packed Fresno City Hall during the meeting.<\/p>\n
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Hundreds of Fresno County neighbors packed Fresno City Hall during the meeting (PHOTO: MADISON WILBER).<\/p>\n
Over 40 people spoke during public comment, five spoke in support of the SEDA project and the rest spoke against it.<\/p>\n
“We want to absorb everyone who wants to live here, we don’t want to shut out anyone who wants to live in Fresno,” Jennifer Clark, Fresno planning director, said. <\/p>\n
SEDA<\/a> is a long-term planning proposal that could ultimately reshape the city by converting roughly 9,000 acres of farmland into housing, commercial, and industrial development if approved.<\/p>\n Those against the plan argue that there are issues in Fresno that should be fixed and focused on before money is spent to expand the city.<\/p>\n “I don’t want to be a part of a broken city. The West area has development that has started and ended. They’ve got broken sidewalks that kids are walking through to school. It’s a safety concern,” Brett Thompson, a Fresno farmer, said. “What they’re offering is not what we want.”<\/p>\n Multiple questions regarding the budget of the plan and fiscal reports were asked during the meeting. <\/p>\n “(Budgets) still haven’t been released. The public hasn’t seen them. The planning commissioners have not seen the reports,” Thompson said. “we’ve asked. I put in public records requests, requesting them and been told I’m not privileged to get that information.”<\/p>\n In a city council meeting in December 2025, Mayor Jerry Dyer stressed that developers, not taxpayers, would pay for infrastructure such as water and sewer connections.<\/p>\n [RELATED] High turnout at Fresno City Hall over Southeast Development Area Plan discussion<\/a><\/p>\n \u201cI empathize with those folks,\u201d Dyer said in December. \u201cI\u2019m suggesting that as part of this study, a community benefits fund be considered to ensure that residents do not bear the burden of those costs.\u201d<\/p>\n A financial report that was released in May 2025<\/a> by the city states Phase One of the SEDA project would cost around $7.4 billion. <\/p>\n To watch the Fresno Planning Commission Meeting, click HERE<\/a>.<\/p>\n