The community aimed mostly at residents older than 55 also got the majority of the board\u2019s approval to move forward, but drew a dissenting vote from Supervisor Brian Pacheco.<\/p>\n
The supervisor of a dozen years who will leave his seat at the end of the year said he could not support a project with what he saw as open questions that would have to be answered by a later generation of elected officials. Supervisors Nathan Magsig and Buddy Mendes will also move on at the end of 2026.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt looks like a nice place, but I\u2019m going to leave with my other two colleagues here, and then a year from now, four years from now, five years from now, we\u2019re faced with the same issues that this board is facing: What were these guys thinking when they let this happen, and the water\u2019s not addressed, the roads?\u201d Pacheco said. \u201cThat weighs pretty heavy.\u201d<\/p>\n
The board also heard from residents concerned about water in a region that has seen its share of issues. Critics of Friant Ranch pointed to water issues in foothill communities such as Shaver Springs<\/a>, Mirabella and Millerton Lake<\/a> where water quality has been unreliable, leading to emergency fixes or warnings to avoid drinking from the tap.<\/p>\n Those fixes usually come when residents can\u2019t find relief and go to the supervisors for help before the developments are bailed out by the state.<\/p>\n Friant Ranch Development attorney Bryan Wagner told the board on Tuesday the project would improve the water infrastructure in the area. He also said the development would indemnify the county, meaning the developer was promising to pay for damages or lawsuits incurred by Friant Ranch.<\/p>\n \u201cWe have a water supply agreement that we feel provides a very good water supply to the waterworks district,\u201d Wagner said. \u201cIt\u2019ll be good for Friant Ranch residents and for the community of Friant.\u201d<\/p>\n He said the community of Friant is allowed 150 acre-feet of water, but Friant Ranch will increase that to 2,000 for the area. An acre foot is enough water to cover an acre of land with one foot of water.<\/p>\n Area residents and advocates weren\u2019t convinced. Several pointed to the amount of time that passed since the project was approved in 2011, including Daniel O\u2019Connell, the executive director of the Central Valley Partnership.<\/p>\n \u201cMore diligence is needed for the project of this scale that has not been organized and that has not been analyzed, and that has changed in that time period,\u201d he said. \u201cIt would benefit us all if (Fresno County) did do that analysis.\u201d<\/p>\n Others, like Kay Bertken with the League of Women Voters of Fresno, pointed to the added traffic to Friant Road as well as the potential problems the region is likely to see during a drought.<\/p>\n \u201cWho\u2019s going to be responsible when there\u2019s another multi-year drought and the residents of Friant Ranch have no water?\u201d she said.<\/p>\n Developers with the project noted they came out on top in past court battles over the Environmental Impact Report in most critiques. They only lost when it came to the air pollution question.<\/p>\n Litigation had tied up the once-approved project after the Fifth District Court of Appeal upheld the state Supreme Court\u2019s ruling that the project would lead to too much air pollution. Fresno County supervisors in 2021 voted to rescind their approval from a decade earlier.<\/p>\n A new 2023 environmental impact report on the project, however, says new \u201canalytical methodology,\u201d as well as \u201cimproved pollution control technologies in vehicular and non-vehicular sources\u201d show, \u201cultimately, the project would not result in a substantial adverse effect on human beings,\u201d according to the county\u2019s staff report<\/a>.<\/p>\n The county\u2019s Planning Commission unanimously voted in September to support the project.<\/p>\n Friant Ranch history<\/p>\n Shortly after the Fresno County Board of Supervisors approved the Friant Ranch project in 2011, several groups including the Sierra Club, League of Women Voters of Fresno and Revive the San Joaquin sued the county and the developer under the state\u2019s environmental law. They argued the environmental analysis that the county used to justify its approval was flawed.<\/p>\n The report from the previously approved Friant Ranch development estimated from seven to 10 times the levels of nitrogen oxides and fine dust emissions than what are considered significant by the San Joaquin Valley Air Pollution Control District, according to The Fresno Bee archives.<\/p>\n Friant Ranch is being pursued by the Bigelow-Silkwood family about 10 miles north of Fresno. The plan has been compared to large retirement communities in Arizona and Southern California.<\/p>\n This story was originally published October 20, 2026 at 3:52 PM.<\/p>\n Related Stories from Fresno Bee<\/p>\n