Revised SEDA plan gets key approval amid outcry at Fresno hearing. ‘This is a job killer’

The Fresno Planning Commission gave the city’s major southeastern growth plan its stamp of approval Wednesday evening amid another display of fierce public backlash.

The commission voted 6-1 to recommend an updated version of the Southeast Development Area, or SEDA, to the City Council. The plan to rezone 9,000 acres of mostly farmland in unincorporated Fresno County into the city has been revised in response to council direction given to Mayor Jerry Dyer’s administration in December.

An estimated 160 people attended, filling the council chambers for a third time in the past year over SEDA. A vast majority of public commenters spoke in opposition to SEDA, including the area’s current rural residents, local school board representatives and a current city councilmember. Many raised questions about the plan’s new financial analysis, which has not yet been released to the public.

“I don’t think anybody in this room would sign over the purchase of a home if a seller were to tell them, ‘sign this contract; we’ll tell you how much it is later,’” Fresno City Council candidate Ariana Martinez-Lott said. “So why do we expect residents to do that with our taxpaying dollars?”

Jamie Holt, a new commissioner appointed by Dyer, said that commissioners should not weigh in on the finances of a plan. Jennifer Clark, the city’s planning director, said it’s their job to consider if a plan is consistent with the goals of the city’s general plan and that council is ultimately responsible for whether a project can be financed.

The council could approve SEDA as soon as the next scheduled meeting, but Clark said staff is planning to present a workshop on SEDA’s finances to the council on Sept. 3.

Holt and other commissioners argued that development will happen in the SEDA area regardless of if the plan is approved or not.

“They would never put a school there if they didn’t think that there were going to be students in that area,” Commissioner chair Kathy Bray said of the new Terry P. Bradley Educational Center on Leonard. “There’s going to be development there. I see this plan with it being phased down in the Jenson area first as the least awful iteration of this. At least it starts there.”

The main updates to the plan are shifting land use for more housing east of Temperance and creating a “consolidated business park” south of Jensen, phasing growth so only the southern section can develop first, and requiring further environmental and fiscal review before expansion. The update also adds financial support for existing rural residents’ utility connections and clarifies service and buffer policies.

Data center, local school district, infill concerns

A few speakers, including Councilmember Miguel Arias, raised concerns regarding data center development in the “consolidated business park” area.

“The fact is, it’s not about advanced research; it’s about data centers,” Arias said. “We know it, you know it; there is no other demand.”

Clark said that because the development of data centers is not currently allowed in Fresno, that also would apply to SEDA.

Others worried about the impact on the local school districts, Fresno Unified and Central Unified. FUSD has projected that SEDA would force school closures and layoffs.

“SEDA poses detriment to our schools, our students, and our teachers, and I’m concerned for them,” FUSD school board president Veva Islas said to the commissioners. “We are currently already suffering from a decline in attendance and enrollment.”

Other’s argued Fresno’s current neighborhoods need investment before the city expands.

“We encourage the city to first partner with our community to create a funded infrastructure investment plan for communities west of Highway 99,” said Mark Marshall, CUSD Superintendent. “Next, prioritize infill development and housing strategies that uplift existing neighborhoods first.”

Job creation, economic growth

Five people in the audience of roughly 160 spoke in favor of SEDA, who mostly emphasized job creation, housing opportunities, and economic growth.

Samantha Forgey spoke to the commission on behalf of the Fresno Chamber of Commerce.

“Fresno is at an important crossroads in determining how our community will accommodate future growth, create good-paying jobs, and provide housing opportunities for the next generation,” she said. “We at the chamber believe that South SEDA represents an important opportunity to address those needs.”

Peter Weber, the founder of a job training program, the Fresno Bridge Academy, said the city does not have enough middle-income jobs.

“I am proud to live in a city with a mayor who is pursuing this project with tenacity,” he said.

But Dillon Savory, executive director of the Fresno-Madera-Kings Central Labor Council, argued the opposite.

“This is a job killer,” he said. “This is going to negatively impact the workers that work for the city of Fresno, the transit workers, the folks that fix our roads, the folks that do all of the services in the city, the folks that teach our schools. This is not going to help anybody.“