Exhibit P
1400 Tenth Street
Sacramento, California 95814
City of Fresno
Planning and Development Department
2600 Fresno Street
Fresno, California 93721
April 6, 2021
RE: Plan Amendment and Rezone for Southwest Fresno Specific Plan, Project No. P20-01665
Dear Mr. Holt:
The California Strategic Growth Council (SGC) supports healthy, thriving, and resilient communities for all. SGC’s Transformative Climate Communities (TCC) Program empowers the communities most impacted by pollution to choose their own goals, strategies, and projects to reduce greenhouse gas emissions and local air pollution. In 2018, SGC awarded the City of Fresno $66.5 million in the first Round of the TCC Program, the largest award to date. The Council made this award to the City of Fresno because the Southwest Fresno, Chinatown, and Downtown areas had, cumulatively, the highest concentration of disadvantaged community census tracts combined the highest pollution and income burdens in California. Furthermore, this community faced decades of disinvestment and the City committed to reduce local air pollution in the most impacted Fresno communities.
The SGC would like to express concerns regarding the proposal to rezone the 93 acres of land in Southwest Fresno from mixed-use to light industrial, because it counteracts with the air pollution reduction goals that the City of Fresno presented in its grant application for the Transform Fresno project area.
The proposes rezoning conflicts with the TCC projects investments and enables higher polluting industries to remain in the area, close to planned parks, urban greening, active transportation projects, and in close proximity to sensitive populations. The proposed rezoned parcels are adjacent to several TCC active transportation projects, including bike and pedestrian improvements called the Annadale Mode Shift, which will serve the local community center and a planned affordable housing development serving seniors. We believe this action would deter from critical investments made thus far and would undermine the shared goal to reduce air pollution sources in close proximity to one of the most disadvantaged communities in Fresno.
Thank you for consideration of our comments and please let us know if we can provide any additional information on SGC’s investments in Fresno
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1400 Tenth Street
Sacramento, California 95814
Sincerely,
Louise Bedsworth
Executive Director, California Strategic Growth Council
Cc: Mayor Jerry Dyer
Courtney Espinoza, MBA