Southeast Development Area
C i ty C ou nci l Wor ks hop
N ov em be r 6 , 2 0 2 5
1. Intro: Follow-Up from May 1
2. Background: Development of
SEDA is Not a New Idea
3. Regional Context: What's
Happening Around us
4. What We Heard and Responses
5. Next Steps: Start Small
Background
3 D e ve l o p m e n t o f S E D A i s N o t a N e w I d e a 1958 General Plan
• One of the first general plans adopted
by the City of Fresno, the 1958 General
Plan identified population increases
from the existing 160,000 in 1958 to an
estimated 400,000 in 1978
• This estimate included residents living
between Easton to the south, Clovis to
the north, Belmont Country Club to the
east and Kearney Park to the west
4 1964 General Plan
• Area maps in the 1964 General Plan included the
City of Fresno project area extending as far east as
McCall Avenue and identified the Temperance Area
within the “path of growth”
• It projected 6,600 dwelling units developed by
1985
5 1974 General Plan
• The 1974 General Plan included standards for
adopting a five-year urban growth management
plan to control the pattern and timing of growth on
the City’s urban fringe
• This identified land as urban growth reserves
within the existing sphere of influence
• It further stipulated that as individual projects are developed, they must conform with the adopted
general plan, community plans and specific plans
6 1984 General Plan
• The 1984 General Plan was then the first-in-kind
to formally identify that, beyond the City’s ability
to provide for existing growth projections, there
may be the possibility of expanding City limits for
eventual urbanization to the northwest or
southeast
• It provided a holding capacity within the
Southeast Growth Area of approximately 30,654
dwelling units
7 Southeast
Growth Area
(SEGA) Planning
Work - 2002
• The 2025 General Plan was adopted in February 2002
• LAFCO added SEGA to the City’s Sphere of Influence in 2006
• Beginning in 2006 Keith Bergthold led the planning
efforts including the hiring of Peter Calthorpe with
Calthorpe and Associates
• Prior to the 2010 recession, a draft specific plan had been developed and shaped through a collaborative
public outreach process, which included an advisory
committee of residents and stakeholders
8 SEGA
Becomes
SEDA - 2014
• Concepts from the draft SEGA Plan were rolled into
the current Fresno General Plan, adopted in 2014
• The General Plan accommodates one -third of SEDA’s
capacity, or 14,900 dwelling units, by 2035 and
assumes the remaining 30,000 dwelling units will be
needed in the future
• Includes multiple employment centers to facilitate
job creation
9 Regional Context
10 G r o w t h H a p p e n i n g A r o u n d U s
11 12
13 14
15 • Proposed land uses incorporate walkable
community, neighborhood and regional town
centers with varying housing types
• It includes rural residential and rural cluster
residential buffers between SEDA’s more urbanized
land uses and green belt buffer along the eastern
edge
SEDA Draft
Specific Plan:
Proposed Land
Use Map
Rural Cluster
Residential
Ag Buffer
16 EIR Alternative:
Consolidated
Business Park
• I d e n t i f i e d a s t h e
e n v i r o n m e n t a l l y s u p e r i o r
a l t e r n a t i v e
• A c c o m m o d a t e s 2 , 1 0 0 f e w e r
h o m e s a n d 1 , 0 0 0 f e w e r j o b s
c o m p a r e d t o p r o p o s e d P r o j e c t
• C o n s o l i d a t e s F l e x i b l e
R e s e a r c h a n d D e v e l o p m e n t
l a n d d e s i g n a t i o n s
17 South SEDA
18 • S o u t h S E D A c o u l d m o v e
f o r w a r d a s P h a s e 1
• M a j o r i n f r a s t r u c t u r e t o b e
i n s t a l l e d p r i o r t o
d e v e l o p m e n t
• E I F D o r N e x u s S t u d y t o f u n d
e s s e n t i a l c i t y i n s t a l l e d
i n f r a s t r u c t u r e
EIR Alternative:
Farmland
Conservation
• R e s u l t s i n g r e a t e r f a r m l a n d
c o n s e r v a t i o n
• C o n s e r v e s a t o t a l o f 6 4 8 . 6 1
a c r e s o f f a r m l a n d
18 What we Heard
E n v i r o n m e n t a l , T i m i n g a n d F i n a n c i n g C o n c e r n s • Consolidated Business Park Alternative
• Results in development at a lower intensity
• Office and Flexible Research and Development land
uses would be consolidated to area south of Jensen
and west of Temperance
• Identified as the Environmentally superior
alternative in the EIR
Environmental
Concerns
Environmental
Alternatives
20 Timing
Concerns
Phasing and
Thresholds
21 • Specific Plan will be revised to include
recommendations on thresholds before phasing of
future development
• Financing report to be updated to include options
for phasing and a Nexus Fee
• South SEDA to occur as Phase 1
• Major infrastructure to be installed prior to
development
Financing
Concerns
Financing
Approaches
22 • Improved tax rate from re-negotiated MOU with County of Fresno
• City to run a fiscal impact analysis to determine long term operational costs and benefits
• Public Facilities Financing to be revised to include options for phasing and a Nexus Fee
• Nexus study and EIFD to be prepared for South SEDA
• South SEDA to occur as Phase 1; only pre -funded Phase in SEDA Plan
Next Steps
23 S t a r t S m a l l
Next Steps
Present and Provide Staff Recommendation(s) to the
Planning Commission and City Council, to include but
not limited to:
• Financing Analysis - infrastructure costs and how to pay for it • Updated Specific Plan and/or EIR Alternative(s), Final EIR • Update Public Facilities Financing for Consideration
• Fiscal Impact Analysis – comparing ongoing cost to provide services with ongoing revenue from CFDs as well as increased property taxes
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