1 STATE CENTER COMMUNITY COLLEGE DISTRICT
RESOLUTION NO. 2026.51
RESOLUTION TO ADOPT ADDENDUM TO THE ENVIRONMENTAL IMPACT
REPORT FOR THE FIRST RESPONDERS CAMPUS PROJECT
WHEREAS, on November 4, 2021, the State Center Community College District (“District”) certified an Environmental Impact Report (EIR) for the First Responders Campus Project (“Project”) (State Clearinghouse No. 2020039018) and approved the Project pursuant to the California Environmental Quality Act (“CEQA”, Public Resources Code §21000 et seq.) and the Guidelines for Implementation of CEQA (“State CEQA Guidelines”, California Code of Regulations, Title 14, § 15000 et seq.); and
WHEREAS, the Project as described in the EIR consisted of developing and operating new community college campus facilities to provide instruction and training for police, fire, corrections, EMT, and paramedic programs at a single special-purpose campus on the western 20 acres of a 39.21 -acre parcel at the northwest corner of North and Willow Avenues, including the construction of approximately 61,600 square feet of academic building space and approximately 116,300 square feet of space for specialized site facilities designed to accommodate up to
approximately 270 students at one time and be staffed by up to 50 employees, and construction of asphalt-paved parking areas, landscaping, and a retention pond; and WHEREAS, the First Responders Campus began operations in 2023 and has operated since 2023 as approved; and
WHEREAS, consistent with broader planning efforts, the Fresno Fire Department (FFD) has identified the need for an expanded regional facility to support firefighter training, recruitment academies, and continuing education for fire service personnel serving Fresno and surrounding communities. The City of Fresno (City), in partnership with the District, is proposing to modify the approved First Responders Campus to include additional regional training center facilities within a 3.36‑acre area of the SCCCD First Responders Campus to accommodate the increased training needs of the FFD as well as neighboring fire service agencies; and WHEREAS, the proposed Regional Trainer Center facilities will include construction of a 14,031-square-foot classroom/apparatus building, a 60- stall parking area, a 9,172- square-foot, six-story commercial structure prop (Fire Training Tower), a 1,722- square-foot residential burn prop, an 892- square-foot shade structure, a 2,560- square-foot premanufactured burn prop, and associated outdoor fire training facilities; and
WHEREAS, the proposed Regional Trainer Center Facilities on an approximately 3.36- acre portion of the approximately 39.21- acre First Responders Campus (Assessor Parcel Number [APN] 316-071-23) located at 3300 East North Avenue, approximately 0.25 mile southeast of the City’s boundaries, in an unincorporated area of Fresno County, California, and are of substantially the same physical and operational character as the First Responder Campus facilities evaluated in the EIR; and
WHEREAS, State CEQA Guidelines section 15162(a) specifies when an EIR has been certified or a negative declaration adopted for a project, no subsequent EIR shall be prepared for that project
2 unless the lead agency determines, on the basis of substantial evidence in the light of the whole record, one or more of the following:
(1) Substantial project changes are proposed that will require major revisions of the previous EIR due to the involvement of new significant environmental effects or a substantial increase in the severity of previously identified significant effects; (2) Substantial changes occur with respect to the circumstances under which the project is undertaken that require major revisions of the previous EIR due to the involvement of new significant environmental effects or a substantial increase in the severity of previously identified significant effects; or
(3) New information of substantial importance that was not known and could not have been known with the exercise of reasonable diligence at the time the previous EIR was certified as complete shows any of the following:
(A) The project will have one or more significant effects not discussed in the previous EIR;
(B) Significant effects previously examined will be substantially more severe than identified in the previous EIR;
(C) Mitigation measures or alternatives previously found not to be feasible would in fact be feasible, and would substantially reduce one or more significant effects of the project, but the project proponent decline s to adopt the mitigation measure or alternative; or
(D) Mitigation measures or alternatives which are considerably different from those analyzed in the previous EIR would substantially reduce one or more significant effects on the environment, but the project proponent decline s to adopt the mitigation measure or alternatives; and
WHEREAS, the District has prepared an Addendum to the EIR for the Project to evaluate the potential for environmental impacts not previously addressed in the EIR to occur resulting from development and operation of the proposed Regional Training Center facilities (“Addendum”); and
WHEREAS, the District
has reviewed and considered the certified 2021 EIR and Addendum prior to approval, and the findings adopted with certification of the 2021 EIR remain applicable to the Modified Project and are incorporated herein by reference; and WHEREAS, the Addendum was prepared in accordance with CEQA and the State CEQA Guidelines; and
WHEREAS, the Addendum concluded the following:
(1) The District does not propose any changes to the Project that would require major revisions to the EIR due to the involvement of new significant environmental effects or a substantial increase in the severity of previously identified significant effects. (2) Changes have not occurred with respect to the circumstances under which the Project would be undertaken that would require major revisions of the EIR due to the involvement of new significant environmental effects or a substantial increase in the severity of previously identified significant effects.
3 (3) T
here is no new information of substantial importance that was not known and could not have been known with the exercise of reasonable diligence at the time the District certified the EIR, which shows any of conditions listed in State CEQA Guidelines section 15162(a)(3)(A), (B), (C), and (D).
NOW, THEREFORE, BE IT RESOLVED, by the Board of Trustees of the State Center Community College District, that:
(1) The above recitals are true and correct and reflect the independent judgment of the Board of Trustees.
(2) T
he Board of Trustees has been presented with the information described in the recitals and has considered this information prior to adopting this Resolution. (3) Pursuant to State CEQA Guidelines section 15162, and based on the information in the Addendum, the Board of Trustees finds that: (a) the Addendum has been completed in compliance with CEQA; (b) the Addendum reflects the District’s independent judgement and analysis; (c) none of the conditions described in State CEQA Guidelines section 15162, which call for the preparation of a subsequent EIR or Negative Declaration, have occurred. (4) The Board of Trustees hereby adopts the Addendum to the EIR prepared for the Project.
PASSED AND ADOPTED on this 1
st day of September, 2026, by the following vote:
Ayes _____ Noes _____ Abstain _____ Absent _____
____________________________________
Magdalena Gomez
Secretary of the Board of Trustees
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