Planning Commission - Regular Meeting

¶¶ . . . Thank you. So, Thank you. you Thank you.

Good evening. It's 6 o'clock on July 1st. This is the Planning Commission meeting. So, Secretary, please take roll.

Commissioner Lide. Present. Commissioner Diaz. Commissioner Calandra. Here. Commissioner Shurgill.

Present.

Vice Chair Bray.

Here.

Chair Vang.

We will begin the Pledge of Allegiance. Please stand.

I pledge allegiance to the flag of the United States of America and to the Republic for which it stands, one nation, under God, indivisible, with liberty and justice for all.

I'll read the procedures. This meeting is being conducted in person and electronically. For each matter considered by the commission, there will first be a staff presentation, followed by a presentation from the project applicant. Testimony from supporters of the projects will then be taken, followed by testament from those in opposition. The applicant will have the right to a final rebuttal presentation prior to closing the public hearing. In accordance with section 13 of article two of the planning commission rules and regulations governing the length of public debate, All public testimony from those in support and in opposition of the project will be limited to three minutes per person. The three lights on the podium next to the microphone will indicate the amount of time remaining for the speaker. The green light will be turned on when the speaker begins. The yellow light will come on with a soft bell ring when one minute is remaining. Speakers should be completing the testimony by the time the red light comes on with a final bell indicating that time has expired. all in-person public testimony must be presented to the commission at the podium. Any testimony that references race, religion, ethnicity, economic status, national origin, or any other classification protected under state or federal law in a derogatory manner shall be deemed irrelevant and will not be considered by the commission in making its land use determinations. If you challenge these land use matters in court, You may be limited to raising only those issues you or someone else raised in oral or written testimony or before the close of the hearing. So we'll start today's meeting with the approval of the agenda. Are there any changes to the agenda?

Good evening, Chair Bray, members of the Planning Commission. I'm Israel Trejo with the Planning and Development Department. We do have one change to the agenda. We'd like to move New Matter 8A which is a resolution of appreciation of Chair Vang and Commissioner Kreiner. We'd like to move that to just before continued matter 7C. So again, we'd like to move new matter 8A to move it to before 7C. That way we get those items done before we hear the matter tonight. Thank you.

Thank you. Do the commissioners have any changes to the agenda? Okay, can I have a motion to approve the agenda as amended? Okay, so Commissioner Calandra moved to approve the agenda. It was seconded by Commissioner Sherkel. Will the secretary please take the vote? If you are in favor, signify by saying aye. If opposed, say nay. We'll move on to the consent calendar. Do the commissioners have any changes on all of those agendas, the minutes? OK. We'll go out to the public. Would any members of the public like to provide comment on the consent calendar? Or, oh dear, I think I messed up. I guess now we'll have a motion to approve the consent calendar, but we did that. the minutes were part of approving the consent calendar, is that correct?

So, Chair Bray, you can ask if there are any changes. You may go out to the public on the consent calendar to ask for their input after that. Then you can ask for a motion and approve the consent calendar in its totality, which would include all five sets of minutes.

So are there any members of the public that would like to provide comment on the consent calendar? So can I have a motion to approve the consent calendar? All those in favor say aye. Aye. Okay. So new matters 8A is a resolution of appreciation for Peter Fang and David Kriner. So have that resolution.

Do we share the reports before that? Reports by commissioners.

Not according to this. They moved it.

Okay. And that's fine? Yeah, that's fine.

Can we have the city staff present?

All right. Good evening, commissioners and former Commissioner Kreiner. We are so thankful that you are here tonight, but we are also very sad. I think I should have brought tissues for the commission. You know, tonight we're honoring two former commissioners who are retiring from service, hopefully temporarily, and may come back in the future when time permits. They're both very busy individuals. Our former Chair Vang was unable to be with us tonight, but he will receive his certificate also. We honor our planning commissioners when they leave because this is a big job. This is a really big responsibility for the city, to our residents. It takes a lot of work. It takes a lot of time. It takes a huge commitment. And there's really no remuneration aside from knowing that you are doing good service for your community. So Commissioner Kreiner, if you could come up and join me, please. How are you tonight? Good. So I am truly honored to thank Commissioner Kreiner. He is a unique individual for a number of reasons. But one of the really cool things serving on the Planning Commission, you serve at the pleasure of the mayor. So the mayor appoints every single one of the members of this commission. And our mayor, Mayor Jerry Dyer, has been in office for five and a half years, but this commissioner came on before that. This commissioner was appointed by a different mayor, which tells you that Commissioner Kreiner had a lot of trust placed in him by multiple administrations. And we truly appreciate that you continue to serve after our new mayor came in office and that he trusted you and your opinions, your wisdom, your thoughtfulness as you made decisions. So we really want to thank you for your time. But before I read the proclamation, do you have any words you'd like to add?

Good evening to everyone, to our vice chair and to my fellow commissioners, to our assistant city attorney, to our mayor in his absence, all of our staff. It has been an honor and a privilege to both work with every one of these commissioners who have grown to become friends of mine um and not just here on the dice but also outside my sister jackie who has become probably one of my closest friends lately and then to all of the staff that has laughed with me has fussed at me for not being at certain things and jennifer for just being who you are it's been an honor to serve the city it's been a privilege to serve the city it's been a privilege to sit up there and help make decisions that we feel are best for our community And then to everyone, my family, and to our church family, for coming out tonight just to see where I've been on Wednesdays when I'm not teaching Bible study. Thank y'all. And I love each and every one of you. To this great city, I love this city, and I'll continue to do everything I can to continue to serve, maybe not in this capacity, but in other capacities. And I do want my little plaque thing. And I was fussing because you took me down there without even letting me know I wasn't down. So I'll be back.

OK, good. Thank you. And I would like to break one of the rules in the part where the audience is supposed to stay quiet. And I'd like you all to stand up and noisy.

So, Commissioner Cranor, this is a resolution of appreciation. And this is being adopted today by our planning commission. It's been signed by all of the planning commissioners. So I am going to read our resolution of appreciation. The Frisno City Planning Commission at its regular meeting on July 1st, 2026 adopts the following resolution in appreciation of the service and leadership by Mr. David Kreiner to the planning commission. Whereas David Kreiner was appointed on March 19th, 2020 to serve on the Fresno city planning commission by mayor Lee brand. Whereas David Kreiner has served on the Fresno city planning commission with dedication, devotion, honesty, and integrity for six years for March 19, 2020 to July 1st, 2026. And whereas David Kreiner is to be commended for his dedication and commitment to public service. Now, therefore, be it resolved that the Fresno City Planning Commission, in recognition of David Kreiner's valuable contribution and service to the commission, hereby expresses its sincerest appreciation for his insight, leadership, and service to the citizens of Fresno. Thank you. Thank you. All right. Do any of you want to say anything before we let him have a nice night on a Wednesday night?

I just like to say I've enjoyed being with you, David, and I still remember when we went to lunch together, and it was a great lunch, so hope to continue to see you.

I just would like to say, I think one of the biggest gifts and blessings that you did provide the commission is that when tensions were high and not everybody was seeing eye to eye, whether it was the applicants or people that wanted to talk, you always brought it back in and you gave us the overall meaning of what really matters. And I think that's one of your biggest gifts and blessings that you have to give everybody and you're still giving it. So thank you so much for everything that you've done and becoming one of my closest friends. So thank you.

I would like to add, I really appreciate your dedication to the West Side, to the community. You know, we have a lot of work to do in Fresno to create an equity for every single community. So please do not stop your work at the church, in the community, and thank you for being the voice for the community. Y'all appreciate it, man. God bless you.

David, I wish you the best. And I want to thank you for all that you've done for the community and for the greater good of all of us. So keep on. Thank you.

Great to see you.

I hate to move on. If I move on, that means he's gone. But I think we have to move on. So we'll next consider item 7C, continued from June 17th.

Commissioner, can I please, I have some reports I want to share. Reports from the commissioners?

You know what, I'm sorry, my agenda doesn't have that, but sure, we can do that now.

First of all, as we are celebrating 250th Independence Day, happy Fourth of July to everyone, and wherever you're celebrating, let's continue celebrating this amazing nation. We love our USA, and also go Team USA today. Also, I want to thank Mayor Dyer. I had the great privilege on just a couple of days ago, there was a ribbon cutting ceremony for the two permanent affordable homes in West Fresno. And that's an amazing, I would say achievement for the community. And I was very excited when Mayor Dyer shared with me that there will be thousands of affordable homes that will be coming to Fresno. So this is so amazing. We gotta continue, we gotta continue. Mayor, council, planning commission, our community, landlords, renters, homeowners, we all just need to continue working together. We need to continue collaborating so we can make city of Fresno a city of choice and hashtag one Fresno love. Thank you very much.

Okay, so now we'll do item seven C, election of the chair and vice chair. Is there a motion to nominate a chair?

I'd like to nominate Kathy Bray as chair.

Second.

Secretary, please take the vote.

Commissioner Lide?

Yes.

Commissioner Calandra?

Yes.

Commissioner Shergill?

Yes.

Vice Chair Bray?

OK. And I'd like to make a motion to nominate the vice chair. I'd like to nominate Commissioner Lydate. Is there a second? I'll second. Take the vote.

Commissioner Lydate?

Sure.

Commissioner Calandra? Yes. Commissioner Shorgill?

Yes.

Chair Bray, yes, I think she'll do a great job.

Motion passes. We were supposed to do reports, commissions now, but we've done that, so we'll move on. Continued matter ID 26926 is being continued to July 15th. Do I do all three of those continued, or do I need to take a vote on each one?

No, so it just shows that they're continued to July 15th on the agenda, so you can skip directly to, you can read them and say when they'll be heard, or you can skip directly to 7D.

Yeah, okay, then we'll go to 7D, which is continued from June 17th. So does the staff have a presentation? Presentation?

Good evening, Chair and members of the Planning Commission. My name is Valeria Ramirez, and I'm a planner two with Planning and Development. And tonight, staff brings forth consideration of rezone application number P26-00729. So our subject property is located on the south side of East Barstow Avenue between North Blackstone Avenue and North Fresno Street. It's approximately 3.3 acres in size and is currently vacant. And this project proposes to remove some existing conditions of zoning that are on the property today. And our subject property has a planned land use designation of medium high density residential. The properties to the north and to the south have the same plan land use designation for medium high density residential. To the east, the property has a plan land use designation of high density residential. And to the properties to the west across from the State Route 41, the properties have a plan land use designation of regional mixed use. And so the following entitlements were previously approved affecting the property today. So rezone application number R439 authorized the rezone of approximately 8.75 acres of property from the RA zone district to the R4 slash CZ zone district. Conditional use permit application number C4 112 authorized the construction of a 152 multi-story or four-story multifamily residential development specifically for student housing. which is known as the Avery Apartments. And tentative parcel map number 2004-12 subdivided the property into two parcels, one of 3.3 acres in size, which is parcel A, our subject property, and 5.5 acres, which is identified as parcel B, being the Avery Apartments property. And the following conditions of zoning were applied to the property. The first one being the development of our subject property will be limited to 152 multifamily dwelling units as proposed under conditional use permit application number C4-112 and limited to student housing only. And the second condition of zoning requires the dedication of a vacation easement to the city of Fresno. And the third condition of zoning requires a recordation of a covenant to which it is understood by the property owner that our subject property lies in proximity of the Fresno Yosemite International Airport. And it is acknowledged by the property owner as well that operation of the Fresno Yosemite International Airport may generate high noise levels and that the owner acknowledges the operation of the airport. And so here we have tentative parcel map number 7782, which was the existing and current recorded map at the time that the previous entitlements that I mentioned were submitted, and it consists of parcel A, which is highlighted in a greenish color here, and the, at the time, future state Route 41. And then as previously mentioned, the property was subdivided into two parcels under tentative parcel map number 2004-12. And highlighted in blue is parcel A, which is our subject property. And then highlighted in a beige color is parcel B, which is the Avery Apartments property. And so to kind of recap the City Council staff report, Completed for the previously mentioned parcel map, explained that only parcel B of parcel map number 2004-12 is subject to the conditions of zoning. So the intent was only to apply the conditions of zoning to parcel B, the aviary apartments, not parcels A and B. And parcel B, with the development of the aviary apartments, has already satisfied that 152 dwelling unit development, rendering the development of parcel A infeasible. And so rezone application number P26-00729 proposes to remove the conditions of zoning on the 3.3 acres of property to allow for future development of parcel A, which is highlighted in blue here as well. And so staff recommends adoption of the environmental assessment that was prepared for this project and recommends approval of the project. And prior to closing and opening up for any questions, I just want to note that the city of Fresno is the applicant for this project and that although there is no development proposed on the site at this time, we do have the property owner present in the audience tonight. And with that, I thank you and open the floor to any questions that you may have.

Does anyone have questions for staff? Thank you. I don't believe we need the applicant to present because he just did. So we'll go out to the public. Are there any members of the public who wish to comment in favor of the application? Are there any members of the public who would like to comment in opposition of the application that are in the chambers? None. We'll close the hearing. Does anyone have questions or a comment on this item?

No, but I would like to make a motion to approve staff recommendations. I'll second that.

All those in favor, say aye. Aye. No one's saying nay. So the motion passes. Do we have a report from the secretary?

um i just would like to wish everyone a happy fourth of july for us this is the first day of our new fiscal year so it's our happy new year today um and uh we are looking forward to a very busy year here with the planning commission so we hope that you will all be able to um attend our future meetings. We have a lot of really great items coming up, a lot of reading, but we do want to say thank you to you as well. We know that we just had a resolution of appreciation for Commissioners Vang and Kriner, but we know that this work is hard. It takes a lot of time. You're committing to Wednesdays a month just to be here, but there's also a lot of reading, a lot of studying that happens in advance. So we appreciate your time and we want to say thank you and happy new year.

If we're going to say thank you, I'd like to say thank you to the staff. You guys are great, and we really appreciate the support and the Cheetos. Okay, are there any unscheduled oral communications? Is there anyone in the public who would like to speak? Okay, seeing none, we'll adjourn the meeting. Thank you all.

Thank you.