Documenter: Heather Martinez
The Scene
The Fresno Planning Commission meeting took place on Wednesday, March 17, 2021 at 6:00 p.m. The agenda states that due to the COVID-19 state of emergency, all City of Fresno public meetings are held via Zoom or phone and the council chambers are closed to the public. Meetings are also viewable on CMAC and the City of Fresno’s YouTube channel.
There was an issue with an incorrect Zoom link being sent out, so the meeting started a few minutes late to give them the opportunity to share the correct link. During the delay, Bray joked about singing Irish songs since the meeting took place on St. Patrick’s Day. Then the conversation turned to whether or not the commissioners had all received their laptops from the city and if they would be getting City of Fresno email addresses.
After several minutes passed it was noted by the commissioners that some expected applicants, appellants and members of the public were not on the Zoom call. So Bray asked Jennifer Clark, planning and development director, if they should continue the items to the next meeting on April 7, 2021 to ensure the public could access the meeting. Clark said they would need to open the meeting then formally continue the items to April 7.
Names of officials:
Kathy Bray, Chairperson (also owner of Denham Resources)
Brad Hardie, Vice Chair (also President of Regency Property Management)
David Criner, Commissioner (also pastor at Saint Rest Baptist Church)
Debra McKenzie, Commissioner (also Director of Administration for Central California Legal Services)
Peter Vang, Commissioner (also Associate at Thiesen Dueker Financial Consulting Group)
Monica Diaz, Commissioner
Vacant, Commissioner (Raj Sodhi-Layne resigned from the commission on Jan. 1, 2021, creating a vacant vice chair position. Fresno Mayor Jerry Dyer took office in January 2021 and he will appoint a Fresno resident to fill the vacant seat on the committee.)
During roll call, Criner was not heard and didn’t appear to be in attendance.
The meeting opened quickly with the Pledge of Allegiance, during which an image of an American flag was shown on screen.
From there, they voted to remove item ID 21-379 from the consent calendar and add it to the agenda and remove ID 21-373 because the parties had reached a settlement agreement and a commission vote was no longer needed. They then voted to continue all items to the April 7 meeting due to technical difficulties.
Actions
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Removed a decision on the vesting tentative tract map and the related environmental assessment pertaining to .74 acres located on the northwest corner of North Van Ness and East Alhambra Avenues from the consent calendar because it needs to be heard in normal course of action. And voted to continue the item to April 7 due to the technical issue. Madeline from Granville Homes was in the meeting and agreed to the continuance of the item.
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Removed a hearing to consider development permit revised application for property located at 3611 South Northpointe Drive, on a parcel west of the corner of South Northpointe Drive and East Prime Avenue. Planning Manager Mike Sanchez said the item could be removed completely because there has been a settlement agreement and it no longer needs to be considered by the commission.
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As noted on the agenda, continued to April 7 a hearing from Feb. 3, 2021 to consider a rezone application pertaining to 92.53 acres of property bounded by East Vine Avenue to the north, State Route 41 to the east, South Elm Avenue to the west and East Chester/East Samson Avenue to the south.
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Continued to April 7 a decision on a conditional use permit and environmental assessment for property located at 5747 North Palm Avenue, located on the south side of an existing retail/commercial center on North Palm and West Bullard Avenues. Recommending deny the appeal and uphold the action of the Planning and Development Department Director to recommend approval of the request to construct an 80-foot new mono-eucalyptus telecommunications tower and facility with associated ground equipment. The applicant’s agent, Kevin Gallagher, was at the Zoom meeting and said it would be their preference to proceed forward but that they were, “OK,” continuing it. He said that in consenting to the continuance they were not waiving any federal rights according to the law.
The meeting adjourned at 6:19 p.m. Future meetings are scheduled for April 7 and April 21.
Summary
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Due to an issue with the Zoom link, the commission voted to continue all items on the agenda to April 7, 2021.
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A hearing to consider a development permit application for property located at 3611 South Northpointe Drive was removed entirely because the parties reached a settlement agreement.
If you believe anything in these notes is inaccurate, please email us at Documenters-admin@thefresnoland.com with “Correction Request” in the subject line.