Lawsuit ‘absolutely’ likely after Fresno City Council rejects apartment construction proposal

A northwest Fresno community scored a second win Thursday night in their fight to block the development of a large apartment complex in their neighborhood.

Following an at-times contentious hearing, the Fresno City Council narrowly upheld the city planning commission’s rejection of the development permit application for a market-rate housing complex at the northeast corner of West Herndon and North Prospect Avenues.

The vote was 4-3, with Councilmembers Garry Bredefeld, Tyler Maxwell, and Luis Chavez joining Councilmember Mike Karbassi, who represents the neighborhood, in rejecting the apartment complex — a move that pleased area residents and appeared likely to land the city in court with the project’s developer.

Council President Annalisa Perea and Councilmembers Miguel Arias and Nelson Esparza voted to approve the project.

James Huelskamp, the developer and owner of Land Value Management, said his reaction to the council’s rejection was “disbelief.” Huelskamp declined an interview request as he quickly exited Thursday’s meeting but confirmed to Fresnoland that litigation is on the table. 

“Absolutely. That’s obvious. I have a lot of money at stake,” Huelskamp said. “Everybody here knows what I’m gonna do.”

Chavez told Fresnoland he “fully expects” the developer to take the city to court. 

“It was going to occur either way,” Chavez told Fresnoland through text after the hearing, acknowledging the possibility of a legal challenge from residents had the council approved the project. 

“I think this reset, allows for the applicant (Huelskamp) to engage and now that he’s heard the concerns, mitigate them and return for consideration again,” Chavez added. “I hope he can engage with the neighbors and come up with a development that fits the needs of the community.”

Karbassi told Fresnoland that he understands the developer’s emotions “are high,” following the rejection of his project, but said he hoped the developer would see the council’s decision as an opportunity to correct what many residents say were past mistakes — namely, the decision not the meet with residents to take into account their concerns. 

“My suggestion would be for Mr. Huelskamp to take the opportunity to do what he failed to do for four years, meet with the neighbors and build support for his project,” Karbassi told Fresnoland after the hearing in a statement through text.

“The residents were very clear, they are not opposed to multifamily housing in their neighborhood,” Karbassi added. “But they want to ensure it’s something that fits within the design and aesthetics for the area. These are two things Mr. Huelskamp denied them through his process.”

The northwest Fresno apartment proposal consists of three three-story buildings and one four-story building with 74 two-bedroom and two-bathroom units and eight two-bedroom and two-bathroom units. The complex, which would be modeled similarly to The Emerson apartments south of the Sierra Vista Mall in Clovis, would also have 154 parking spaces for all 82 housing units and be located on the northeast corner of West Herndon Avenue and North Prospect Avenue.

The complex would neighbor Orchid Park to the south and Tatarian Elementary School to the east, a point of contention cited by neighborhood residents opposed to the project.

Developer has ‘extremely strong case’ against Fresno, Arias says

Thursday’s appeal hearing over the development permit came after an initial rejection on May 15 by the city’s planning commission.

Karbassi and Fresno Mayor Jerry Dyer released a joint statement on May 29 granting the appeal hearing after receiving a letter from the developer and advice from the city attorney’s office that the city could be in violation of the Housing Accountability Act, subject to litigation, face upwards of $4 million in fines and result in “the courts approving the project as it stands proposed today by the developer.”

But on Thursday, City Attorney Andrew Janz appeared less confident in that analysis.

When the city council president asked Janz whether the apartment project was “subject” to California’s Housing Accountability Act, he said he couldn’t say for sure.

It will be up to the California Department of Housing and Community Development to make that decision, who Janz said had yet to respond to the city’s inquiry over the legality of their decision.

Until then, Janz said “our advice continues to be that we’re not sure.”

Arias told Fresnoland he believes Huelskamp probably has a solid legal case against the city.

“He has a right to pursue all his options,” Arias told Fresnoland on Thursday. “I personally believe that he has an extremely strong case, given that his project met all required city and state standards, as noted by our city attorney, and our administration on the record.”

Arias was critical of many of the comments made by residents during the hearing — particularly Fresno County Sheriff John Zanoni, who spoke against the housing development over concerns of child endangerment.

“You have [apartment buildings] that will look down on Orchid Park…on a schoolyard in Tatarian Elementary School,” Zanoni said during public comment. “Is anyone vetting who the people are in these apartments? Do we know who their friends are? Do we know who may come over to these apartments?

“We have a serious issue in our community,” Zanoni added. “Internet crimes against children…we arrest people daily for acts of child endangerment…related to pornography and other things. This is an open invite for people to take residence in one of these apartments to have easy access to monitor our children in one of our schoolyards.”

Arias called the sheriff’s comments “reckless” and “lies and falsehoods.” 

Residents cite traffic and safety concerns 

It was clear the crowd inside the council chambers Thursday, which included more audience members than it did two months ago, was still collectively against the proposed housing development.

Calvin Tang, who manages neighboring Club Estates Apartments, submitted a comment to the city expressing concern about the project’s potential to cause traffic congestion—an anxiety shared by many who spoke during Thursday’s public comment period.

“If a good number of tenants from the new complex use Fir Avenue then there would likely be a line of cars looking to turn onto Marks at various times of the day,” Tang wrote. “This would mean that Country Club Estates tenants…likely have to wait a long time and this (creates) a logjam within our apartment complex.”

Israel Trejo, planning manager for the Fresno planning and development department, shared the city staff report and told the council his office recommended approving the project, which they also recommended in May. He said the proposal still meets all requirements. 

In his presentation, Trejo also noted that the HAA only allows a local government to reject a project that meets all the municipal requirements if it presents a specific adverse impact on health and safety, and there is no feasible manner to negate those impacts.  City staff said the project presents neither issue.

The developer was not legally obligated to meet with residents to satisfy the project’s building requirements, and Huelskamp said he doesn’t regret not meeting with the community.

He said he’s “going to regroup and come back firing.”