The Dyer administration is scrambling after a vote on one of Fresno’s most ambitious housing developments in decades was abruptly postponed Wednesday night.
Fresno planning director Jennifer Clark blamed “misinformation” for derailing the planning commission’s hearing of the Southeast Development Area (SEDA), a plan for a massive 45,000-home string of developments that has a $3 billion infrastructure funding shortfall which could reshape the city’s finances for generations.
As of Monday afternoon, Clark expected the commission to vote on those final documents even as they were being finalized.
Fresno’s council chambers Wednesday night were packed to capacity with a line of residents stretching out the door.
The crowd audibly gasped when Clark requested the item be sent back to staff, citing concerns about “untruths” presented to commissioners in private meetings and a recent article from Fresnoland about the project’s finance holes.
“In light of the misinformation presented to planning commission members in private meetings and a recent article published yesterday, staff requests [the SEDA vote] be referred back to staff until these untruths can be properly addressed,” said Clark.
The dramatic reversal came just a day after a financial analysis revealed the project faces a roughly $3 billion infrastructure funding shortfall, with developer fees covering only 20% of the estimated $4.3 billion in costs.
State population projections show Fresno’s population will start declining before SEDA is 50% built, raising questions about how the costs to build water, sewer, roads, and more infrastructure could ever be fully paid off.
The city’s own economic consultants concluded that all phases of SEDA are not financially viable, without additional grants or private debt financing for the remaining $3 billion, a steep task. It is unclear whether Dyer plans on SEDA’s massive debt burden being shouldered by Fresno taxpayers or private developers willing to take on the unprecedented financial risk for Fresno.
Clark said there was no timeline set for when a vote on SEDA might return to the planning commission.
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