Good morning! Today is Thursday, September 3. This is Rob.
Childcare commission: Wednesday’s inaugural meeting of the City of Fresno’s Commission on Family Affordability and Childcare Access formally introduced an 11-person panel that will spend the next year looking for affordable child care solutions. Fresnoland
Language violations? Platinum Plus Truck Driving School in Fresno was closed by the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration due to reported violations tied to English-language proficiency among its trainees. KMPH
For sale: Downtown Fresno’s old Radisson hotel building on Van Ness Avenue is up for sale again with a $19.5 million sticker price. The Fresno Bee
‘More valuable’: Fresno State hopes to help address the region’s shortage of healthcare workers with a beefed up nursing and education training program. KVPR
Wildfire: The Colorado Fire burning along Highway 140 in Mariposa County had consumed about 250 acres and was just 10% contained Wednesday. KMPH
Peacock warning: “If a peacock presents an immediate threat to public safety, contact the Sanger Police Department.” YourCentralValley
#SquashGoals: The organizer behind Madera Pumpkin Patch launched a drive to help pay for Fresno Unified students to take field trips to the Madera Fairgrounds. KMPH
1. ‘Just say no’?
Two of the highest-profile elected Republicans at City Hall will take on AI data centers Thursday as Mayor Jerry Dyer joined forces with Councilmember Nick Richardson to introduce a proposed 10-year ban.
The Fresno City Council is expected to take up the issue later today.
Dyer said data centers “are not an appropriate land use for the City of Fresno under current technologies.”
City staff are also working on a new development code for the land in the Southeast Development Area specific plan, which has yet to receive approval from the city council.
The mayor said the new code for SEDA would also ban data centers.
Dyer: “I want to see land in Fresno, especially within South SEDA, used to create additional housing and good-paying jobs in industries such as advanced manufacturing.”
Read the full Fresnoland story here.
2. ‘If you want infill’
Fresno’s problem with aging, vacant buildings is generational.
City leaders have tried different incentives and approaches to inspire redevelopment, but nothing has worked in any meaningful way.
So efforts and relative success of The Belmont in Fresno’s Tower District should make city leaders take note.
Christian Honetschlager and his wife, Natalie Jahanbani, opened The Belmont in Fresno’s Tower District and have seen a lot of success bringing new music and events to the neighborhood.
But it hasn’t been easy and the challenges seem to be getting harder, not easier, as time goes on.
Pricey renovations have drained their savings and they’re switching gears to look for a tenant, preferably a tenant serving the public.
The experience opening The Belmont has also given Honetschlager a better idea of what kinds of city investments could better help families like his, who are delivering the infill development that Fresno officials regularly praise.
Honetschlager: “If you want infill, and you want foot traffic, and you want these businesses, but it’s unaffordable unless you’re a large developer to provide the necessary infrastructure upgrades to do it, when do you decide to fund it yourself, or support it in a fiscal way?”
Read the full Fresnoland story here.
3. Mayor proposes possible utility rate hike to pay for SEDA
Thursday will be the first time city council members discuss whether or not to raise taxes across the city to help pay for SEDA.
Mayor Jerry Dyer proposes city residents pay as much as $19.5 million in subsidies to kickstart the first phase of his mega-development plan in southeast Fresno, also known as SEDA.
City residents would be on the hook for $86 million in bond debt for the area around Jensen Avenue. The debt would kick off in 2029, the much-anticipated South SEDA financial plan shows.
“Dyer’s financial plan proposes, either through increased utility bills or moving money from the city’s General Fund,” Fresnoland’s Gregory Weaver writes. “The promise of SEDA would be that developer fees repay the city, interest-free, if and when SEDA gets built out.”
Read the full breakdown from Fresnoland ahead of today’s South SEDA finance workshop.
Today’s newsletter was edited by Danielle Bergstrom.
