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Appellate Court Blocks County’s Friant Ranch Project
This is a Press Release issued in Fresno today (Friday, May 30) by a coalition of environmental and community groups.
Appellate Court Blocks County’s Friant Ranch Project
May 30, 2014
Fresno – In a May 27 court decision that reaffirms the priorities of clean air in urban planning, Fresno’s Fifth District Court of Appeal ruled in favor of the Sierra Club, the League of Women Voters of Fresno, and Revive the San Joaquin in the matter of Friant Ranch (Sierra Club et al. v. County of Fresno). The Court overturned the Fresno County Board of Supervisor’s 2011 approval of the Friant Ranch development and the project’s Environmental Impact Report, or EIR.
The court held the Friant Ranch EIR to be deficient in its analysis of the impacts on air quality from the proposed 2,270-- home development. A three-- judge panel unanimously overturned a 2012 court decision and ruled in favor of plaintiffs, ordering the preparation of a revised EIR.
The California Environmental Quality Act (CEQA) requires the County, as Lead agency, to certify the EIR. The EIR must inform the public about the project’s environmental impacts, including health impacts from air pollution, which shall be disclosed. Also, the EIR needs to make a good faith effort to identify mitigation measures that would reduce these impacts. The Friant Ranch EIR did not comply with these aspects of the law.
Sarah Sharpe, Fresno Metro Ministry Director of Programs, commented, “We support the court’s decision to uphold CEQA and to protect our air quality. In our region, which is in the dirtiest air basin in the nation, decisions about regional growth and development should not be taken lightly. It is important to remind our decision-- makers that sprawl and new towns create new sources of air pollution that WILL have real health impacts.”
Thinking to the future, Nyla Zender, President of the League of Women Voters of Fresno, said, "The ruling by the Appellate Court will, at long last, force the County to face the adverse effects on air quality generated by their land use decisions promoting urban sprawl. It is only a first step as Fresno County will be bringing up its revised General Plan for approval soon. The amendments contained in that document will pave the way for more rural area developments like Friant Ranch. This must be stopped."
The Friant Ranch project is a proposed 55-- plus Senior community, located 6 miles north of Fresno on agricultural lands near Millerton Lake State Recreation Area. It is in a new growth region far from retail and medical services, and with no public bus service. A technical transportation study forecasts future gridlock at selected Fresno intersections during commute periods. In addition to disclosing the environmental impacts of the project, the EIR is required to recommend mitigations that would reduce impacts to a level of insignificance. The County acknowledged air quality concerns but made only token efforts to reduce air pollution and traffic congestion impacts, requiring the planting of trees in roadway medians and setting up a vanpool service. County planners claimed such minor efforts would “significantly” reduce air pollution levels. The Appellate Court disagreed.
Friant Ranch is just one of several developments proposed north of the city of Fresno in both Fresno and Madera Counties. The cumulative impact to air quality from the addition of 160,000 residents will be significant.
Sharpe concluded, “This is a small step in the right direction toward a complete culture change that values investment in existing neighborhoods and towns rather than always building new and farther out.”
Despite the win favoring air quality and public health, we must caution that the ruling is a troubling opinion because it did not find the Friant Ranch project to violate the County General Plan and County land use policies designed to prevent urban sprawl.
***
Contacts:
Gary Lasky (Sierra Club) 559-- 790-- 3495, data.nations [at] gmail.com
Radley Reep (League of Women Voters), 559-- 326-- 6227, radleyreep [at] netzero.com
Nyla Zender (League of Women Voters), 559-- 439-- 9008, nylajz [at] comcast.net
Sara Hedgpeth-- Harris (attorney). 559-- 905-- 2150, sara.hedgpethharris@shh-- law.com
May 30, 2014
Fresno – In a May 27 court decision that reaffirms the priorities of clean air in urban planning, Fresno’s Fifth District Court of Appeal ruled in favor of the Sierra Club, the League of Women Voters of Fresno, and Revive the San Joaquin in the matter of Friant Ranch (Sierra Club et al. v. County of Fresno). The Court overturned the Fresno County Board of Supervisor’s 2011 approval of the Friant Ranch development and the project’s Environmental Impact Report, or EIR.
The court held the Friant Ranch EIR to be deficient in its analysis of the impacts on air quality from the proposed 2,270-- home development. A three-- judge panel unanimously overturned a 2012 court decision and ruled in favor of plaintiffs, ordering the preparation of a revised EIR.
The California Environmental Quality Act (CEQA) requires the County, as Lead agency, to certify the EIR. The EIR must inform the public about the project’s environmental impacts, including health impacts from air pollution, which shall be disclosed. Also, the EIR needs to make a good faith effort to identify mitigation measures that would reduce these impacts. The Friant Ranch EIR did not comply with these aspects of the law.
Sarah Sharpe, Fresno Metro Ministry Director of Programs, commented, “We support the court’s decision to uphold CEQA and to protect our air quality. In our region, which is in the dirtiest air basin in the nation, decisions about regional growth and development should not be taken lightly. It is important to remind our decision-- makers that sprawl and new towns create new sources of air pollution that WILL have real health impacts.”
Thinking to the future, Nyla Zender, President of the League of Women Voters of Fresno, said, "The ruling by the Appellate Court will, at long last, force the County to face the adverse effects on air quality generated by their land use decisions promoting urban sprawl. It is only a first step as Fresno County will be bringing up its revised General Plan for approval soon. The amendments contained in that document will pave the way for more rural area developments like Friant Ranch. This must be stopped."
The Friant Ranch project is a proposed 55-- plus Senior community, located 6 miles north of Fresno on agricultural lands near Millerton Lake State Recreation Area. It is in a new growth region far from retail and medical services, and with no public bus service. A technical transportation study forecasts future gridlock at selected Fresno intersections during commute periods. In addition to disclosing the environmental impacts of the project, the EIR is required to recommend mitigations that would reduce impacts to a level of insignificance. The County acknowledged air quality concerns but made only token efforts to reduce air pollution and traffic congestion impacts, requiring the planting of trees in roadway medians and setting up a vanpool service. County planners claimed such minor efforts would “significantly” reduce air pollution levels. The Appellate Court disagreed.
Friant Ranch is just one of several developments proposed north of the city of Fresno in both Fresno and Madera Counties. The cumulative impact to air quality from the addition of 160,000 residents will be significant.
Sharpe concluded, “This is a small step in the right direction toward a complete culture change that values investment in existing neighborhoods and towns rather than always building new and farther out.”
Despite the win favoring air quality and public health, we must caution that the ruling is a troubling opinion because it did not find the Friant Ranch project to violate the County General Plan and County land use policies designed to prevent urban sprawl.
***
Contacts:
Gary Lasky (Sierra Club) 559-- 790-- 3495, data.nations [at] gmail.com
Radley Reep (League of Women Voters), 559-- 326-- 6227, radleyreep [at] netzero.com
Nyla Zender (League of Women Voters), 559-- 439-- 9008, nylajz [at] comcast.net
Sara Hedgpeth-- Harris (attorney). 559-- 905-- 2150, sara.hedgpethharris@shh-- law.com
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