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More Fresno Sprawl? County Looks At Development North Of Town

Jeffrey Hess/KVPR
Clary Creager

The future of the Fresno area's urban sprawl northward could soon take another step forward. The Fresno County Board of Supervisors has unveiled a draft of the long-awaited Friant Corridor Feasibility Study. It’s the first look at potential development just north of the City of Fresno.

However, environmental groups say the study is the camel’s nose under the tent toward more urbanization.

Among the high golden grasses, sparse trees and grazing deer, stands Clary Creager in the San Joaquin River bottom.

“You could probably spend the afternoon discovering all kinds of things. Who uses this road, what kinds of critters. You would hear all kinds of sounds. The river would be whispering her secrets if you would just pay attention,” Creager said.

"And what we are going to be watching for is if they try to go out and change land use in the future," Sharon Weaver

Creager has spent much of her life working to protect the wide array of flora and fauna that call the river bottom home.

She sees the area, which the study has labeled the Friant Corridor, as an invaluable asset for Fresno that should remain pristine.

“This is a whole other adventure than being in town. Even if you are in a public park it’s a different kind of adventure. And do we want levies built right up to the flood areas and houses beyond that? I don’t. And I don’t think a whole lot of people do,” Creager said.

The Friant Corridor Feasibility Study is examining the development potential of an area that runs from the northern edge of Fresno to the community of Friant along the San Joaquin River.

That’s something Creager wants to stop.

The $120,000 dollar study was commissioned by the Fresno County Board of Supervisors and funded by private donations, mostly by local developers.

The study covers more than just the river bottom, with a large segment reaching up onto the bluffs that overlook it.

Credit Jeffrey Hess / Valley Public Radio
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Valley Public Radio
Chris Motta

The county says the planning is in its infancy and that any development, if it happens, is years away.

Fresno County Principal Planner Chris Motta says this is simply the first step to see if additional development is even possible in the area…

“It is simply going to [the] board based on their initial direction and see if there is an interest in changing land use out there, leaving it the same, or even strengthening policies to protect existing resources,” Motta said.

Motta also points out that the study only found about 100 acres of the 5,000 acre study zone as suitable for development.

"That's what happens when you have more people, you need more room. And I don't think a sensible development would create any big problem," Michael Noblat

And in those areas the suggestion is for additions like restaurants, service stations or hotels…not housing.

Looking at the maps shows that type of major development would be a significant and lengthy proposition.

The current zoning and land control is a mishmash of competing interests and controlling bodies.

A significant section is heavily protected by environmental laws, and the San Joaquin River Corridor.

Also, Motta notes, extensive environmental reviews would have to take place before the board could even consider changing the zoning.

But other developments near the study zone are in the works and the Friant Corridor could connect those projects to the larger City of Fresno.

One of the donors to the study is the Sumner Peck Ranch.

It’s currently a winery and fruit stand on the river bottom.

Owner Michael Noblat says development is not something that should be feared but rather is an inevitable positive for the valley.

“That’s what happens when you have more people, you need more room. And I don’t think a sensible development would create any big problem,” Noblat said.

Noblat says that someday people may travel to the valley to taste its wine the same way people from around the world to tour Napa Valley.

The ranch is planning on expanding its operations, and is one of the sites singled out by the feasibility study for potential development.

The study is something that Sharon Weaver with the San Joaquin River Parkway, which oversees a large section of the river bottom, is watching closely.

She says they know people are eyeing the land, but she urges great caution before going forward…

“One of the sort of usual things about this study is that it is a feasibility report. It is not a land use document. And the study states that several times. And what we are going to be watching for is if they try to go out and change land use in the future,” Weaver said.

And the county looking to develop immediately north of Fresno poses another complication.

The City of Fresno has made stopping sprawl and building in existing areas a top priority, and development outside of the area they control would prove an irksome, if uncontrollable, challenge to those goals.

Jeffrey Hess is a reporter and Morning Edition news host for Valley Public Radio. Jeffrey was born and raised in a small town in rural southeast Ohio. After graduating from Otterbein University in Columbus, Ohio with a communications degree, Jeffrey embarked on a radio career. After brief stops at stations in Ohio and Texas, and not so brief stops in Florida and Mississippi, Jeffrey and his new wife Shivon are happy to be part Valley Public Radio.