Planning commission forwards SEDA specific plan and EIR to council, asks to combine alternatives to preserve more farmland

The Fresno City Planning Commission voted 4–3 to forward the Southeast Development Area (SEDA) specific plan and its programmatic environmental impact report (EIR) to City Council with a recommendation that council consider incorporating the Consolidated Business Park and Farmland Conservation alternatives to preserve more prime farmland.

Planning staff opened the presentation with historical context, describing SEDA as a long-identified growth area with plan-level capacity for tens of thousands of dwelling units and jobs. Sophia Pagalatis, planning staff, said the plan and EIR follow the city general plan and include goals such as fiscal responsibility, housing choice, transit access, parks and environmental stewardship. "The Southeast Development area or SEDA area...was identified to accommodate growth," staff said during the presentation.

Adrienne Azzedorian Gilbert (planning staff) outlined the specific plan’s land-use framework: a hierarchy of town centers (regional, community and neighborhood), mixed-residential and neighborhood residential types and employment/institutional areas. The plan materials cited SEDA capacity figures in presentation slides (staff referenced plan-level numbers of roughly 40,000 to 45,000 dwelling units and a materials…