Fresno planning commission forwards Central Southeast Specific Plan to City Council, allows property-owner changes pending environmental review

The Fresno Planning Commission voted to forward the Central Southeast Area Specific Plan to the City Council, with a recommendation that five property-owner change requests (Exhibit M) be considered only if subsequent environmental review finds those changes within the scope of the plan’s mitigated negative declaration.

Sophia Pagalatis of the Planning and Development Department presented the plan, describing a 2,067-acre plan area between Downtown Fresno and Sunnyside. Pagalatis said the plan focuses corridor revitalization, more housing and parks, mobility improvements and economic strategies, and covers roughly 119 acres of proposed land-use changes. “The proposed Central Southeast specific plan results in a capacity gain of 2,938 dwelling units,” Pagalatis said, and staff said the changes increase lower-income capacity by about 489 units while remaining consistent with state housing laws cited in the staff report.

The staff presentation summarized outreach and analysis: a 15-member steering…