Who passed the Cheese?

The community opposes an odorous milk & cheese waste processing plant in West Fresno

On Wednesday, December 17, a group of about 30 concerned citizens and organizations won their plea before the Fresno Planning Commission asking them to uphold the City's decision to not allow the southwest Fresno Cottonwood Creek South Gate facility to operate. Cottonwood Creek Consultants, a locally owned renewable technology company had operated a single cell protein production facility that processed water waste from milk and cheese industries into caloric feedstock for animals, appealed to the Commission about the revocation of their site plan.

Recently retired planning director, Nick Yovino had revoked the site plan that allowed them to operate this fall after working with Cottonwood Creek for eight months with no resolve on numerous solid waste and public nuisance violations and citations at the plant due to odor and overwhelming air-borne chemicals. The City's code enforcement department was asked by Yovino to investigate the situation after the former director, others members of city staff and the community went on a tour of the Darling International meat rendering plant in October 2007. The group noticed a significant odor that wasn't coming from Darling as it was not online at the time but from the adjacent city-owned South Gate Pre-Industrial Wastewater Plant. Yovino promised to have the situation investigated as the group noticed four uncovered pools of foaming water and milk products.

In the appeal case heard before the Commission, code enforcement officers testified under oath that the odor and the chemicals presence were so strong it was difficult for them to stomach staying on site but for a few minutes. The City also cited speaking to homeowners at the Habitat for Humanity subdivision at West & Church stating they could not open their windows due to the pervasive odor that persisted throughout the day. A neighboring business & property owner located at the corner Church & Walnut testified that he had difficult keeping employees and lost potential tenants because of the odor. The site plan was revoked due to violations of the conditions that the City was sold on by the owners that the operation would emit no odor.

The owners armed with the staff, consultants and the Central Valley Business Incubator spoke to the merits of the demonstration site and how it produced 200,000 gallons of recycled water a day available to water-starved Westland Water District for irrigation along with a resalable product from the milk waste-feedstock. One commissioner countered that the quantity of water was relatively small given that 27,000 gallons are needed to do a one inch irrigation of one acre of farm land (how did we calculate that?) and the Westlands is compromised of 600,000 acres.

The Incubator argued that the pain should be tolerated in order to support a locally headquartered company that would produce jobs (presently 18 employees) and build up the renewable/recycling industry. Members of the community countered that the smell was too profound especially in a one-mile radius of five schools (preschool-12), four churches, and hundreds of residents. Also Sarah Sharpe, Environmental Health Director from Metro Ministries and Edison High alumnus spoke to the potential unknown health hazards that the facility may present in its' open air biological processing.

The owner and regional investors also spoke to the $3 million investment they had made into the project, which they didn't expect to make a significant return for another eight years. Tate Hill, Chair of the District Three Implementation Committee stated the Edison/Southwest Fresno Merger II Advisory Planning Committee approved the project on the contingency that the site would do no harm. He was concerned about the odor's impact on the Housing Authorities' HOPE VI Project that has $20 million of federal funding along with the $100 million plus of potential commercial and housing development in the surround area.

Among the individuals that came out for the almost four hour agenda item included representatives from California Rural Legal Assistance, The Concerned Citizens of West Fresno and the National Network In Action that spoke in support of the city's action. At the end, the Commission agreed the City and voted unanimous to deny Cottonwood Creek's appeal.

West Fresno Community Design Workshop

October 17, 2007
5:30 PM Doors Open
6:00 PM Workshop

Location:
Cecil Hinton Center
2385 S. Fairview Ave
Fresno, CA 93706
(map)

Partner Introductions

Community Break-out Workshops

Come share your ideas about regarding :

• Housing & commercial development
  
• Public Transportation
• Bicycle & Walking Routes
• Open Green Park Space
• Street Intersection Improvements

Event Host:
Fresno Housing Authorities
Event Partners:
Fresno West Coalition for Economic Development (FWCED)
Design Community & Environment
Strategic Energy Innovations

Refreshment & Beverages

Spanish & Hmong language services will be available

Trusting Community Relationship = Good Communication

What happens when in a relationship there is a sense of mistrust because of a perceived lack of sincerity, forwardness, and commitment to open communication? Without purposeful action to remedy such apprehensions, the relationship spiral towards a dismal end where both parties are viewed as adversaries centered on destroying the other. How is this problem magnified when this relationship is between a community and those that lead them— political and social leaders? This is a dilemma facing many urban and ethnic communities across the country and Fresno is no different.

Over the summer, residents of southwest Fresno have been bombarded with scenarios and real life situations that have heaped onto years of feeling neglected, unimportant, and disregarded by their representatives at all levels of government. From gang violence to the Running Horse ‘gone wild’, the attendance at recent town hall meetings demonstrates residents’ frustration with the circumstances surrounding their quality of life. At the most recent town hall meeting hosted by Councilmember Cynthia Sterling, residents repeatedly raised concerns about the lack of communication from City Hall. Their fears regarding the Trump Running Horse, redevelopment and eminent domain stemmed from mixed messages transmitted by mainstream media. These rumors and media stories were put to rest in a truth-telling setting where Sterling, Mayor Alan Autry and current owner, Mick Evans along with a host of city officials from police, redevelopment and city management provided the community with an in-depth explanation of past and current events surrounding Running Horse.

What I heard was not that residents’ were resistant to development but objected to the fact of not knowing. For most people, one of the greatest fears is uncertainty or unpredictability. It’s what drives the purchase of insurance of any type (reallocating risk) to the value of modern technology that allows accuracy and access to information. The politics of yester generations, where information was held tight and confidential by the government leaving citizens in the dark is over. Due to technology—instant messaging, camera phones, television/radio news, the internet along the Freedom of Information Act, people can readily obtain information on just about any subject within a short period of time thus demanding its government to respond respectively.

One good outcome from the last town hall meeting was the Mayor’s commitment to continuous communication and the establishment of a community communications taskforce. The taskforce compromised of Dr. Mary Curry, Keith Kelley, Les Kimber, LaVera Williams amongst others were charged to manage the governance of the taskforce including how to increase the composition of the group and act as a liaison between City Hall and the community. Some may ask, why is direct contact the form of communication key to maintaining a respectful relationship between leaders and an urban ethnic community? Despite today’s many mediums, leaders must not forget that direct oral communication is the one that leaves residents with a sense of sincerity and the opportunity to express their concerns.

Hopefully, the taskforce will take this as an opportunity to open a true channel of communication between an often disfranchised group of residents and those with the given authority to be their voice in our representative government.

West Fresno Town Hall Meetings: Two Down, One to Go

In the past two weeks, there have been two community-driven Town Hall meetings:

1. August 3-dealing with police brutality. Facilitated by Rev. Floyd Harris
   
2. August 9- getting questions answered about Running Horse and eminent domain. Facilitated by Dr. Mary Curry and Gloria Ponche-Roderiguez.

Both were well attended by concerned residents and decision makers from the City of Fresno. The third planned Town Hall will happen this evening hosted by Councilmember Cynthia Sterling at Macedonia COGIC. The meeting's original scheduled guest included members of the Trump team before he withdrew his $30M offer. The meeting is scheduled to continue that will no doubt have carry-over questions from Augsut 9 Town Hall's crowd of 200+ residents (some attendees estimated the audience closer to over 300) about jobs, the petition to stop the closure of Kearney Blvd. or California Ave., eminent domain, and more.

To be honest I'm like many others who are on the fence regarding Running Horse and its project scope. I hope City leaders will take into consideration the overall socio-economic impact to current residents in the area, as southwest Fresno contains some of the highest levels of concentrated poverty in the country (Brooking Institute, October 2005). Will this concentration increase because low-income residents are relocated via the market or eminent domain, thus reducing the number of neighborhoods with available affordable housing? Will West Fresno become gentrified like West Oakland and the Fruitvale communities in Oakland, CA because of redevelopment where high rents forced long time residents out?

At the end of the day, the problem with being on the fence is the potential fall. Land one way and no development happens and the community remains as it has been for decades-- destitute of community amenities and deprived of economic growth. Land the other way and the community forever changes, forcing low and moderate-income families and individuals out, which perpetuates bad land use planning of the previous decades that has resulted in residents in 15 of the 26 census tracts south of Belmont living in extreme poverty (40%+) and all West Fresno tracts in moderate or extreme poverty by concentrating low-income, public and Section 8 housing into a small area. Neither has to be the case for West Fresno.

This project is a prime opportunity for us as a city and community to build a bridge between often polarizing neighborhoods through the policy and practice of mixed-income housing. This land use & development policy incorporates housing that people can afford while transforming a distressed community through the injection of market-rate housing and conscious economic development.

Running Wild... Horse

On Monday's Valley Black Talk on KFCF 88.1 FM, the show talked about the current status of the Trump-Running Horse saga. In the program, Council District 3 Chief of Staff, Greg Barfield called in to talk about the current process, provide some facts addressing some of the rumors circulating in the community, and to speak about possible scenarios relating to Running Horse. As reported by the Fresno Bee, Trump has requested back the $1M deposit delivered earlier this month. Barfield stated those funds would be used to go after the seven (7) parcels needed but not owned to complete the Running Horse Project as currently planned. This doesn't mean Trump has completely back out of the deal, conversely it's the opposite.

In addition, Barfield touched a couple of issues that would explain for the some the added complications to the project:

1. All parcels needed to complete the development are not owned by the project


2. Some of the land within the project has owner options, of which some are owned by Mick Evans, the seller of the Running Horse


3. Most of the land encompassed within Running Horse does not nor will it incorporated under the scope of influence of the Fresno Redevelopment Agency (Project Area Map)

The third item is a major bump based on the conversations between the City administration and the Trump team. As stated by Barfield and reported in the Fresno Bee, we have known since 2003 that the Running Horse Project was outside of the redevelopment project area. According to the CA Redevelopment Association, a project area can't be expanded without amending the survey area that requires qualifying that proposed area as 'blighted'. The Fresno RDA recently reported, after being asked by the City administration to evaluate the possibility to incorporate Running Horse into the project area, that it would not qualify as blighted. This was done rightly so, backing up the the previous 2003 assessment that determined the area, which was primarily ag. land, did not "consist of the physical and economic conditions that caused a reduction of, or lack of, proper utilization of that area" (e.g. High business vacancies, low commercial leases /high turnover rates, odd shaped lots, or Unsafe access into buildings or parking lots).

The only possible thread to justify blight would be "incompatible adjacent or nearby uses of land parcels that hinder economic activity" or "vacant and underutilized land or buildings" as defined by the CA Redevelopment Association. If these assessments were made before the housing boom and the adaption of the 2025 General Plan that has pushed development southward, they may have worked. Time will tell, if Mayor Autry and the City will be able to influence state legislators to promptly move on incorporating the Running Horse into Fresno redevelopment project area. Again, redevelopment is never a quick fix solution and changes are mandated by the public process, taking anywhere from 12-18 months. If Trump has the patience and commitment as his daughter, Ivanka has stated, the change can happen to the project's overall financial benefit.

These are just some of the issues Councilmember Cynthia Sterling has to consider as she deals with the economic future of her district. Do you have thoughts, concerns or unanswered questions that you like to share with her or the Trump team? On Tuesday, August 13 you will have your chance. Sterling has arranged a town hall meeting for the project stakeholders-- the Trump team, the City and the community as reported on Valley Black Talk.

Running Horse Town Hall Meeting

August 13, 2007 - 6 PM

Greater Macedonia Church

1825 S. Delno, Fresno, CA 93706

(one block west of Fruit, between Kearney Blvd. Ave. and California Ave.)

A West Fresno with Trump?

So now that the Donald Trump deal with Running Horse is closer to being a reality, we have to begin to ask what will West Fresno look like with a billionaire touch? Members of the West Fresno community were excited five plus years ago when the prospects of the Running Horse first appeared that later spurred the interest of developers and land owners to potentially build a planned 3000 new homes in the area. Those dreams began to fade as the project continuously ran into financial woes. There seems to be a savior in the Trump offer. In a messiah-type fashion, it appears Running Horse has resurrected on the third offer. But will it bring redemption or damnation? In an effort to develop the area in true Trump style, it is said that he want a larger footprint that closer 5,600 acres. That area is more than 10 times larger than the current Running Horse project that would include both residential and commercial developments spanning from Fruit Ave to Brawley, Annadale to the south and Belmont to the north.

How would this happen given that are hundreds of homes and businesses within that landscape? There are two basic options: (1) Trump buys out each individual land owner; or (2) the City acquires the land and negotiates some deal with Trump to obtain it. In the first scenario, Trump would have to negotiate with possibly hundreds of land owners who could hold out for a big pay-day or refuse to sell out right. Mr. Deal Maker does not have the time or financial desire to engage in such activities. That’s where Option 2 becomes ideal. The City through the Redevelopment Agency could buy the land (all City-proper 93706 is a redevelopment area) from owners whether they desired to sell it or not through eminent domain. In turn, the City could sell it to Trump at the purchase price, the market value or at a discount like the GAP distribution center land sale for $1. But before I just leave the bad taste of eminent domain in your mouth, understand that it’s no quick fix. The process is lengthy, tedious and can be just as costly as a conventional real estate process due to the regulations imposed to protect the resident and/or current land owner.

A few other questions to ponder:

• What could West Fresno look like?
• We, as residents ask for the City and land developers to consider our community but are we willing to accept the changes to the community—demographics, social and neighborhood composition?
• How can this become a win-win-win situation for the community, the city of Fresno and investors/developer involved?

There are individuals with legitimate fears of how these changes may affect their community and more specifically their livelihood. Those who have planted their families and businesses in West Fresno may refer to the glory day of the Golden West Side, where the community flourished with local retailers and businesses that catered to the area’s predominately African-American population due to social and civil limitation placed on that group. It was the same time when it was socially unacceptable for ethnic minorities to go north of railroad tracks leading into downtown Fresno without scrutiny let alone north Fresno or Clovis. Today, West Fresno is very different place—the community is reflective of the city, county and state with Latinos comprising 60% of the neighborhood along with a large Southeast Asian population (2000 Census); a much lower rate of homeownership over the history of the community and comparative to the rest of the city; relatively high rates of unemployment; and schools that lack the proper resources to prepare students for academic success and productive professional careers.

The community is in need of a drastic change

I am of the belief that a Trump development could be the catalyst to the economic resurrection of West Fresno. There are many unanswered questions that Trump, the City and West Fresno residents will need to resolve to make this a mutually benefit project. I hope all parties will move forward in a way to will allow productive and honest dialogue.

Thoughts? Am I completely off –base? I welcome your comments.