Another big warehouse is proposed in south Fresno. Here’s who would eventually occupy it
The latest of a series of large warehouse projects in south Fresno will be up for approval Thursday by the Fresno City Council, following an earlier green light from the city’s Planning Commission.
The warehouse, intended for Reyes Coca-Cola Bottling LLC, is proposed for a 14.8-acre site at the southwest corner of North and East avenues, tucked into a largely industrial area between Highways 99 and 41 at the southern edge of the city. The site is already zoned for heavy industrial uses and neighbors include Amazon and Kraft Foods.
The Fresno Planning Commission approved the development permit application at its Feb. 1 meeting.
City Councilmember Miguel Arias, whose Council District 3 includes the site, filed an appeal of the planning commission’s decision on behalf of several residents.
But Arias told The Fresno Bee this week that he believes discussions between residents in the south Fresno area and the developer have largely resolved the concerns that prompted his appeal: an increase in pollution from trucks traveling to and from the warehouse. and the potential to perpetuate more industrial development that could intensify effects of pollution and noise for residents in the surrounding area.
Arias said some of the mitigation measures include contributing to a fund to help residents improve their homes to reduce potential noise impacts.
In addition to a two-story, 207,000-square-foot warehouse, the site – currently vacant – would also house about 23,350 square feet of office space, a truck wash and a truck maintenance shop.
Operations at the site would be around the clock, seven days a week with about 114 on-site employees, according to a staff report to the council. The site would provide 273 parking stalls, 54 truck-trailer stalls, and 29 loading dock doors for movement of products in and out of the warehouse.
The city’s planning staff predicts that the warehouse would generate about 321 daily passenger car trips and 160 daily truck trips.
Coca Cola currently on other side of Highway 99
Reyes Coca Cola Bottling has an existing distribution center on Malaga Avenue just east of Highway 99, about three miles from the proposed warehouse. It is one of about two dozen distribution facilities the company has in California.
In a letter submitted to the city prior to the planning commission’s approval, the advocacy organization Leadership Counsel for Justice & Accountability urged denial of the development application based on “persistent discriminatory patterns of practice that focus only on the needs and benefits of industrial development and without any regard to how the disadvantaged community that they are developing in are being impacted.”
“The decision to approve this permit application will perpetuate the (location) of heavy industrial uses in and near communities of color,” the advocates’ letter added.
Another would-be appellant of the project’s approval, the Laborers International Union Local 294, withdrew its appeal prior to the Planning Commission meeting after discussions with the applicants. “The applicant has agreed to employ additional measures that will further reduce the project’s impacts,” wrote Amalia Bowley Fuentes, an attorney for the labor union.
In their analysis of concerns registered by residents, city officials reported that “there are no residential properties within 1,000 feet of the subject property, and as surrounding properties within 0.5 miles of the subject property are planned and zoned for industrial uses, any residential property within that area would be considered a non-conforming use.”
Additionally, city staffers said that by utilizing North Avenue as a main point of access, “the project has access to Highway 41 and 99 without crossing through neighborhoods.”
Kraft Foods, Amazon among nearby companies
The nearest homes are more than a quarter-mile to the west, along Cherry Avenue south of North Avenue. Otherwise, the surrounding properties are dotted with large industrial companies or distribution warehouses. Kraft Foods has a distribution center immediately to the east, across East Avenue; there’s also facilities for FedEx Ground; Electronic Recyclers International; Ernest Packaging Solutions; Mission Foods; Valleywide Beverage; and Unique Loom.
Amazon, the e-commerce giant, has its large fulfillment center located about a half-mile away, and Ulta Beauty’s big warehouse is about two-thirds of a mile to the south.
