Fresno developers may soon be able to build housing units on vacant land zoned for office space, with new action by the Fresno City Council on Thursday.
The city council voted 4-3 to move forward with a policy to approve office to residential conversions, although the policy will have to come before the council yet again for final approval.
The backstory: Fresno lawmakers previously considered a policy earlier this year to allow developers to have their projects approved by the city ministerially to build housing on property zoned for office.
- Ministerial approval means the Fresno Planning Department would automatically approve projects as long as they meet certain criteria.
- The city council amended the policy in June to approve office to housing conversions but removed the ministerial component, necessitating the policy to come back again for discussion.
The big picture: After a lengthy debate, the council settled on a version of the policy that brings back the ministerial component to go along with allowing housing projects that can be less densely populated than initially proposed.
- The policy that was approved for introduction in June only allowed office to residential development for units in the RM-3 zone. RM-3 zoning is for high density multi-family units.
- On Thursday, the city council amended the policy to allow RM-1 and RM-2 zones for office to residential conversions. RM-1 is for medium high density multi-family units, and RM-2 is for urban neighborhood multi-family units.
- New developments will be limited to a maximum height of 45 feet unless they are located within half a mile of the intersection of two or more major transit stops.
What they’re saying: Councilwoman Annalisa Perea made the motion to bring the ministerial component back in and – at Council President Mike Karbassi’s request – to allow for less dense residential units as well. She urged the council to support ministerial approvals in order to tackle California’s housing crisis.
- “Families are being priced out of the very communities we grew up in. Home ownership is becoming increasingly harder to obtain, and young people are struggling to imagine a future where they can afford to live and stay in our city,” Perea said. “And we cannot keep doing things the same way and expect different results here in Fresno. One of the most effective tools we have to meet this moment is the ministerial approval process for housing process.”
- She pitched ministerial approvals as allowing development to bypass “lengthy, duplicative and costly discretionary reviews,” as long as the projects already meet Fresno’s local zoning and design standards.
- “This doesn’t mean we lower our standards or we circumvent environmental review, it means honoring the standards that we have already democratically placed before us on the books here in our city. So when a project meets the rules of the books, we should be able to say ‘yes’ efficiently, because every month of delay increases construction costs, reduces unit counts and pushes working families further away from the ability to obtain an affordable roof over their head,” Perea said. “Ministerial approvals help us speed up production. It provides certainty for builders and ensures that cities are doing their part to meet statewide goals and, more importantly, our needs. So if we are serious about addressing this housing crisis and if we believe that every family deserves a stable home, then we have a responsibility to remove barriers that no longer serve the public. Ministerial approvals are the answer to achieve that.”
What we’re watching: Since the policy was amended, it will come back at the next council meeting for a second reading.
