A Fresno County judge has upheld city approval of the latest plan for the northeast Fresno tract known as "Fresno 40," bounded by Friant Road, Audubon Drive, Cole Avenue and Fresno Street.
Measuring slightly less than 40 acres, the tract owned by developer DeWayne Zinkin was formerly zoned mainly for offices. But the new plan allows for a shopping center and a small number of apartments.
The ruling by Superior Court Judge Jeff Hamilton came in a lawsuit filed by the Woodward Park Homeowners Association, which alleged the city's environmental review was flawed when it approved the plan late last year.
This is the second time the association has challenged the Fresno 40 project. Two years ago, an appellate court overturned a previous Superior Court ruling that upheld the city's approval.
Association attorney Richard Harriman said Tuesday that he and his clients will not decide how to proceed in the present case until they review Hamilton's decision. The association is trying to get Zinkin to scale back his plan for large stores and add more homes, apartments, offices and small shops. The Fresno 40 site got its office zoning in 1990, when Children's Hospital Central California planned to move there. Eventually, the hospital moved to southern Madera County instead. It sold the land to Zinkin and another buyer, whom Zinkin bought out in 2003.
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