Residents in rural Fresno County hoping for better living conditions after court ruling
Residents and advocates from rural and disadvantaged Fresno County communities hope a Fresno Superior Court judge’s ruling from earlier this year could improve living conditions.
In April, a Fresno County judge ordered county officials to comply with housing rules in its general plan that advocates and residents argued had been neglected, some since at least 2015, said Ashley Werner, senior attorney with Leadership Counsel for Justice and Accountability.
Werner represented the community group Comunidades Unidas por un Cambio (Communities United for Change), as it formally sued the county last year. The group said the county failed to implement general plan rules such as facilitating development and maintenance of affordable housing and land use planning that would address infrastructure and services to those communities, such as water and fire services.
The communities listed in the lawsuit included Lanare, Cantua Creek, Calwa, and the Jane Addams neighborhood.
Werner said the judge’s ruling shows the county cannot ignore rural communities without consequences.
“It is significant in the (San Joaquin) Valley when you can get a ruling ... to change the zoning law,” Werner said. “It sends a signal that these are mandatory requirements.”
Rural Fresno-area communities win lawsuit
The lawsuit stemmed from what Werner and the residents said was years of inaction by the county to properly maintain and develop infrastructure county communities, primarily low-income and Latino.
In the lawsuit, the group explained that the county had not followed its deadlines to ensure that land existed to accommodate affordable housing for farmworkers and to create emergency shelters and housing assistance for persons with disabilities.
The lawsuit also laid out that the county did not comply with a December 2015 deadline to include in its General Plan an analysis of water, wastewater, stormwater, and fire protection needs of disadvantaged unincorporated communities.
The court ordered the county to come into compliance within 270 days of its April 23 ruling.
Residents who are active in rural communities cheered the ruling, said Leslie Martinez, a policy advocate with Leadership Counsel. She said some residents felt recognized since many of them are cost-burdened when it comes to rent.
Many also live with challenges of bad plumbing, heating, and cooling conditions. Martinez said residents are hoping the lawsuit’s outcome could lead to those improvements and better land-use planning that includes parks and recreation in rural areas.
“There are communities that are suffering because of poor decisions being made,” Martinez said.
Fresno County to complete judge’s order
The court directed the county to seek financing for the projects and improvements identified by the communities’ needs analysis.
In a recent statement, Fresno County spokesman Jordan Scott said the county intends to follow through with the judge’s order, including gathering information on infrastructure needs from communities.
But Scott said the delays in implementing some of the General Plan requirements were hindered by changing housing, water, and land use legislation.
However, Werner argued that community residents have consistently sought to address the issues with the county. She said the community group regularly sought information from the county regarding the problems, but there was never significant movement from the county.
“The County anticipates completion of any necessary general plan revisions resulting from the litigation by the end of 2020, consistent with the court’s ruling,” Scott said in a statement.
