Truck yard again proposed next to these Fresno homes. Neighbors keep fighting back
AI-generated summary reviewed by our newsroom.
- Sangha Carriers proposes 150 truck stalls, truck wash and repair, and storage.
- City documents say the project is allowed under the site's Business Park zoning.
- Neighbors oppose it, citing traffic, pollution, and harm to property values.
For the second time in five years, a local freight carrier company is proposing building a large truck yard next to a residential community in Fresno.
Fresno-based Sangha Carrier Inc. wants to use an empty lot it owns on Barstow Avenue, across the street from Island Waterpark, to build 150 truck parking stalls, a 20,440-square-foot truck wash and service building, and a 453-unit self-storage facility, according to planning documents from the City of Fresno. The project is somewhat different from what the company first proposed for the site in 2021.
Like it did for the previous proposal, the city’s planning department is suggesting the project will not significantly harm the environment because Sangha Carrier has agreed to certain revisions. It has also found that, under Fresno’s Municipal Code, the operation is allowed by the 19-acre site’s “Business Park” zoning.
But immediately west of the 19-acre site is a neighborhood of single-family homes. Despite the changes to the project over the years, residents who live there say a trucking facility should not be allowed next to a neighborhood.
“We don’t want it,” said Randeep Singh, whose house directly faces the wall that separates the west Fresno neighborhood from the proposed development site. “It’s going to make our home values go down.”
Inderjit Sangha, the project applicant and operations manager at Sangha Carrier, did not respond to The Fresno Bee’s request for an interview.
Fresno City Councilmember Mike Karbassi, who represents the area, said he cannot comment on the project because it’s a “quasi-judicial” issue. That means a future hearing on the matter might require the City Council to act as a court rather than a legislative body. Karbassi said providing his opinion could lead him to recusing himself.
“I regret that I cannot comment,” he said, “but I strongly encourage residents to put their opinions on the record.”
A public notice from the city says “any interested person” can comment on the project’s environmental findings by July 2.
Truck yard ‘consistent’ with Fresno Business Park zoning? See project details
Another public notice from the city describes the proposed truck yard as “consistent with the site’s Business Park zoning and General Plan land use designation.” The city adopted its current General Plan in 2014.
The municipal code says “vehicle washing” and “large vehicle and equipment sales, service and rental” are allowed in Business Park zones. "Outdoor storage” — a term that includes truck parking, according to a 2023 city analysis — is allowed in Business Park zones if it is an “accessory” to the primary uses.
Previously, Sangha Carrier was proposing 374 truck parking stalls and less space for a truck wash and service facility. The company’s current proposal includes fewer parking stalls but a larger wash and repair facility.
Sangha Carrier’s plan also now includes a self-storage facility. That facility’s parking lot would be built between the adjacent neighborhood and the project’s truck yard.
To reduce noise pollution, the company’s plan says trucks with refrigeration units that are turned on will only be allowed to park on the east side of the property, which is farthest away from the neighborhood next to the site.
More than 60 appeals against Fresno truck project’s prior approval
The city’s planning department approved Sangha Carrier’s previous proposal in September 2023 — on the condition the parking was made an accessory to the truck wash and repair facility.
That same month, 61 appeals came in against the project, according to a Fresno Planning Commission report.
Neighbors told the commission at its April 3, 2024, meeting that they were concerned about traffic, pollution and the negative impacts a truck facility would have on their property values, according to meeting minutes.
Sangha Carrier’s representative at the meeting said the company was making revisions to the project based on residents’ concerns, but added the project is a “by-right” use for the area, the minutes show. City staff had recommended the commission deny the citizens’ appeals because the project complied with Fresno law.
The commission ultimately sent the item back to staff to further assess Sangha Carrier’s revised proposal.
Singh, the resident who lives adjacent to the site, told The Bee on Tuesday his neighbors remain opposed to the project and are collecting signatures against it.
He said he thinks the zoning allows the project because “the city just wants tax money.”
This story was originally published June 28, 2026 at 11:42 AM.
