Close downtown Fresno street for Producers Dairy truck parking? That’s not OK
In March 2018, Fresno Mayor Lee Brand pledged to help a prominent local dairy company find a site to park its trucks and refrigerated trailers without further impacting nearby residents or demolishing two historic buildings.
Eighteen months later, we have arrived at a proposed resolution: The neighborhood truck parking and traffic can be reduced and the buildings spared, provided the city turns over 0.4 miles of a downtown Fresno connector street to Producers Dairy.
And what would the city get in return for letting a private entity take over a public right-of-way and forcing everyone else to detour around their newly created compound? Mostly, the heart-filled thanks of one of Fresno’s largest employers.
Something smells foul, and I’m not talking about the expired milk in your fridge.
“It just seems crazy to me, quite frankly,” said Bruce Owdom, an attorney and longtime Tower District resident.
The Producers Dairy Project is the subject of a 1,081-page draft environmental report prepared for the city by De Novo Planning Group of El Dorado Hills. The draft EIR was released July 31, triggering a 45-day public review period that closes Sept. 14.
A neighborhood Zoom webinar was held Thursday evening, preceded by public protests at 7:30 a.m. and 4:30 p.m. on H Street south of Belmont Avenue that organizers hope will raise visibility among commuters and prod the company to address their long-standing concerns.
“Producers (Dairy) has been fine discussing things behind closed doors and not feeling any real pressure,” said community organizer Kiel Lopez-Schmidt, who grew up in the vicinity. “But when you get out there and raise the stakes a little bit, it can change the conversation. That’s what happened last time.”
“Last time” a City Council vote on the company’s proposal to level two historic brick buildings at 450 E. Belmont Ave., former site of the Central Valley Cheese Co., and park nearly 70 trucks on the 1.83-acre lot was called off after Brand asked for the opportunity to seek a resolution.
Two years later, with Brand’s blessing and the city planning department’s nod of approval, Producers Dairy wants to construct a new, larger parking facility for its diesel milk trucks at 315/339 North H St., where old, abandoned warehouses, grain silos and a feed mill currently stand. Those structures would be leveled and the land paved over.
According to the draft EIR, Producers Dairy already has an agreement to purchase the H Street property from its current owners. However, the sale is contingent on the city abandoning and relinquishing H Street between Palm and Belmont avenues.
If that segment of H Street is closed to public traffic, drivers that normally use it to travel between downtown Fresno and Highway 99 (or Weber Avenue) would be re-routed onto Palm and Belmont — which are already slated for road diets and protected bike lanes.
City touts improved air quality
The proposal has some merit. From a traffic and air quality standpoint, H Street is a much more suitable location for truck and trailer parking than 450 E. Belmont Ave., which borders a residential neighborhood. But achieving that shouldn’t require the city handing over a public street.
Moreover, there are no assurances Producers Dairy wouldn’t continue to park trucks and trailers at the former Central Valley Cheese Co. Nor is there any mention of restoring the two historic brick buildings — something the company pledged to do nearly 30 years ago in a deed covenant with Tower District neighbors.
In response to my email asking what Fresno is getting in return for abandoning public property, city spokesman Mark Standriff defended the plan.
“The City receives nothing in direct compensation but the value of this proposal is certainly measurable — less truck traffic impacting neighborhoods, reduced diesel truck emissions and improved air quality,” Standriff wrote. “This project will help retain one of the City’s largest employers at their current location, keeping people employed at a crucial time in our economy.”
Producers Dairy, which earlier this year received between $5 million and $10 million in federal PPP loans, is one of Fresno’s best-known local businesses. It has a well-established reputation for philanthropy and charitable donations.
There’s a reason the Save Mart Center’s most visible entrance is named after the dairy’s founder and patriarch. Larry Shehadey donated $3 million of his own money so that Fresno State could have an on-campus arena, the building’s largest individual gift.
Dairy not good neighbors
However, when you drive around the company’s offices and production facilities near Palm and Belmont, it’s evident that goodwill does not extend to the immediate neighborhood. Buildings are poorly painted. Parking lots are surrounded by barbed- and razor-wire fences. Trees are few in number.
Besides poor aesthetics, Producers Dairy was fined nearly $90,000 last year by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency for not sufficiently regulating its use and management of anhydrous ammonia, a toxic chemical highly corrosive to skin, eyes and lungs.
Not very neighborly.
“We can say that Producers is a good employer that has a history of philanthropy in our community. But we can also say that Producers failed to upkeep its neighborhood while contributing to adverse health effects around their facility,” Lopez-Schmidt said. “Those things can be both true.”
As I stated earlier, there are positives to this proposal. Any reduction in neighborhood truck traffic and diesel emissions is a welcome step. But if the trade-off involves requires handing over a key connector street to a private business, it’s fair to question whose best interests our city leaders are looking out for.
This story was originally published September 3, 2020 at 5:00 AM.
