Petty politics of north Fresno council members dooms vital downtown housing project
Despite a desperate need for housing, downtown Fresno’s most enticing plot of vacant land will remain vacant for another 10 years. At least.
Why? Because two city council members from the north side of Fresno succumbed to petty personal politics. Even after Terance Frazier, the primary target of their ire, bowed out on his own accord.
Garry Bredefeld and Mike Karbassi let their petulance get the better of them Wednesday afternoon. Their “no” votes in a Fresno City Council special meeting effectively killed a fully designed project several years in the making (either six or eight, depending on when you start counting) that was finally moving ahead.
In separate rants from the dais, Bredefeld and Karbassi seized upon those years and concerns about the project’s viability as their reasons for voting against the South Stadium project at Fulton and Inyo streets.
“After eight years, with no true start date for construction, I could not in good conscience allow further extensions to leave prime land idle any further,” Karbassi said in a formal statement that followed.
It will be interesting to see how Karbassi’s conscience guides him when faced with similar votes in the near future. When the developers involved with exclusive negotiating agreements with the city aren’t romantic partners of a political rival.
Two weeks ago from the same seat, Bredefeld went out of his way to praise the project’s managing partner, Mehmet Noyan, as a person of integrity. It was Frazier, Noyan’s partner on the South Stadium project, whom Bredefeld had a problem with. That’s why he couldn’t vote yes.
Wednesday, Bredefeld changed his narrative. Per usual, it was full of mistruths and false juxtapositions. Comparing this project with the one proposed a few blocks away by Cliff Tutelian (whose agreement with the city was terminated in 2020 following three extensions) is intellectually dishonest.
Unlike the South Stadium project, Tutelian didn’t own the property he sought to develop at Fulton and Tuolumne. Nor did he have a deal to purchase the property, nor an agreement with the owner (in this case CVS) to develop it.
Why would the city enter into an exclusive negotiating agreement with a developer over land neither owns or controls? Essentially because Tutelian and the former mayor are friends. In Fresno, that’s reason enough.
Bredefeld is probably just angry that fellow councilmember and political adversary Miguel Arias won his defamation suit against Tutelian. This was Bredefeld’s way of extracting revenge.
“It’s just personal politics,” Arias said.
More developer agreements need renewal
Over the next several months, it just so happens that two other exclusive negotiating agreements between the city and developers are up for renewal: a housing project proposed by Mark Astone and Ed Kashian on Van Ness between Stanislaus and L streets, as well as Tom Richards’ deal to develop Armenian Town.
Those agreements, according to Arias, have been in place far longer than the city’s deal with Noyan Frazier LP over the South Stadium. Neither has been built, and both have experienced numerous delays and/or inactivity.
When those agreements come before the city council for their extension vote, which requires a supermajority of five, will Karbassi and Bredefeld hold those developers to the same standard?
More than likely, not. They’ll lace up their tap-dancing shoes and make some specious rationalizations that make them appear righteous.
The Park was fully approved, designed and approaching the construction permit milestone. Ninety-nine studios, one-bedroom apartments and lofts (both market rate and affordable, a first for Fresno) were planned for the four-story building along with 4,500 square feet of ground-floor retail.
Now that land will be vacant for at least a decade, Arias estimates, despite the glaring need for more housing downtown.
Wednesday’s vote happened to coincide with a Fresno visit by officials from the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development. Sure glad those folks got to witness two council members kill an urban housing project over petulant politics. That’s certain to leave a wonderful impression.
This story was originally published August 31, 2022 at 2:00 PM.
