Judge’s overrule of Fresno council apartment rejection contains rich irony | Opinion
In Fresno, new apartments aren’t only built on vacant lots.
They’re also built on irony. Rather delicious irony.
Twelve months after the Fresno City Council narrowly rejected a developer’s proposal for an 82-unit market-rate apartment complex along Herndon Avenue in northwest Fresno, a Fresno County judge overturned the decision.
In a ruling issued Monday, Judge Robert Whalen ordered the City of Fresno to approve the project after determining the proposal by developer James Huelskamp and his company Land Value Management satisfied the city’s municipal codes and general plan and could not legally be blocked by a technicality.
“The housing development project shall be deemed consistent, compliant, and in conformity with the applicable plan,” Whalen wrote in his decision. “To then deny the project for being non-compliant … runs afoul of the law.”
Whalen gave the Fresno City Council 60 days to formulate a plan for the project’s approval. On Wednesday, City Attorney Andrew Janz said via text that council members have not decided whether to appeal the ruling and that it will be discussed during closed session at a future meeting.
Here’s where irony enters the picture: Before being elected to fill a vacancy on the Fresno County Superior Court bench in 2022, Whalen served nearly 20 years on the Clovis City Council.
During those two decades, the central San Joaquin Valley’s least affordable city (by design) notoriously dragged its feet on building housing for low-income families and ran afoul of state housing mandates.
So much so that in 2019, the City of Clovis got sued by Fresno homeless advocate Dez Martinez for violating state housing law. The city sustained multiple losses in court until the two sides reached a “historic” settlement in 2024 that required Clovis to reduce or alter zoning restrictions and financial barriers that prevented more affordable housing from being built.
For 20 years, Whalen served on a governing body that turned its back on people who could not afford rent in Clovis. But now, as a county judge, he ordered Fresno to build a multifamily complex that drew widespread opposition from nearby residents – including the misguided objection of Fresno County Sheriff John Zanoni, who irresponsibly (and without any factual basis) suggested apartment-dwellers endangered the safety of children.
The irony here is richer than chocolate mousse served at a Michelin-starred French bistro.
During the city council’s discussion of the proposed project last July, Councilmember Miguel Arias and City Manager Georgeanne White both warned a rejection would likely expose the city to litigation. Which is exactly what happened. Another waste of taxpayer money.
Not in my backyard
California’s housing crisis is exacerbated by restrictive decisions made at the local level, often under pressure from unreasonable and influential people (i.e. Sheriff Zanoni) who don’t want new housing built near where they live.
Huelskamp’s lawsuit also argued that the Fresno City Council rejected his proposal in bad faith because it caved to residents who objected to apartments in their upscale neighborhood just north of Herndon.
Whalen, however, did not agree.
“This court finds no bad faith in the robust public process which has been exhibited in the administrative record,” the judge wrote.
Fresno City Council President Mike Karbassi, who represents the area, issued a strong rebuke to the court’s decision, contending it “highlights how state law continues to erode local control, stripping authority from representatives who work and live in these neighborhoods and hear directly from residents every day.”
Karbassi’s statement, written on his official Facebook page, also took an unnecessary potshot at The Bee for being the publication where the project’s legally required public notice was posted.
Well, two can play that game. When I texted Karbassi to question him about his comment, he accused me of using my “bully pulpit” to “settle personal scores.”
That’s pure projectionism – look in the mirror, Mike, you’ll see a bearded bully – and pretty rich for a local politician who couldn’t be chummier with one of Fresno’s largest developers.
The irony of Fresno being legally compelled to build an apartment complex by a longtime Clovis leader is the kind of stuff satirists dream about. Except in this case it’s real life.
This story was originally published July 17, 2025 at 12:00 PM.
