Action:  Review and approve, or approve with edits, the August 1, 2022 Fresno County Airport Land Use Commission Action Summary.

Summary: The City of Fresno Planning and Development Department requests an ALUC review and finding of Consistency for  a Plan Amendment/Rezone Application No. P22-00507 and related Development Permit Application No. P22-00505.

The project site is located at 49 West Fir Avenue in Pinedale, CA, within Fresno Yosemite International Airport's (FAT) Safety Zone 7 – Precision Approach Zone. It does not sit within FAT's noise contours.

Plan Amendment/Rezone Application No. P22-00507 and related Development Permit Application No. P22-00505 were submitted by Roger Hurtado of Centerline Design, LLC.

Plan Amendment Application No. P22-00507 proposes to amend the Fresno General Plan and Pinedale Specific Plan to change the planned land use designations for the subject property from Residential – Medium Density (±1.23) to Commercial General (±1.23 acres).

The rezone application component proposes to amend the Official Zoning Map of the City of Fresno to rezone the subject property from the RS-5 (Residential Single-Family, Medium Density) (±1.23 acres) zone district to the CG (Commercial General) (±1.23 acres) zone district in accordance with the Plan Amendment Application.

Related Development Permit Application No. P22-00505 requests authorization to construct an 11,520 square foot medical clinic across six parcels. The project proposes on and off-site improvements including but not limited to: curbs, gutters, and sidewalks; landscaping; and guest, and employee parking. The only prohibited use for projects sitting within Zone 7 of FAT is hazards to flight, including physical (e.g., tall objects), visual, and electronic forms of interference with the safety of aircraft operations. 

Other development conditions for Zone 7 state that no object shall have a height that would penetrate the airspace protection surface of the airport. This project's maximum height is 28 feet. The City of Fresno submitted the FAA's Notice Criteria Tool results (attached) stating that this project does no exceed Notice Criteria.

An Initial Study/Mitigated Negative Declaration will be prepared for this project and will require adoption with project approval. 

Action: ALUC staff recommends that the Fresno County Airport Land Use Commission approve a Finding of Consistency for City of Fresno Plan Amendment/Rezone Application No. P22-00507 and related Development Permit Application No. P22-00505.

Summary:  

Summary: At the direction of this commission, in mid 2021 ALUC staff worked with Coffman Associates to draft amendments to the Fresno County Airport Land Use Compatibility Plan (ALUCP) that were adopted in December 2021. The amendment process originally centered around a number main tasks, but some of them could not go forward as part of the amendment due to a delay in FAA review and approval processes. The following tasks are still outstanding:

Preparing Updated Safety Zones for Fresno-Chandler Executive Airport

Based on the revised Airport Layout Plan for Fresno-Chandler Executive Airport submitted to the FAA for review in June 2021, updated safety zones will be prepared based on the examples from the 2011 California Airport Land Use Planning Handbook. Through communication with the City of Fresno Airports Department, the revised Airport Layout Plan will not include a planned runway extension to 4,000 feet. Therefore, the future runway length will remain in the current condition, which is 3,627 feet. Accordingly, the zones will be changed to reflect the Handbook’s zones for short general aviation runways with lengths less than 4,000 feet.

Updating Fresno-Chandler Executive Airport Exhibits

Based on the updated Airport Layout Plan for Fresno-Chandler Executive Airport submitted to the FAA for review in June 2021, the following exhibits in Appendix C will be revised:

• Exhibit C1 – Airport Influence Area and Safety Zones
• Exhibit C2 – Future Noise Contours
• Exhibit C3 – 14 CFR Part 77 Airspace Services (derived from Master Plan Update)
• Exhibit C4 – Airport Layout Plan (derived from Master Plan Update)
• Exhibit C5 – Existing Land Use Parcels
• Exhibit C6 – Zoning Parcels
• Exhibit C7 – General Plan Parcels
• Exhibit C8 – Compatibility Factors

It is assumed that the underlying land use mapping for Exhibits C5, C6, and C7 will not be updated during this process.

The City of Fresno Department of Airports has been communicating with the FAA and, following the FAA's request, amended and submitted the ALP for final approval. Therefore, Fresno Airports requested the ALUC staff take steps necessary to move forward with a 2023 ALUCP amendment. However, amendments are initiated by the ALUC. Therefore, staff is looking for direction from the commission before initiating the amendment process.   

If the amendment process is initiated, there may be additional amendments to the ALUCP needed. Earlier this year the ALUC received a complaint that the ALUCP list's Reedley Airport's runway length incorrectly. The ALUC members should discuss the process for review of any potential error, and, if it is different than what is currently listed in Reedley's Airport Layout Plan and the ALUCP, the process for amending Reedley's Appendix chapter. 

Action: Provide direction to ALUC staff regarding ALUCP amendment initiation. 

Upcoming 2023 meeting dates (regular schedule)

• February 6
• April 3