West Fresno community leaders are calling on the Fresno City Council to oppose a controversial proposal that would allow for future industrial development in their pollution-burdened communities.
On Thursday, Fresno City Council will vote on the Elm Street Rezone, a proposal to convert 55.31 acres of land designated as neighborhood mixed-use into light industrial use. The vote was postponed after a heated meeting among council members on Feb. 19.
“There is an overburdening of industrial presence in southwest Fresno, and we need to be working in an effort to reduce industrial presence in southwest Fresno, not increase it in any way,” Rising Star Missionary Baptist Church Pastor B.T. Lewis said Wednesday. (Lewis also serves as the City of Fresno’s BIPOC Community Liaison.)…