Environmental Assessment No. P23-04210

2025020505

City of Fresno

NOE - Notice of Exemption

2/14/2025

2/14/2025

Robert Holt

City of Fresno

Supervising Planner

Lead/Public Agency

2600 Fresno Street 3rd Floor, Room 3043
Fresno, CA 93721

(559) 621-8056

Robert.Holt@fresno.gov

Kevin Lu

Central Valley Herbery, LLC

Business Owner

Project Applicant

69 S. Linden Avenue South
San Francisco, CA 94080

(415) 999-2138

kevin_1226@yahoo.com

36°43'57.7"N 119°46'35"W

South Topeka Avenue & East Cesar Chavez Boulevard

93721

1.26

468-020-78

State Routes 99, 41, and 180

Southern Pacific

Chandler Executive Airport

Jefferson Elementary, Tehipite Middle, Roosevelt High

14S

20E

10

Categorical Exemption

Section 15332/Class 32

a) The project is consistent with the applicable general plan designation and all applicable general plan policies as well as with applicable zoning designation and regulations. The subject property is located within the Fresno General Plan and Downtown Neighborhoods Community Plan, which designate the subject property for Employment – Heavy Industrial planned land uses. The Fresno General Plan designates the subject site for Employment – Heavy Industrial planned land uses and provides objectives to guide in the development of these projects. Cannabis Conditional Use Permit Application No. P23-04210 meets all policies and objectives of the Fresno General Plan. The following are excerpts of such objectives. • Goal 1: Increase opportunity, economic development, business and job creation. • Goal 7: Provide for a diversity of districts, neighborhoods, housing types (including affordable housing), residential densities, job opportunities, recreation, open space, and educational venues that appeal to a broad range of people throughout the city. • Objective ED-1: Support economic development by maintaining a strong working relationship with the business community and improving the business climate for current and future businesses. • Objective LU-7: Plan and support industrial development to promote job growth. The project will utilize existing land where the necessary infrastructure and facilities are available to serve the property. The proposed project is consistent with many of the goals and policies of the Fresno General Plan. The proposed project promotes diverse land uses and preserves and protects resources by developing within the City limits. Development Code Establishment of a commercial cannabis microbusiness is permitted in the Employment – Heavy Industrial zone district, subject to approval of a Conditional Use Permit, in accordance with Fresno Municipal Code (FMC) Sections 15-2739.C and N (Location and Design of Commercial Cannabis Businesses; Cannabis Conditional Use Permit). The applicant proposes the establish a commercial cannabis microbusiness (cultivation, distribution, and manufacturing) in an approximately 15,093 square-foot reconstruction of a burned-down building. The site area will also include a parking lot, solid waste enclosure, landscaping, and all other applicable general development standards. Therefore, it is staff’s opinion that the proposed project is consistent with respective general and community plan objectives and policies, and the applicable zoning designation and regulations of the Development Code and will not conflict with any applicable land use plan, policy, or regulation of the City of Fresno. b) The proposed development occurs within city limits on a project site of no more than five acres substantially surrounded by urban uses. The State of California Governor’s Office of Planning and Research states that infill development refers to “building within unused and underutilized lands within existing development patterns, typically but not exclusively in urban areas. The proposed project is located within city limits and is proposed on a site of approximately 1.26 acres (less than the five-acre maximum). Pursuant to CEQA Section 21159.25, “Substantially surrounded” means at least 75 percent of the perimeter of the project site adjoins, or is separated only by an improved public right-of-way from, parcels that are developed with qualified urban uses. The remainder of the perimeter of the site adjoins, or is separated only by an improved public right-of-way from, parcels that have been designated for qualified urban uses in a zoning, community plan, or general plan for which an environmental impact report was certified. Adjacent to the north is a vacant disturbed property, adjacent to the west is a railroad which is an improved public right-of-way, adjacent to the east is South Topeka Avenue which is an improved public right-of-way, and adjacent to the south is a developed property with a warehouse storage building. Thus, the subject property is substantially surrounded by urban uses. c) The project has no value as habitat for endangered, rare or threatened species. The subject property is currently disturbed with a previously burned-down building and paved lot. Immediately surrounding the subject property are a local street and railroad which generate high levels of noise, which are generally prohibited corridors for species migration, and the site habitat has no trees that would attract birds or other species. As previously stated in Finding b, the site is substantially surrounded by other development. Therefore, the site has no value as habitat for endangered, rare, or threatened species. d) Approval of the project would not result in any significant effects relating to traffic, noise, air quality, or water quality. The proposed project was routed to the San Joaquin Valley Air Pollution Control District, the City of Fresno Public Utilities Department-Water Division, Fresno Metropolitan Flood Control District, and no significant effects were identified relating to traffic, noise, air quality, or water quality, as provided in detail below. Traffic Senate Bill (SB) 743 requires that relevant CEQA analysis of transportation impacts be conducted using a metric known as vehicle miles traveled (VMT) instead of Level of Service (LOS). VMT measures how much actual auto travel (additional miles driven) a proposed project would create on California roads. If the project adds excessive automotive travel onto our roads, the project may cause a significant transportation impact. The State CEQA Guidelines were amended to implement SB 743, by adding Section 15064.3. Among its provisions, Section 15064.3 confirms that, except with respect to transportation projects, a project’s effect on automobile delay shall not constitute a significant environmental impact. Therefore, LOS measures of impacts on traffic facilities is no longer a relevant CEQA criteria for transportation impacts. CEQA Guidelines Section 15064.3(b)(4) states that “[a] lead agency has discretion to evaluate a project’s VMT, including whether to express the change in absolute terms, per capita, per household or in any other measure. A lead agency may use models to estimate a project’s VMT and may revise those estimates to reflect professional judgement based on substantial evidence. Any assumptions used to estimate VMT and any revision to model outputs should be documented and explained in the environmental document prepared for the project. The standard of adequacy in Section 15151 shall apply to the analysis described in this section.” On June 25, 2020, the City of Fresno adopted CEQA Guidelines for VMT Thresholds, pursuant to SB 743 to be effective as of July 1, 2020. The thresholds described therein are referred to herein as the City of Fresno VMT Thresholds. The City of Fresno VMT Thresholds document was prepared and adopted consistent with the requirements of CEQA Guidelines Sections 15064.3 and 15064.7. The December 2018 Technical Advisory on Evaluating Transportation Impacts in CEQA (Technical Advisory) published by the Governor’s Office of Planning and Research (OPR), was utilized as a reference and guidance document in the preparation of the City of Fresno VMT Thresholds. The City of Fresno VMT Thresholds adopted a screening standard and criteria that can be used to screen out qualified projects that meet the adopted criteria from needing to prepare a detailed VMT analysis. The City of Fresno VMT Thresholds Section 3.0 regarding Project Screening discusses a variety of projects that may be screened out of a VMT analysis including specific development and transportation projects. For development projects, conditions may exist that would presume that a development project has a less than significant impact. These may be size, location, proximity to transit, or trip-making potential. For transportation projects, the primary attribute to consider is the potential to increase vehicle travel, sometimes referred to as “induced travel.” The proposed project is eligible to screen out because pursuant to the City of Fresno VMT Thresholds Section 3.0 (Project Screening), the project is within a 0.5-mile radius of a High-Quality Transit Corridor. Thus, the project would screen out. Noise The project is the establishment of a commercial cannabis microbusiness in a rebuild of a previously burned-down industrial building. The project site is adjacent to existing industrial development to the south, west and east. Low noise may be generated by the proposed commercial cannabis microbusiness, however, traffic volumes on the adjacent street and adjacent railroad generate higher noise near the subject property. In any case, the project is conditioned to comply with all applicable noise standards of the Citywide Development Code. Air Quality The project is conditioned to comply with any applicable regulations and conditions from the San Joaquin Valley Air Pollution Control District memorandum dated March 29, 2024 and the project is subject to review by the agency in regard to air quality during construction and operation. The project, as described, will not occur at a scale or scope with potential to contribute substantially or cumulatively to existing or projected air quality violations or impacts. Water Quality The Fresno Metropolitan Flood Control District (FMFCD) memorandum dated May 21, 2024 states that conveyance of storm water should be directed towards South Topeka Avenue. On-site grading will be reviewed by the City of Fresno Building and Safety Services Division and FMFCD for compliance with storm water conveyance and pollution prevention. The applicant is required to comply with all requirements of the City of Fresno Department of Public Utilities memorandum dated April 7, 2024 which will reduce the project’s water impacts to less than significant. When Development Permits are issued, the applicant will be required to pay drainage fees pursuant to the Drainage Fee Ordinance. Therefore, compliance with the conditions of approval dated February 11, 2025 will ensure that the proposed project will not result in any significant effects relating to traffic, noise, air quality, and water quality. e) The site can be adequately served by all required utilities and public services. The project has been routed to various utilities and public service providers which have provided project conditions for development of the project. The site has been reviewed and conditioned by the Fresno Metropolitan Flood Control District, Fresno County Environmental Health Division, City of Fresno Public Works Department, City of Fresno Public Utilities Department, and the City of Fresno Fire Department. In addition, given the surrounding properties and neighborhood have been substantially developed and utilities and public services already exist in the area. The site can be adequately served by all required utilities, including sewer, water, and solid waste, as well as public services. None of the exceptions to Categorical Exemptions set forth in the CEQA Guidelines, Section 15300.2 apply to this project. Furthermore, as the subject site is a developed property in an urbanized commercial area, the proposed project is not expected to have a significant effect on the environment. Accordingly, a categorical exemption, as noted above, has been prepared for the project.