DATE: October 20, 2026
TO: Board of Supervisors
SUBMITTED BY: Steven E. White, Director
Department of Public Works and Planning
SUBJECT: General Plan Amendment No. 511, Amendment Application No. 3751, Amendment to Text Application No. 363, Classified Conditional Use Permit Application No. 3415 and associated Environmental Impact Report (State Clearinghouse No. 2007101016) for the Friant Community Plan Update, Friant Ranch Specific Plan and Tertiary-level Wastewater Treatment Facility (Applicant: Friant Ranch, a Limited Partnership)
RECOMMENDED ACTION(S):
TITLE
1. Adopt Resolution to:
a. Certify the Final Environmental Impact Report prepared for the Friant Ranch Community Plan Update and Friant Ranch Specific Plan Project (Project) and adopt the Statement of Fact, Findings and Overriding Considerations and the Mitigation Monitoring and Reporting Plan;
b. Approve the Friant Ranch Community Plan Update by expanding the boundary by adding the 942.2-acre Friant Ranch Specific Plan Area designating the Specific Plan Area (Alternative No. 3) for a variety of residential, commercial, and open space uses, including the alternative wastewater treatment plant location (General Plan Amendment No. 511) as the first amendment of the Fresno County General Plan of 2026; and
c. Adopt the Friant Ranch Specific Plan (Alternative No. 3) containing goals, policies, implementation measures and development standards for the Specific Plan Area (General Plan Amendment No. 511).
2. Approve Amendment Application No. 3751 and adopt Ordinance rezoning the Project site to various proposed zone districts, rezone the 7.19-acre “Depot Parcel” from Single-Family Residential Agricultural District (R-A) to General Commercial (C-6), rezone two parcels totaling 6.6 acres from R-A and C-6 to Open Space (OS), and rezone a 106-acre parcel from AE-20 (Exclusive Agricultural, 20-acre minimum parcel size) Zone District to OS.
3. Approve Amendment to Text Application No. 363 - Friant Ranch Zoning Regulations and adopt Ordinance adding Section 819.2.020 to Chapter 819.2 - Specific Plans regarding the Friant Ranch Specific Plan Zoning Regulations, containing specific zoning districts for the Friant Ranch Specific Plan area.
4. Adopt Resolution approving Classified Conditional Use Permit (CUP) Application No. 3415 subject to the four required findings as specified in the Zoning Ordinance to permit the construction of a tertiary-level (Title 22 Standard) wastewater treatment facility to serve the Friant Ranch and greater Friant community, operated by Friant Waterworks District No. 18 on two parcels in the AE-20 (Exclusive Agriculture, 20-acre minimum parcel size) Zone District;
5. Include a Condition of Approval requiring that the Applicant shall enter into an agreement indemnifying the County for legal costs associated with approval of the Project; and
6. Designate County Counsel to prepare fair and adequate summaries of the proposed Ordinances and direct the Clerk of the Board to post and publish the required summaries in accordance with Government Code, Section 25124(b)(1).
REPORT
The Friant Community Plan Update proposes to increase the existing Community Plan Area boundary by adding the 942.2-acre Friant Ranch Specific Plan Area and designates the Specific Plan Area for a variety of residential, commercial, and open space uses. The Specific Plan is proposed as a predominantly active adult (ages 55+) community. The Community Plan Update proposes revisions to existing policies and the inclusion of new policies to include provisions consistent with the policies of the 2024 General Plan Review.
At its September 17, 2026 hearing, the Planning Commission unanimously recommended approval of the Friant Ranch Project. A copy of the Planning Commission Action is included as Attachment A. The Planning Commission Staff Report is included as Attachment B.
The Project area is located in and adjacent to the unincorporated community of Friant approximately nine miles north of the cities of Fresno and Clovis and adjacent on the west to the San Joaquin River which forms the boundary between Fresno and Madera Counties (SUP. DIST. 5).
ALTERNATIVE ACTION(S):
If your Board determines that the proposed General Plan Amendment, rezoning and other applications associated with the Friant Community Plan Update and the Friant Ranch Specific Plan development are not consistent with the Fresno County General Plan, a motion to deny the proposal would be appropriate.
FISCAL IMPACT:
There is no Net County Cost associated with the recommended actions. The Applicant paid previous land use processing fees for General Plan Amendment No. 511, Amendment Application No. 3751, Amendment to Text Application No. 363 in 2011, and in 2014 paid fees for the processing of Classified Conditional Use Permit Application No. 3415. Since 2005 the Applicant has paid approximately $931,276 in processing fees and deposits for land use permitting and work on the Environmental Impact Report, most recently for work directly related to the Partially Revised and Recirculated Environmental Impact Report.
DISCUSSION:
Procedure and Planning Commission Action
This item comes before your Board because the proposed General Plan Amendment (GPA), Amendment to Text (AT) and Amendment (Rezone) Applications are legislative actions requiring final approval by your Board. Consequently, final action by your Board is also required on the environmental documents prepared for the Project, including certification of the Final Environmental Impact Report (FEIR) and adoption of the Statement of Fact, Findings, and Overriding Considerations and the Mitigation Monitoring and Reporting Program (MMRP), and approval of the Conditional Use Permit to allow a tertiary-level wastewater treatment facility. Approval of the GPA, rezone and text amendment to the Zoning Ordinance would become effective 30 days after the Board's approval.
The Planning Commission considered this item at its public hearing on September 17, 2026. Upon consideration of the Project information and the public testimony, the Planning Commission voted unanimously (6 to 0, with three Commissioners absent) to recommend to the Board of Supervisors certification of the FEIR and adoption of the MMRP and recommend to the Board of Supervisors approval of GPA No. 511 updating the Friant Community Plan and approval of the Friant Ranch Specific Plan (Alternative No. 3) and the Alternative Wastewater Treatment Plant location, and also recommended approval of AT Application No. 363, Amendment Application (AA) No. 3751 and Classified Conditional Use Permit (CUP) No. 3415.
Background
The Project site is located in the unincorporated community of Friant in north-central Fresno County, north of the cities of Fresno and Clovis. The community is bounded by Friant Road to the west, Friant Dam and Millerton Lake to the north, open space land to the south, and the Friant-Kern Canal to the east. The Friant Community Plan establishes planning goals and policies to guide development of the unincorporated community of Friant. The original Friant Community Plan was adopted on July 23, 1964, and subsequent amendments occurred between that time and 1983. Through the proposed 2026 Friant Ranch Specific Plan, the Applicants propose to develop a master planned community for the Active Adult population (55 years of age and older) adjacent to the existing community of Friant. The Friant Ranch Specific Plan would serve as an overall framework and regulatory document for the development of a mixed-use community.
The Specific Plan development would require a number of additional County actions, which were analyzed in the EIR, including, but not limited to, a Fresno County General Plan Amendment, the enactment of a new zoning ordinance section, and construction of a new Wastewater Treatment Plant, included as Classified CUP No. 3415. The Project also includes a land use designation and zone change for the Depot Parcel, which is outside of the Friant Ranch Specific Plan area but within the boundaries of the 1983 Friant Community Plan Area.
The September 17, 2026 Planning Commission Staff Report included as Attachment B provides greater detail of the history of the Friant Ranch Project, but in summary, the Project has a long history, including litigation that began in 2011. In February 2011, the Board of Supervisors, after certifying a FEIR, approved essentially the same Project recommended for approval by the Planning Commission and now before your Board. That Project required amendments to the Friant Community Plan and included a new Specific Plan called the Friant Ranch Specific Plan. Alternative No. 3 (the “Northeast Development Configuration Alternative”), as recommended by Department staff and the Planning Commission, is a reconfiguration of the Applicant’s originally proposed Project intended to protect larger acreages of wetlands on the property. Following the 2011 approvals, in 2014 the Board approved the Wastewater Treatment Plant at the alternative Beck property location, just west of Friant Road through CUP No. 3415.
Alternative No. 3 authorized the construction of approximately 2,500 residential units and 250,000 square feet of commercial use, all concentrated on 482 acres in the western, northern and eastern parts of Friant Ranch. Of the 2,500 residential units, 2,270 would be age restricted. Approximately 460 acres of dedicated onsite open space would be maintained under conservation easement.
The 2009 Draft ElR (DEIR) includes a project description and information regarding the environmental setting, a discussion of potential environmental impacts, and an examination of project alternatives. The DEIR analyzed potentially significant environmental impacts in the following areas: Aesthetics, Agricultural Resources, Air Quality, Biological Resources, Cultural Resources, Geology and Soils, Hazards and Hazardous Materials, Hydrology and Water Quality, Land Use and Planning, Mineral Resources, Noise, Population and Housing, Public Services and Recreation, Transportation/Traffic, Utilities and Service Systems, and Greenhouse Gases/Global Climate Change. While most of the identified impacts could be mitigated to a level that is less than significant through Mitigation Measures included in the DEIR, the following impacts are considered significant and unavoidable:
• Agricultural Resources - The proposed re-designation of 900 acres of grazing land within the Friant Ranch Specific Plan Area currently zoned for agriculture is a significant and unavoidable impact. The proposed conversion of approximately 482 acres, including roads and trails (under Alternative No. 3) will conflict with the existing agricultural zoning. The project’s contribution to cumulative impacts from redesignation of agricultural lands is also considered cumulatively considerable.
• Traffic - Multiple road segments and intersections will be impacted by the proposed development resulting in a Level of Service (LOS) below the adopted standards. The project’s contribution to cumulative traffic impacts is also considered cumulatively considerable.
• Noise - The project will result in significant and unavoidable off-site traffic related noise impacts to existing homes. The project’s contribution to cumulative noise impacts is also considered cumulatively considerable.
• Aesthetics - The project will have a cumulatively considerable contribution to the overall aesthetic impact of past, present and foreseeable development in the surrounding area.
• Greenhouse Gases - Development of the project could potentially result in a cumulatively considerable incremental contribution to the significant cumulative impact of global climate change.
Potential environmental impacts are summarized in the Executive Summary of the 2009 DEIR. This list remains accurate, except there are now two fewer significant and unavoidable impacts. As addressed in the 2023 Partially Revised and Recirculated Draft EIR(PRRDEIR), construction-related air quality impacts are now considered less than significant, and operational air quality impacts are now considered less than significant with mitigation. Implementation of the Friant Community Plan Update and Friant Ranch Specific Plan could result in significant impacts in the areas of agricultural resources; air quality and greenhouse gas/global climate change; biological resources; cultural resources; geology and soils; hazards/hazardous materials; hydrology and water quality; noise; public services; transportation/traffic; and utilities/service systems. With exception of the loss of farmland, noise, and traffic and cumulative aesthetic and greenhouse gas impacts, potentially significant impacts could be reduced to a less than significant level through implementation of mitigation measures.
The changes in the earlier impact characterizations for air quality effects, as addressed in the 2023 RDEIR, reflect improvements in analytical methodology, improved pollution control technologies in vehicular and non-vehicular sources, and updated mitigation measures. Importantly, the new analysis in the 2023 RDEIR specifically addressed potential health effects from project-generated air pollutants, as required by the California Supreme Court.
The 2026 FEIR consists of all of the following: the 2009 DEIR; the 2011 FEIR, including revisions to the 2009 DEIR and both comments and responses on the 2009 DEIR; the 2023 RDEIR; and a new FEIR document that includes additional comments and responses on the 2023 RDEIR and revisions to the 2023 RDEIR. Based on the Planning Commission’s recommendation, your Board may determine whether to certify the 2026 FEIR (including all of the incorporated material) and approve the Project. Supporting environmental and planning documents associated with the Project were distributed to your Board as advance agenda material on September 20, 2026.
Prior Legal Challenges and Court Proceedings
The Project was the subject of three separate lawsuits under the California Environmental Quality Act (CEQA), in which various environmental groups, along with the City of Fresno, challenged the adequacy of the EIR for the Project. The County and the Project Applicants settled two of the three lawsuits, including the lawsuit filed by the City of Fresno. Only one lawsuit, filed by the Sierra Club, Revive the San Joaquin, and the League of Women Voters of Fresno County, went through the appeal process to the California Supreme Court, where the Project Applicants and County lost on just one issue: potential health effects of air pollution generated by the Project. For all other issues, the EIR was either held to be adequate or was deemed by law to be adequate. On remand in 2021 the Trial Court ordered the County to rescind the Project approvals, and the Board rescinded the approvals on April 13, 2021.
The County has since completed the required air quality analysis, and this new air quality/health analysis was included in a document called the 2023 RDEIR, which was circulated for public comments in early 2023. Responses to those comments are included in the new 2026 FEIR. Non-substantive changes to ensure that the Community Plan and Specific Plan reflects the current goals and policies of the 2024 Fresno County General Plan and the 2023-2031 Fresno Multi-Jurisdictional Housing Element, as well as current demographic and regulatory conditions, have also been made.
Should your Board approve the Project, the County will need to return to the Fresno County Superior Court to demonstrate compliance with the California Supreme Court decision. The Superior Court has continuing jurisdiction over the Project until the County demonstrates that the new air quality/health analysis complies with CEQA.
September 17, 2026 Planning Commission Hearing
At its September 17, 2026 Planning Commission hearing, the Planning Commission heard a multi-staff presentation from Department staff, outside Counsel retained on behalf of County Counsel, and the County’s Environmental Consultant. The Applicant, their legal representative, and air quality expert presented information in support of the Project. One member of the public spoke in favor of the Project, and a representative of the Fresno County Fire Protection District briefly spoke regarding their request that the Project Applicant provide a fair share for fire services through a Community Facilities District and Development agreement.
Five individuals spoke in opposition to the Project. Those in opposition to the proposal cited changed circumstances during the passage of fifteen years, the possibility of wastewater seepage from berms serving the proposed wastewater treatment facility, loss of agricultural land, increased traffic, impacts to the areas rural character, and water use and the adequacy of water. The public testimony is summarized in Exhibit A of Attachment A.
Staff also distributed three letters in opposition to the Friant Ranch Project which were received after the release of the Planning Commission Staff Report. In summary, those letters cited concerns that the biological resources analysis is outdated and requested updated surveys, personal observations of wildlife activity and wildlife vehicle strikes, concerns with emergency access, groundwater and lighting impacts, increased traffic and impacts to Friant Road, Willow Avenue and Road 206, and the regional loss of agricultural and open space lands to development. Letters received also cited concerns with treated effluent from the proposed wastewater treatment plant seeping through storage ponds, trace pharmaceuticals in tertiary-treated water and the potential impacts to wildlife, potential regional development considerations in light of the Friant Corridor Study and changes to policies in the 2024 General Plan, the Sustainable Groundwater Management Act, and the availability of additional comments from prior actions in the administrative record. These three letters are included as Attachment C. Department staff and the County’s environmental expert consultant reviewed all comments received and determined they did not raise new significant information that had not been adequately analyzed in previous analysis.
Following testimony and discussion by the Planning Commission, a motion was made to recommend certification of the FEIR and approval of the Friant Ranch applications. The motion passed on a vote of 6-0 with three Planning Commissioners absent.
On September 21, 2026, Department staff received an additional letter from the San Joaquin River Conservancy which expressed concerns with changes to the environmental baseline since the 2011 Project approval, particularly in regard to efforts to reintroduce Chinook salmon to the San Joaquin River, potential wastewater seepage from the proposed wastewater treatment plant and new regional planning efforts for state parks. This letter is also included in Attachment C. This letter has also been reviewed by County staff and the County’s expert environmental consultant, who determined that it does not raise new significant information not previously analyzed.
Recommended Action and Indemnification Condition
If your Board approves the Friant Ranch Project based on the Planning Commission’s action, Department staff has requested that a condition of approval be included requiring the Applicant to enter into an agreement indemnifying the County for legal costs should litigation occur from approval of the Project, as noted below:
The Applicant shall enter into an agreement indemnifying the County for all legal costs associated with its certification of the FEIR (State Clearinghouse No. 2007101016), and approval of GPA No. 511, AA No. 3751, AT No. 363, CUP No. 3415 associated with the Friant Community Plan Update and Friant Ranch Project and provide security in an amount determined by the County for any such legal costs incurred. The agreement and payment of security shall be due unless that litigation period has expired, in which case the requirements for the indemnification agreement and security shall be considered null and void.
OTHER REVIEWING AGENCIES:
Historically, multiple agencies have been involved in the Friant Ranch Project beginning on October 3, 2007, when the County distributed to public agencies and interested citizens a Notice of Preparation (NOP) for the Project’s EIR. The NOP Scoping Meeting was held on October 17, 2007, at the Friant Elementary School and the notice of the Scoping Meeting was sent to residents of Friant and surrounding property owners and noticed in a local newspaper publication. The purpose of the meeting was to receive input from the agencies and community residents on issues that should be addressed in the ElR, the Community Plan and the Specific Plan.
Fresno County circulated the DEIR for the Project from October 30, 2009, through December 15, 2009. An additional public meeting was held in December 9, 2009, to receive input from the community residents on the DEIR, Specific and Community Plans.
In 2014, while the case was pending in the California Supreme Court, the County released a notice of preparation (2014 NOP). The document stated the County’s intent to prepare a Partially Revised and Recirculated EIR addressing the health impacts of project-related air pollutant emissions, as required by the Court of Appeal opinion, and added that the County also intended to prepare an updated water supply analysis, though no such analysis had been mandated by the courts.
On October 5, 2021, the County distributed a Notification of a Partially Revised and Recirculated Environmental Impact Report (2021 Notice) to responsible agencies, trustee agencies, and recipients of the 2014 NOP to clarify that the County would not prepare an additional water supply analysis as a component of the Partially Revised and Recirculated EIR and would be recirculating only the air quality sections of the EIR. The County concluded that an updated water supply analysis was no longer necessary based on an agreement that improved the level of water supply reliability associated with the Project Applicant’s current contractual arrangements with Friant Waterworks District 18 (WWD18) and Lower Tule River Irrigation District (LTRID). This notice is included in Appendix A1 to the Partially Revised and Recirculated Draft EIR.
On February 10, 2023, the County issued a Notice of Availability of a 2023 RDEIR for the Project, with a review period running through March 27, 2023. Public comments on the 2023 RDEIR were analyzed and responded to in the 2026 FEIR prepared for the Project. A Notice of Availability of the 2026 FEIR was sent to all commentors and published in the newspaper on August 21, 2026.
REFERENCE MATERIAL:
BAI #10, April 13, 2021
BAI #9, February 1, 2011
BAI #14, December 7, 2010
ATTACHMENTS INCLUDED AND/OR ON FILE:
Attachments A - C
On file with Clerk - Resolution Certifying the FEIR and Approving the Friant Ranch Project
Ordinance Pertaining to Amendment Application No. 3751
Ordinance Pertaining to Amendment to Text Application No. 363
On file with Clerk - Resolution Approving CUP No. 3415
On file with Clerk - Summary of Ordinance AA No. 7351
On file with Clerk - Summary of Ordinance AT No. 363
On file with Clerk - Advance Agenda Material (Memo, Attachments 1-7)
On file with Clerk - Advance Agenda Material (Attachments 8-14)
On file with Clerk - Advance Agenda Material (Attachments 15-21)
Additional Information
CAO ANALYST:
Maria Valencia