Fresno Council District 4 Prospect Committee Meeting – July 22, 2026
Fresno Council District 4 Prospect Committee Meeting – July 22, 2026
The Council District 4 Prospect Committee met on 2026-07-22, convening at approximately 5:53 p.m. and adjourning at 5:58 p.m. Attendees included Vice Chair Senegal and committee members Slaya, Padilla, Addington, and Goodman. The committee approved prior minutes and the agenda, then unanimously approved two conditional use permits and received updates on a housing element amendment and District 4 community initiatives. Note: The chair referred to the meeting's agenda as being for 'today July 21st,' which differs from the supplied meeting date of 2026-07-22.
Consent Calendar
- The committee unanimously approved the minutes from the May 19th meeting.
- The committee unanimously approved the meeting agenda and consent calendar for the day.
Discussion Items
- Conditional Use Permit P2601377 – Latter-day Saint Chapel Rebuild: Justin Campbell of Cart Right Architect presented for the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. The existing chapel on Cedar Avenue, built in the 1960s, would be demolished and replaced with a modern building of the same use, function, size, and hours. The application was described as a new conditional use permit because no conditional use had been granted when the older building was constructed. The site is between Barstone and Balford on Cedar in the Hoover area. Campbell said the new building's rectilinear shape would change the site layout, reduce the curved driveway, and convert the existing back softball area into more usable open/parking space. Construction was expected to start by the end of 2026 or no later than early 2027.
- Conditional Use Permit P260 – Team Mobile Cell Site: The application was submitted by Jeremy Jordan of Decision Site Development on behalf of Team Mobile, with Philip Thomas, described as from Precision Psych Development, presenting. The proposal would extend an existing 82-foot tower at a church on North First Street, about a quarter mile north of East Shields, by 12 feet to a total height of about 94 feet and would include 5G equipment. Thomas said an emissions report showed about 8% of the federal standard, or about 10 times below the allowable limit. Equipment would be placed in a landscaped area, screened by a CMU wall matching the trash enclosure, and would produce noise comparable to a refrigerator. Notices were sent to neighbors within 1,000 feet. Committee members asked about proximity to homes, tower masking, other carriers, and West Fresno coverage; Thomas said the tower design permits only one carrier and that T-Mobile generally does not share site-planning details with consultants. A committee member also raised community concerns about 5G, pets, sleep, noise, and reliable connectivity for firefighters and emergency personnel.
- Housing Element Administrative Update: Staff presented an update on the housing element amendment needed to align the development code with state law. In District 4, the amendment affects nine qualifying sites, shown highlighted on a map.
- District 4 Communications and Initiatives: A committee member announced this was their final meeting before going abroad for a master's degree. They reported the soft launch of the District 4 Farmers Market on a roughly 1.5-acre city-owned lot at Grove Industrial and Clinton, across from the Fresno Airport administrative offices. The market currently has about 4 large-scale farmers, 16 food vendors, and about 25 small businesses, and will run on the first and fourth Saturdays at 11 a.m.; a grand opening is planned for September 5, 2026, over Labor Day weekend. The same member described a community meeting at Chezmaris that morning, the District 4 flag story created by then-8-year-old Isabel Lichenberg, who is now about 13 and will be invited to speak, and the first Eldorado Park planning meeting with Parks and Recreation, attended by roughly 65 people including neighborhood children.
Key Outcomes
- Motion to approve Conditional Use Permit P2601377 for the church rebuild carried unanimously with no opposition.
- Motion to approve the Conditional Use Permit for the Team Mobile cell site carried unanimously with no opposition.
- The housing element update was received as an administrative presentation; no vote was recorded.
- The meeting adjourned at 5:58 p.m.
Meeting Transcript
Oh nice. Okay, got the recording going. So if we want to get started, let's get started. Oh yeah. This one seems like it's going to start. Welcome everyone. Thank you. Hello. We will uh go ahead and call our meeting in order 5:30 53 p.m. Uh today's agenda you have before you and uh for our council district four prospect committee um agenda um see here before we get started I would like to invite us to um say a pledge of allegiance okay all right I pledge allegiance of the United States of America and the Republic before we have one nation under school with liberty and justice thank you everyone um uh do we have anyone on Zoom here we're all here okay thank you um if I can bring this to attention for the uh uh roller call uh vice chair senegal present committee member Slaya uh present committee member Padilla here committee member Addington here committee member Goodman present thank you um so redeeming our previous minutes uh for May 19th have you all had a chance to review the minutes yes can we make a motion someone make a motion to approve the minute the minutes from May 19th I make a motion yes second um all in favor aye aye aye uh any opposed hearing none all right so we have a few new matters before us today um sorry did you want to miss the agenda part oh did I miss that oh so uh let's see here so for the meeting agenda for today July 21st uh do we have a chance to uh take a um but we have a glance at the new matters on our consent account consent calendar okay uh can I make a motion uh motion to approve the meeting agenda for today motion to approve the meeting agenda have a second okay all in favor uh aye any opposed none all right we approve the um minutes i mean the calendar for agenda for today um we have a new matter before us um let's invite any um some anyone in the audience who will be presenting on additional youth permit amendment number p2601377 submitted by Justin Campbell of Cart Right Architect if you can approach the yeah the table here yeah thank you share a little bit about your um vision for your project and uh sure yeah uh so my name is Justin Campbell I'm a representing the Church of Jesus Christ to Latter day Saints uh there's a a chap an existing chapel on Cedar Avenue uh it was built in the 1960s um it is uh a chapel that is used by nearby residents as well as uh members that attend Fresno State uh the church uh has been going through and then upgrading their existing facilities and have actually uh made the decision that they've actually like to tear down this facility and build a modern one and so that's kind of in a broad stroke what we're trying to accomplish is to uh remove the the current one and replace it with the new the same function so as far as the conditional use permit um I was informed that it's a because of the age of the building there wasn't really a conditional use uh given back in the 60s and so in order to do what we want to do it's like it's a basically a reapplication uh or should I should say a new application that's a better way to say it uh but as far as the actual use and size of building and function and hours of operation that's all the same so it's it's it's a little bit of an academic exercise but um but we're here to do whatever we need to do as far as the city process on the conditional use. Uh but as far as the actual use and size of building and function and hours of operation, that's all the same. So it's it's it's a little bit of an academic exercise, but um, but we're here to do whatever we need to do as far as the city process on the conditional use. So that's so it's pretty generic with the scope of work. Um questions for me. I'll pitch it to our lady members. Could you just give me the exact location? What's the nearest cross street? Uh that's a great question. Um it's kind of like it's on. Let's see. It's and I interject it's on cedar between Barstone and Balford. Oh, okay. Sorry. Yeah, it is on Cedar. I'm not sure if I wrote that down on my I apologize. I'm not from Fred Cell. No, that's okay. She answered my question. Okay. I like to kind of get a visual. I live right in the Hoover area, went to Hoover, work at Hoover. Yeah, it is in the Hoover. Yes, that's correct. No, that's fine. I I have okay. That's fine. So question is this the whole building you're taking down portions of the building? It's the entire facility. That whole front, yeah, that whole front building. That's right. Yeah, and it and it will uh it'll change the the site layout as well. Uh, because it's more of a well, the site entrance comes in kind of a swooping parking lot, if that makes sense, where the new facility is more uh kind of rectilinear and longer, where this one is like a more of a central core with a bunch of branch arms off of the side of it. That's the that's the reason for the swooping parking lot. Um the new facility would be a little more streamlined in that regard. Like you instead of coming in and having or uh curves to navigate, it's be a straight shot of the site. So the the facility is different enough in its shape and its architecture that would actually affect the site as well a little bit. So we'll use any of the grass space in the back, or is that going to be avoided? That whole area that you have behind the church is actually. Well, we're gonna maintain it, the the gap, the grass in the back. Yeah, yeah, the the church members have community events back there, but right now it's uh it's like a uh I'll call it a softball filled, and we're gonna remove the soft softball filled portion of it and just make it more of a usable space.
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