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Record of Proceedings

Council District 6 Committee Meeting - September 10, 2026

City Council & Commissions — Thursday, September 10, 2026
BodyFresno, California
SessionCity Council & Commissions
DateThursday, September 10, 2026
StatusFILED
Video Record
0:00 / 55:47

Original source
Transcript — VerbatimClick a timed line to jump · ⧉ to share it
0:06

And okay, Chair, when you ready?

0:08

You may start to see call the meeting into order at 5:30 and we'll start with our roll call for our committee members.

0:15

Dene, that's me.

0:16

I'm here.

0:17

Janet, not here.

0:18

Lois here.

0:20

Janice here.

0:22

Bonna.

0:22

Yeah.

0:23

Alfred.

0:24

And Geraldine here.

0:26

Thank you, Terry.

0:27

And then we'll move on to the first item of business, which is the approval of the agenda for letter A, September 9th, 2026 meeting for today's meeting.

0:38

I moved the agenda be accepted.

0:40

Do I have a second?

0:43

Thank you, Terry.

0:46

Um all in favor, say aye.

0:49

All right.

0:49

Moving on to the next item.

0:51

Number two, the consent calendar for our last meeting, letter A, August 12th, 2026 meeting minutes.

1:05

I don't think I printed out a copy of that.

1:07

So I apologize.

1:08

That's okay.

1:08

I was looking for.

1:09

Yeah, I don't have that.

1:10

I don't remember that.

1:12

Did we give them our email?

1:14

They were in the email though.

1:16

So I'm going to put them.

1:17

Thank you.

1:19

Thank you.

1:19

Bonna, all in favor say I.

1:22

Moving on, we do not have continued matters, but we do have project review number four, new matters, letter A, conditional use permit, application P26-01 207, filed by River Park Ace Hotel LLC.

1:37

And if there's someone here to present.

1:40

They are online.

1:41

Steve, you are able to talk.

1:44

Sure, I think.

1:45

Hey, good evening, everybody.

1:46

I'm Steve Rawlings.

1:47

I am the representative that is working on the conditional use permit.

1:52

First of all, thank you so much for letting me uh participate virtually.

1:56

I had a conflict with my schedule.

1:58

So thank you for that.

2:01

This is a brand new hotel that's being built.

2:04

It's an interesting concept because it's actually two brands in one, so to speak.

2:33

And they shared the lobby.

2:35

You know, as we're all pretty much accustomed to uh these these type of business uh hotels that you know hotels that cater a lot to businesses, they all seem to be clustered in the same areas.

2:48

Uh and so in this case, instead of building two separate hotels, there's there's one uh rather large building, if you would, um, with you know, kind of two wings to it.

2:59

Um, our request is that we be able to have um alcohol on the premises.

3:04

We do have dining uh there.

3:07

Um, and and uh obviously we have uh a little lounge area.

3:12

This uh a lot of our clients are people in town from business, and it's somewhat expected that there would be uh alcohol service available.

3:20

Um we would like uh people to be able to enjoy their alcoholic beverage kind of in any of the public places uh throughout uh the hotel.

3:33

Um it's it's it's certainly legal to be able to drink alcohol in your in your private rooms, but we do have a little pool area that we would like to um include in the area, which somebody could uh you know possibly uh you know enjoy a beverage there.

3:50

Um hotels are very interesting, they become very self-regulating.

3:55

You know, as we're all accustomed to at a certain time every day, uh the the doors uh all lock except for the front door.

4:05

You have to have a card key to be able to get in into the building.

4:08

Uh these are very effective in in you know controlling traffic and making sure that people that are coming into your hotel later at night are our guests that are staying there.

4:21

Um they're also very self-regulating in the sense that if I'm traveling on business, or frankly, if I'm traveling with my family there, um, and I've paid money for a nice hotel room.

4:32

I I usually get very grumpy if I've if I've been awakened at like midnight because of a lot of noise that's going on.

Discussion Breakdown — Share of Meeting
Affordable Housing█████████████████████████████████████████████51%
Environmental Protection████████████████████████27%
Procedural██████7%
Homelessness█████6%
Public Safety████4%
Community Engagement██2%
Parks and Recreation██2%
Public Engagement█1%
Summary of Proceedings

Council District 6 Committee Meeting - September 10, 2026

The Council District 6 Committee met on Thursday, September 10, 2026, at 5:30 PM. The meeting was called to order with roll call: members Dene, Lois, Janice, Bonna, Alfred, and Geraldine were present; Janet was absent. The agenda for the September 9, 2026 meeting was approved unanimously. The consent calendar for August 12, 2026 meeting minutes was also approved unanimously.

Consent Calendar

  • Unanimous approval of the August 12, 2026 meeting minutes.

Public Comments & Testimony

  • No public comments were made during the meeting.

Discussion Items

  • Conditional Use Permit P26-01-207 – River Park Ace Hotel LLC: Steve Rawlings, project representative, presented a request for a beer and wine license for a new 195-room hotel under the AC and Element brands (Marriott family). The hotel will have a lobby, dining, lounge, and a pool area where alcohol service is proposed. Mr. Rawlings emphasized the hotel's self-regulating nature and security measures. Committee members asked about fencing on the Sugar Pine Trail side (8-foot decorative metal fence), transient concerns, and the hotel's brand. The permit was approved unanimously.
  • Conditional Use Permit P26-02518 – Julia Kim: Julia and Casey Kim, owners of Wasabi restaurant, presented plans for a Korean steakhouse at the former TGI Fridays location (Herndon and First). They are applying for a Type 47 alcohol license after the property had been vacant for over a year. Renovations will level the split-level interior and add a controlled patio. Construction is expected to finish by May/June 2027. They also purchased the shopping center and plan to revitalize it. The permit was approved unanimously.
  • Workshop: Text Amendment P26-20730 – Additional Housing Types in Office District: Saul, a city planner, presented a proposal to allow single-unit dwellings and duplexes on vacant or underutilized parcels in the office zone district, with limitations including a 500-foot distance from schools, RM1 density (12-16 units per acre), and RS5 development standards (max 35 feet height). Committee member Jerry recommended requiring neighborhood notices for subdivisions with four or fewer parcels to increase transparency. No vote was taken; staff noted the recommendation.
  • Workshop: City of Fresno Climate Adaptation and Environmental Justice Plan (CAP EJ): Philip Siegris, planning manager, presented the draft plan, which addresses five hazards (flooding, extreme heat, drought, wildfire, air pollution) and five environmental justice pillars (healthy food, public facilities, physical activity, civic engagement, safe/sanitary homes). Community outreach included an online survey with over 2,000 responses and pop-up events. The plan proposes 68 new and 50 revised general plan policies. Committee members discussed the definition of safe/sanitary homes, the cost to the city and developers, and the need to address homelessness. Staff will consider feedback for the final draft. No vote was taken.
  • Committee Consultation & Unscheduled Matters: Member Bonna inquired about a previous apartment project at Chestnut and Behymer (triangular lot) that never broke ground and now hosts semi-truck parking. Staff agreed to research the project status for the next meeting.

Key Outcomes

  • Unanimous approval of Conditional Use Permits P26-01-207 and P26-02518.
  • Staff will incorporate the recommendation for neighborhood notices on small subdivisions in the text amendment.
  • The CAP EJ draft will be revised based on committee input before proceeding to Planning Commission and City Council.

Meeting Transcript

And okay, Chair, when you ready? You may start to see call the meeting into order at 5:30 and we'll start with our roll call for our committee members. Dene, that's me. I'm here. Janet, not here. Lois here. Janice here. Bonna. Yeah. Alfred. And Geraldine here. Thank you, Terry. And then we'll move on to the first item of business, which is the approval of the agenda for letter A, September 9th, 2026 meeting for today's meeting. I moved the agenda be accepted. Do I have a second? Thank you, Terry. Um all in favor, say aye. All right. Moving on to the next item. Number two, the consent calendar for our last meeting, letter A, August 12th, 2026 meeting minutes. I don't think I printed out a copy of that. So I apologize. That's okay. I was looking for. Yeah, I don't have that. I don't remember that. Did we give them our email? They were in the email though. So I'm going to put them. Thank you. Thank you. Bonna, all in favor say I. Moving on, we do not have continued matters, but we do have project review number four, new matters, letter A, conditional use permit, application P26-01 207, filed by River Park Ace Hotel LLC. And if there's someone here to present. They are online. Steve, you are able to talk. Sure, I think. Hey, good evening, everybody. I'm Steve Rawlings. I am the representative that is working on the conditional use permit. First of all, thank you so much for letting me uh participate virtually. I had a conflict with my schedule. So thank you for that. This is a brand new hotel that's being built. It's an interesting concept because it's actually two brands in one, so to speak. And they shared the lobby. You know, as we're all pretty much accustomed to uh these these type of business uh hotels that you know hotels that cater a lot to businesses, they all seem to be clustered in the same areas. Uh and so in this case, instead of building two separate hotels, there's there's one uh rather large building, if you would, um, with you know, kind of two wings to it. Um, our request is that we be able to have um alcohol on the premises. We do have dining uh there.

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