Fresno County approves CEMEX permit extension, rejects City of Fresno appeal

FRESNO COUNTY, Calif. (KFSN) -- The extension for the CEMEX Friant Concrete Plant to continue operating near Friant Road was at the forefront of Tuesday's Fresno County Board of Supervisors meeting.

At the end of June, the City of Fresno filed an appeal to reject the Fresno County Planning Commission's decision to provide the company a four-year extension for their conditional use permits, citing an outdated environmental impact report.

The supervisors decided to extend CEMEX's conditional use permit for another three years instead of four.

The company's current permit was set to expire in just 10 days, meaning a number of CEMEX employees would have been without a job.

But that environmental impact report is still in the works, and if it's not done in three years, this process could happen again.

The CEMEX Friant Concrete Plant is located between North Friant Road and the San Joaquin River between the city of Fresno and Friant.

CEMEX is a rock, sand, and gravel mining operation that crushes materials used in the building industry.

Last month, the City of Fresno filed an appeal, to block the county's approval of extending CEMEX's conditional use permit for the location, saying the environmental impact report or "EIR" from the 1980s is out of date.

Jennifer Clark with the City of Fresno says the Friant area has a lot more traffic now than it did in the past to account for, which the old EIR does not address.

"Pedestrian and Bicyclist volumes along the Friant road corridor have increased due to Woodward Park and the trail facilities in the area, the increased volumes of pedestrian and bicyclist increases the probability of serious and/or fatal collisions," said the Director of Planning & Development with the city of Fresno, Jennifer Clark.

Those in favor of the city's appeal say there are just too many people now living in the area, to allow the plant to continue operation.

"I wonder if they would have ever gotten a permit to begin with, had there been this kind of development and this much traffic on Friant," said Kate Pitts.

Those opposed to the appeal argue CEMEX helps boost the local economy.

"The thought of them shutting down in 10 days, it's not going to be just a burden on them and their families, but obviously it's going to affect us in construction in general in the area, we're not just talking about the 90 something jobs at this plant, we are talking about construction overall in this industry," said Wyatt Meadows.

City of Fresno councilmember Mike Karbassi agrees a new EIR is needed, but wants the plant to remain open.

"I'm not asking you to just give them a blank check, it just let's keep things going until we have this new EIR and we can have a healthy debate," said Fresno city councilmember, Mike Karbassi.

CEMEX requested a new EIR back in June 2020 but has faced COVID delays.

Now, the county is allowing the company's plant to operate for three more years while the new EIR is drafted.

"It's going to mean a lot to our employees that they can continue working over the next three years while we work with the county staff as they are preparing and finalizing the EIR process for the modification application that we turned in, in 2019," said West Region Director of Government Affairs, Communications & Sustainability, for Cemex, Debbie Wells.

In response to the county's decision Tuesday, the City of Fresno's attorney says in part quote:

"The county's reliance on the outdated EIR is improper and does not accurately reflect the true environmental impact CEMEX'S operation has on Fresno neighborhoods, open spaces, and industries. All options are on the table at this point."

If the EIR is not approved in three years, this process can take place again.

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