Fresno, California

FRESNO, CAL I FORNI A many years grown almost exclusively in an outward fashion with low-density, car-oriented neighborhoods at the edge of the city as our main form of growth,” notes Urban Planner Dan Zack. “And a lot of people prefer that kind of neighborhood, and that’s definitely part of our portfolio, but for a city as large as ours, with a population as varied as ours, we need to grow in more than one way. So, in 2014, we passed a new General Plan for the city – a 20-year vision for how we’re going to grow, and a new way of encouraging and regulating development to try and change the course of the city for the better.” In order to carry out its vision, Fresno first reformed its entire zoning ordinance and zoning map. “That way,” says Zack, “investors, developers, and builders who want to come in and take advantage of these new regulations and the removed hurdles that previously existed for infill development, have a really easy go of it. They’ll find that projects that previously may not have been allowed, or may have been difficult, now, are relatively easy to do.” Zack maintains that, as a business-friendly city, Fresno stands behind that bold statement with an innovative money-back guarantee. “We’re so confident in our ability to get plans approved quickly, that we’ll actually return application fees to applicants if we don’t have projects with all their final approvals within stated timelines,” he claims. “If someone comes in and proposes a project that’s consistent with the zoning, we’re not the type of community that will move the goalposts or require several public hearings and design review meetings. We have very clear, easy-to-follow standards, and if you meet them, you get a very quick approval. We have hit the one year mark without a single refund because