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Fresno: Armenian Town plan challenged

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  • Fresno: Armenian Town plan challenged

    Fresno Bee, CA
    Jan 6 2005

    Armenian Town plan challenged


    Two local preservation groups file a lawsuit.

    By Russell Clemings / The Fresno Bee

    Two groups of local historic preservation advocates have gone to
    court hoping to overturn Fresno's approval of a large part of the Old
    Armenian Town redevelopment project.


    Heritage Fresno and Friends of Armenian Town allege that the city's
    redevelopment agency did not "properly address impacts on historic
    resources and feasible alternatives" when its board - which also is
    the City Council - unanimously approved the project in November.

    Their Fresno County Superior Court complaint says that the city and
    developers Richard Gunner and George Andros made no mention of their
    plans for the facade of Armenian Evangelical Church, in storage since
    being torn down in November 2003.

    It also says the agency did not get enough public comment before
    deciding where to move five other historic buildings that would be
    displaced by the project. The agency plans to put the structures on
    vacant lots along L Street between San Benito and Monterey streets;
    preservation advocates have proposed an alternative site at M and
    Ventura streets, closer to their original locations.

    "These people just don't think a good enough job has been done in
    protecting historic resources," said their attorney, John C.
    Gabrielli, of Davis. "They're not interested in stopping the project
    at all. They're interested in sitting down and hashing things out."
    Neither Marlene Murphey, interim director of the redevelopment
    agency, nor Lowell Carruth, attorney for Gunner and Andros, responded
    to requests for comment on the lawsuit.

    The Old Armenian Town project includes a new home for the state's 5th
    District Court of Appeal, plus three office buildings, a parking
    garage, and some retail space. An Armenian Cultural Center also is
    planned. The site is bounded by O, Ventura and M streets and Freeway
    41.

    George Bursik, a spokesman for the preservation groups, lives in one
    of the few remaining homes in the project area and says he objects
    mainly to the city's plans for his and other houses.

    "I don't believe the city has a legal right to confiscate a person's
    home," he said. "I mean, I understand that they have the legal right,
    but ... just because some developer comes along and wants to take it
    doesn't make it in the public interest."
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