Massive $1.1B Central California mega-town could soon rise from farmland with a strict age limit

A massive metropolis could soon emerge from farmland in Central California, but not everyone is welcome.

Last month, the Fresno County Planning Commission unanimously approved plans for a colossal $1.1 billion housing development in the small Central Valley town of Friant. But the new community would only be for Californians 55 and older.

Dubbed Friant Ranch, the project would span 1,804 acres, becoming one of California’s largest 55-and-over communities.

The grand plan calls for the construction of 2,500 residential units and around 250,000 square feet of commercial space, along with recreational spaces and trails. It’d be a big change for the remote town of Friant, which had a population of 446 in the 2020 census.

Now that the plan has been approved by the county’s planning commission, it will move on to the Fresno County Board of Supervisors for final approval on Oct. 20

Construction for the community could take up to 10 years and cost an eye-watering $1.1 billion, according to the plan’s fiscal impact study.

Plans for the development date back to 1997, when former state Assemblyman Frank Bigelow proposed the community near his own ranch in Friant. Since then, the development has faced several legal challenges.

The project has been criticized by environmental groups who claim it would have an adverse effect on the environment.

Fresno County previously approved plans for the project back in 2011, but they were shot down by the California Supreme Court in 2018, which ruled the county failed to address the developments pollution impacts.

Environmental groups who attended a September planning commission meeting say that the project’s environmental review — which dates back to 2009 — is far too old to be reapproved, Fresnoland reported.

Whether the development is built or not, there will be a market for it. California expected to see a major increase in the older adult population by 2040, according to the Public Policy Institute of California. 

The number of Californians aged 65 and older is projected to rise by 59%, meaning more than a fifth of the state’s residents will qualify as older adults.

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