Ruling delays massive development near Hwy. 41

By Chris Collins / The Fresno Bee

A Madera County judge has ruled that a key environmental report for a massive housing development near Highway 41 lacks important information, forcing the county to rewrite part of the report and threatening to delay the 5,200-home project.

Patience Milrod, a Fresno attorney whose lawsuit for Revive the San Joaquin led to the ruling, said this week that the county failed to provide the public and the Board of Supervisors with enough information about the Tesoro Viejo project.
Judge James Oakley of Madera County Superior Court ruled on Sept. 8 that important information about the developer's water rights was not discussed before the Board of Supervisors approved the project's environmental report in December. Approval of an environmental study is a critical step for any development to move forward.

But John Sanger, an attorney for Tesoro Viejo and its developer, Bob McCaffrey, said Friday that the judge's ruling was a "very minor matter." He said he's confident McCaffrey will be able to secure water rights and that the project will move ahead as planned -- possibly breaking ground within "a couple years" if the housing market improves.
Milrod's lawsuit, which was filed in January, lists several pieces of information that she says were not discussed by the board before its vote.

They include a letter from the U.S. Bureau of Reclamation -- which controls water flow to the San Joaquin River -- addressing a 1994 environmental report for the Rio Mesa area development plan in southeast Madera County. The letter said that the river's water may be used only for agricultural purposes under existing water contracts.

Milrod also noted that the bureau had notified a McCaffrey attorney in 2007 that the Tesoro Viejo project could not use San Joaquin River water without an amended water contract. She said that information was never shared with the county.
Ray Beach, the county's top planning and development official, would not say why the county did not include more background information about water rights in Tesoro Viejo's environmental report. He said, however, that the developer was doing an adequate job of addressing the issue.

But Beach said he still has concerns about whether there will be enough water for the project -- even if Tesoro Viejo secures water rights.

"This whole project has bothered me from day one," he said.

Sanger said that Tesoro Viejo will rely heavily on reclaimed wastewater as well as the San Joaquin River.

He said that in May 2008, McCaffrey reached an agreement with San Joaquin River water users that will allow the development to go forward as long as it does not use more water per acre than farmers use.

Because of the agreement, the Bureau of Reclamation won't object to the project, said Michael Jackson, the bureau's area manager in Fresno.

Tesoro Viejo, which would form a 1,600-acre urban center along Highway 41 and south of Avenue 15, is one of several massive projects planned for the Rio Mesa area. The county has also approved an environmental study for a 3,000-home development that will border the northwest side of Millerton Lake. County planners predict that Rio Mesa will eventually be home to about 100,000 people.

Sanger said he may appeal Oakley's ruling to decertify the environmental report. In the meantime, he said, he will also work with the county to address the judge's concerns and write an amended environmental study that he hopes will be approved later this year or early next year.