New housing advocacy group targets Fresno development rules, eyes political endorsements
A consultant for suburban developers launched Central Valley YIMBY last month, aiming to build political muscle around making it easier to construct housing across Fresno, Madera, Tulare, and Kings counties.
Drew Phelps co-hosted the group’s first meeting in September, drawing around 20 people — mostly urban planners and housing professionals. He told Fresnoland his goal is creating a coalition big enough that future politicians will compete for the group’s endorsement.
Phelps works for suburban developers including Granville Homes and Woodside Homes. He rents in Tower District.
The statewide YIMBY movement — Yes In My Backyard — pushes to reduce regulations on accessory dwelling units, eliminate single-family-only zoning, and allow higher-density housing near transit. California YIMBY has also sued cities that don’t approve enough housing.
Phelps said Central Valley YIMBY could do the same. He pointed to apartments on Herndon and Prospect near the River Bluffs that a Fresno County judge forced the City of Fresno to approve last October after the city initially blocked them.
“I’m worried about the chilling effect” of that fight, Phelps said.
The Breakdown
- Central Valley YIMBY held its first meeting in September 2024 with around 20 attendees.
- Phelps says the group will focus on Fresno, Madera, Tulare, and Kings counties.
- The group may differ from the state organization on suburban sprawl — Phelps said members hold “a mix of perspectives” on whether to support building on the urban fringe, like developments at Tesoro Viejo or Friant Ranch.
- California YIMBY opposed some exurban development and took no position on Proposition 45, a CEQA-reform measure seen as helping suburban construction.
- Phelps said the new group is “too new” to take a position on SEDA, Fresno’s controversial Southeast Development Area plan that community groups have opposed in favor of more infill housing, but didn’t rule out weighing in after six months to a year.
- Phelps blamed cities for making developers pay upfront to replace aging infrastructure — like 500 feet of 100-year-old sewer line — as a barrier to building small infill projects like triplexes or fourplexes, even when cities reimburse the cost later.
What This Means for You
A group angling for enough political weight to shape future candidates’ platforms and potentially sue cities over housing decisions is positioning itself to influence who you vote for and what those officials do once elected.
If Central Valley YIMBY grows into the endorsement-making force Phelps envisions, expect future council and supervisor candidates to either court the group or face pressure over housing stances. That shifts which housing fights — infill versus sprawl, tenant protections versus developer ease — become the ones campaigns argue over and you vote on.
What to Watch
Phelps is a paid consultant for the suburban developers whose projects California YIMBY has often opposed as sprawl. He says he wants a “big tent” including tenant advocates and affordable housing builders, but the first meeting drew mostly industry professionals. Who actually joins — and whose priorities the group ends up pushing — will show whether this becomes a developer lobby with a reformist brand or a real coalition that challenges the industry Phelps works for.
The state YIMBY group’s wins have been on urban infill — ADUs, duplexes in single-family zones, dense housing near transit. Phelps says his own frustrations come from “challenges in building small lots on the fringe of cities,” exactly the sprawl model state YIMBY fights. If Central Valley YIMBY backs projects like SEDA — which has garnered opposition from community groups clamoring for more infill housing — or stays silent to avoid splitting members, that’s the tell that this chapter serves the suburbs, not the movement’s stated density goals.
Phelps says cities force developers to front the cost of replacing old infrastructure, which gets reimbursed. That’s a subsidy question in reverse: should a private triplex builder eat the upfront cost of a public sewer repair the city should have funded, or should taxpayers cover all infrastructure so developers can build cheaper? The answer determines whether infill gets built at all — and who profits when it does. The material doesn’t say which fix Phelps wants or what it would cost the public.
