Fresno Files Third Eviction Lawsuit Against Granite Park Sports Complex Operator

The City of Fresno filed its third unlawful detainer lawsuit against the Central Valley Community Sports Foundation on March 13, 2026, escalating a years-long battle to remove the nonprofit from the Granite Park Sports Complex. The city alleges CVCSF defaulted on lease terms, and the case is scheduled to go to trial on June 24.

The filing marks the latest turn in a dispute that has repeatedly lurched toward courtrooms only to stall. In a prior round of litigation, the city and CVCSF were days away from trial when proceedings came to a halt after a lender, Land Value Management, stepped in to address the alleged debt. City Manager Georgeanne White explained the pause at the time: "The lender notified us that he wished to intervene in that litigation, and we decided to press pause, see if we can have any productive discussions with the lender to see if he can cure the default."

Terance Frazier, identified as owner of the Central Valley Community Sports Foundation, rejected that account. "I think what you saw today was the City dismissing the case because they knew they were going to lose. Now they're trying to spin it and say a lender got involved. That's not the actual case," he said. White pushed back directly: "Absolutely false. We have a very solid case. We have a lease that he has not complied with. There are a number of defaults, he continues to be in default, and he has ignored the city at every step of the way."

As of last May, the city estimated Frazier owed at least $1.3 million in unpaid rent and utilities, a figure the city said continued to grow. Frazier told ABC30 he had been looking forward to proving in court that he had paid rent, and he was unequivocal about his plans for the complex: "I'm not going to go anywhere. These kids need this park, and I'm gonna be here standing for them."

The eviction dispute is not the only litigation orbiting Granite Park. A former program director identified as Weiland filed a wrongful termination and whistleblower retaliation suit in October in Fresno County Superior Court against a Fresno-based community development company whose president is Oliver Baines, a former Fresno police officer and two-term southwest city councilmember with extensive political connections across the central San Joaquin Valley. That case was scheduled for a case management conference on March 5 before Judge María G. Díaz, but as of recent reporting it had not been served. Weiland's attorney, John Migliazzo, declined to comment and did not respond to a follow-up question about when service might occur.

The complex itself carries a longer, tangled financial history. According to federal court records, disgraced former congressman TJ Cox launched the Central Valley NMTC Fund in 2010 and in 2016 used the company's name to fraudulently secure a loan connected to the Granite Park project. Earlier this year, a company linked to Huelskamp, described as a former Cox business partner, had stepped in to pull CVCSF back from a prior round of eviction proceedings.

White said the city remains open to settlement. "Whenever there's a chance to negotiate a resolution, we do that, we always do that as a city." With the June 24 trial date now on the calendar, both sides will have until summer to test whether that opening holds.