Fresno judge rebukes city over nonexistent legal claims in underpass dispute

Fresno’s effort to clear land for the Blackstone and McKinley railroad underpass hit a sharp legal snag when a judge found the city cited 11 legal arguments that did not exist in its filing, a misstep that forced officials to pull back rather than risk sanctions.

The dispute centered on A&T Ceramic Tiles at 1780 E. McKinley Ave., a boarded-up building in central Fresno near Fresno City College. The site sits in the path of a grade-separation project designed to replace the at-grade BNSF crossings at Blackstone and McKinley, a corridor that carries an average of 37 trains a day and more than 42,000 vehicles daily. City and Measure C project materials say the work is meant to improve traffic flow, reduce delays, improve safety and eliminate train horns.

The city had already won an eminent-domain ruling against the business in 2024. The latest filing sought a writ of assistance that would have let the city remove the owner’s belongings from the property, escalating a fight that had already stretched on for years. Business owner Art Terzian refused to accept removal assistance funds and argued that moving and storing his inventory would cost between $800,000 and $1.2 million.

Fresno County Superior Court Judge Kristi Culver Kapetan reviewed the filing and concluded that the city’s legal contentions did not exist in the citation or in the case name. She reportedly threatened sanctions of $10,000 for each incident, but the hearing scheduled for April 14 was canceled after the city withdrew its writ of assistance, a move allowed within 21 days under court rules to avoid a penalty.

The episode matters because the Blackstone and McKinley project is not a small parcel dispute. The Fresno County Transportation Authority has awarded $35.1 million in Measure C funding for environmental clearance, design and land acquisition, and project materials describe the dual crossing as a $75 million rail separation effort. The City of Fresno has also awarded AECOM Technical Services an engineering contract, and council records from 2024 show the city approving fee-interest acquisitions tied to the project.

The city’s real-estate division handles property acquisition, business relocation, property management and eminent-domain work, which is why the A&T Ceramic Tiles fight became a city legal issue rather than just a neighborhood property dispute. Nearby businesses, including Taco Bell and Carl’s Jr., had already closed to make room for the project. For a public works effort sold as a long-awaited fix for one of central Fresno’s busiest rail corridors, the court rebuke adds another layer of delay, cost risk and credibility damage.