The Busseto Foods production facility in Southwest Fresno. Image via Google Earth

The Fresno City Council Thursday approved a rezone application Thursday for Busseto Foods to build a new production facility on 20 acres in Southwest Fresno.

The 475,000 square-foot production and distribution facility at Church and West avenues would allow the purveyor of Italian cured meats to consolidate operations currently spread over three sites.

The rezone application was on the same council agenda as a controversial proposal to revert the zoning of 92 acres at Annadale and Elm avenues just east of the Busseto site. That rezone application has garnered strong opposition from Southwest Fresno residents who say they are tired of bearing the environmental brunt of industrial activity in their neighborhoods.

Attorney General Rob Bonta even weighed in on the 92-acre rezone application, saying in a letter to the council Wednesday that it is “misguided and potentially unlawful.”

Council proponents of the Busseto rezone worked to draw a distinction between the two applications, with Miguel Arias saying it would result in less truck traffic for Busseto to consolidate operations.

The Busseto rezone passed on a 6-1 vote, with lone “no” vote Michael Karbassi. In light of the recent controversy with Latino members of the Los Angeles City Council recorded saying racist comments about Black people, Karbassi said he was siding with Southwest Fresno residents — many of whom are Black — who are opposed to any industrial expansion on quality-of-life grounds.

The council is schedule to hear the 92-acre rezone Thursday afternoon.