Club One Casino confronts Granite Park operator over security concerns stemming from fraudulent events

Business owners at Granite Park in downtown Fresno are calling on park operator Terance Frazier to enforce parking rules under the lease agreement the Central Valley Community Sports Foundation has with the city of Fresno.

Club One Casino President Kyle Kirkland held a press conference Thursday to urge Frazier to communicate with the companies and to defend himself against comments Frazier made on social media on Wednesday.

The headlines determine: Frazier posted on social media that he would hold a press conference in Granite Park on Thursday to “expose the hate toward a certain group of people.” Frazier, who is black, did not specify which group of people is facing hate.

• In another post, he said the city is trying to close Granite Park along with the Club One Casino.

• Frazier issued a press release claiming the city and Club One Casino would work together to deny all parking for Saturday’s Sunkissed Festival and future events.

• In his response to a comment on one of his posts, Frazier claimed that Club One Casino was hiring security guards to prevent him from using the parking lot for Saturday’s event.

• “I will hire thugs to enforce my lease,” Frazier wrote. “It will fail.”

• In another comment, he added: “The gloves are off.”

• The social media posts and comments were deleted by Thursday afternoon.

The big picture: While Frazier did not hold a press conference for the media on Thursday, Kirkland and other business owners in the Granite Park complex held one at the Club One Casino, which was eventually attended by several park and community officials, turning the event into a lengthy affair that ultimately culminated in an extensive dialogue between Kirkland and other Frazier supporters.

• Kirkland denied Frazier’s claims on social media, calling them defamatory.

• According to Kirkland, the Central Valley Community Sports Foundation has repeatedly failed to meet its obligations under its lease agreement with the city and the companies that privately own the parking spaces in question.

The background story: The parking issues reached a peak in March when an elderly lady attended an event at the park sponsored by Big Bounce America, which brought the world’s largest bouncy castle to Fresno.

• The woman was brutally attacked in the parking lot and had to spend a week in the hospital.

• Club One Casino, Frazier and the city met via Zoom in May, and according to Kirkland, Frazier blamed the assault on Club One patrons. Kirkland said Thursday that video surveillance footage and confessions from the perpetrators confirmed they attended the bouncy castle event.

• Kirkland said there was no security in the parking lot during the event.

Game Status: In May, the city sent the Central Valley Community Sports Foundation a notice of default for nonpayment and other breaches of contract. The foundation owed the city more than $1 million at the time.

• On June 3, GPP II, LLC, a partner company of Club One Casino, issued a notice of its default and intent to terminate the license agreement governing the Foundation’s use of the private parking lots due to multiple violations of the agreement as well as complaints regarding the Foundation’s unsafe and unauthorized use of the parking lots.

• The foundation did not respond to the message and did not make any efforts to speak with Club One Casino, according to Kirkland. A soccer camp, an EID carnival, a Fourth of July Independence Day fireworks display and the SunKissed event were scheduled for this weekend.

• Kirkland said Frazier did not obtain approval to use the private business parking for events in the parking lots, and Club One Casino was put in the position of enforcing all private parking after it moved to the location from downtown Fresno in September 2021.

What you say: Kirkland said the crux of the problem was that Frazier failed to communicate about the events taking place at the park, so he only found out about them through social media and didn’t have enough time to agree on a plan for the parking lots.

• “I personally have reached out on multiple occasions. I personally have emailed. I personally have reached out and said what we need to do. And by the way, if we don’t know about it and we don’t get the permits in time, that’s problematic,” Kirkland said. “Please work with us. We believe we can accommodate everybody. I’ve told the city. I’ve told Terance. I’ve told the Community Sports Foundation. I’m present at the various meetings, so it’s not a matter of us not trying to get along. “This is about, hey, listen, communication is a two-way street, and if you don’t respond and basically say, ‘Hey, I don’t have to respond to you. I’ll just do what I want,’ that doesn’t work, and that wouldn’t work for anybody in this room.”

• Attorney Phillip Flanigan owns a law firm in the complex. He said his parking lot, which is privately owned, is constantly taken up by parking users on weekends, so he can’t even park in front of his own building.

• “I often have to pick up trash afterward, and it’s a pain in the ass,” Flanigan said. “And I’ve talked to Terance over and over again, including today, and he should just let us know. Block off three places so I can at least get to my office. After an event, have your people come by and pick up the trash.”

• Flanigan said he really enjoys the events at the park – aside from softball, which has repeatedly damaged his building – and that everyone just asks for communication.

• Kirkland echoed Flanigan’s sentiments, saying all business owners want Granite Park to be successful with its many events and businesses to thrive.

• “We want other people to come here. We don’t want people to say, ‘I don’t want to go south of Shaw.’ I see our proximity to the airport. I see where we are. I want to improve this neighborhood and the area. That’s really important to me,” Kirkland said. “We’ve invested a lot here and I’m committed to the community. We want this to work, but it’s absolutely based on mutual respect for our different rights and agreements that we have in what we do. And it can’t just be, ‘Hey, listen, try to figure it out from social media.'”