Monthly Archives: October 2021

Letter to City of Sac – ECOS support for Sustainable Transportation Planning Grant

On October 27, 2021, ECOS sent a letter to the City of Sacramento in support of its application for a Sustainable
Transportation Planning Grant for its 15-Minute Neighborhoods Plan.

Dear Mr. Chan,

The Environmental Council of Sacramento (ECOS) supports the City of Sacramento in its application for Sustainable Transportation Planning Grant for its 15-Minute Neighborhoods Plan.

We served on the Mayors’ Climate Change Commission’s Transportation Technical Advisory Committee. As you know, the prioritization of active transportation, then transit and shared mobility, and then zero-emission vehicles was unanimously adopted. This prioritization, coupled with housing around transit, would reduce GHG emissions, increase affordable housing with good local and regional access to shops and jobsites, improve air quality, and improve physical safety for pedestrians and cyclists.

Over half of Sacramento’s greenhouse gas emissions (GHG) are from the transportation sector. The City’s proposed 15-Minute Neighborhoods Plan will set the stage for increased transit use, walking and biking — travel modes that are essential to reduce GHG and meet our climate goals.

Sacramento’s topography is relatively flat and its neighborhoods are interconnected – these are two necessary but not sufficient preconditions for a large shift to walking and biking for daily errands and for job commutes. Neighborhood studies show that slowing driving is a big concern.

The City’s 15-Minute Neighborhoods Plan will calm the entire network of neighborhood streets to make comfortable places to walk, bike, and scoot. Calmer streets will encourage more trips by active transportation, helping the city to meet its goals around sustainability, speed reduction for cars and trucks, community health, and thriving local businesses. The City’s 15-minute Neighborhoods Plan will further the following:

• The City’s Climate Action Plan;
• The City’s commitment to equitable processes by engaging neighborhood communities about their needs;
• Economic vitality of our retail and restaurants within and next to neighborhoods;
• Affordable and efficient access to jobsites, parks, and schools.

Sincerely,

Ralph Propper
ECOS President

Click here to view the letter.

in distant photo of tree on landscape field

Protect Folsom Oaks — Immediate Action Needed

PG&E plans to remove (Clearcut) a number of mature Oak Trees in the powerline corridors next to walking and biking paths. Over 300 trees in all (Oaks and others) Work is scheduled to start on NOVEMBER 1. Many of these Oak Trees are in the Oak Avenue Parkway (The Bike Trail Corridor) between Natoma Street and Blue Ravine – leading to BT Collins Park. The Corridor also extends across portions of the City and into American River Canyon. Some trees are on Private Property, some on City Land and some on PG&E property. In July 2020 PG&E clearcut a number of mature oaks near St. Johns without any Notice to the City or the Public. It appears PG&E is ready to Clear Cut the rest of the Corridor. NOTE – the plan and documents provided by PG&E are not clear, so more information is needed by the City and the Public – Before Removal can Occur.

CITY COUNCIL MEETING – THIS TUESDAY OCTOBER 26 AT 6:00 pm. – City Council Chambers 50 Natoma Street – Folsom

Click here for more info.

CEQA can increase affordable housing in Sacramento while protecting communities

By Ralph Propper, President of the Environmental Council of Sacramento | October 19, 2021 | Sacramento News and Review

The City of Sacramento signed a deal this summer to build a U.C. Davis campus and innovation hub, bringing economic investment that will create affordable housing, jobs and transportation infrastructure. Thanks to California’s premiere social and environmental justice law, the California Environmental Quality Act (CEQA), this agreement was not just a win-win for the project developers and city, but also for the community living near the development. Without a strong CEQA, however, the deal could have had wide-ranging negative impacts for the area’s under-resourced neighborhoods.

The project, known as Aggie Square, is a case study in how CEQA works to protect public health, safeguard communities and spur more affordable housing development. When market-rate developers approach cities with plans to build housing developments, warehouses or other big projects, their main concern is to make a profit. Thanks to CEQA, communities have a chance to make their voices heard by decision-makers before permits are approved and potentially problematic projects are built. Under CEQA, public agencies must study the environmental and public health impacts of a proposed development and identify feasible ways to offset those impacts.

Originally signed by Governor Ronald Reagan in 1970, CEQA protects environmental resources and advances environmental justice and social justice goals. But this keystone law has somehow become the punching bag of for-profit developers, who wrongly blame the statute for creating a barrier to the development of affordable housing. In fact, studies show local zoning and other local factors – not CEQA – are the primary barriers to affordable housing development. While the CEQA process has at times stalled or even blocked inclusionary housing or densification—which does further chill affordable project proposals—the Aggie Square development is a case where CEQA worked as designed, providing a pathway for inclusionary affordable housing and equitable access to opportunity.

The developers of Aggie Square were planning a project that, while bringing economic gains to the city as a whole, would have driven up rents for existing residents, leading to the all-too-familiar pattern of gentrification that displaces lower-income residents. But the outcome was different. Largely as a result of a grassroots effort led by Sacramento Investment Without Displacement that leveraged CEQA to ensure that community voices were heard, the city established a Community Benefits Partnership Agreement that protects local residents from gentrification and reduces the impact of increased traffic surrounding the new development.

Moreover, the agreement goes beyond mitigating harm posed by the project — it creates real benefits for the existing community. It will ensure that a significant portion of the new jobs created by Aggie Square, from entry-level to higher-wage positions, go to local residents. And it will create affordable housing, transportation options, job training and youth education programs.

By requiring decisionmakers to take the time to receive public input, and developers to understand the impact of their proposed development, the CEQA process made this project better and brought it into alignment with state priorities, including by increasing affordable housing supplies. Sacramento Mayor Darrell Steinberg is now talking about replicating the agreement elsewhere in the city, prioritizing economic equity and residents’ rights over the financial gains of big, for-profit developers. This same model could be used to bring affordable housing and economic growth to communities across California.

As we continue to look for solutions to build more affordable housing, all Californians should look past the distorted picture being presented by those who have the most to gain by weakening this 50-year-old law. CEQA may be imperfect, but we must recognize that it is an essential tool for environmental and social justice, and for housing justice.

Click here to read this article on the Sacramento News and Review website.

Photo by RODNAE Productions from Pexels

Comments on the North American Subbasin draft Groundwater Sustainability Plan

On October 14, 2021, ECOS and Habitat 2020 submitted comments on the North American Subbasin (NASb) draft Groundwater Sustainability Plan (GSPD).

ECOS commends the effort of the North American Subbasin Groundwater Sustainability Agencies (GSAs), and their consultants, for involving the public and in preparing the GSPD. The GSPD provides both a technical and lay understanding of the North American Subbasin (NASb) and how groundwater moves within it. The GSPD is an important reference document that brings together a wealth of information in one place. With additional information, projects and management Actions recommended below, the GSPD will present a clear direction for the subbasin’s sustainable groundwater management.

Click here to read the letter.

Photo from Pixabay