July 15, 2024
Monthly Archives: July 2024
Proposed Airport South Industrial Project, July 2024, N Magazine
July 2024 | N Magazine
The proposed Airport South Industrial Project represents 6 million square feet of Warehouses.
Right now, is the time for the community to speak up about whether this is a good idea, or not. Should more farmland be paved? Should we sacrifice habitat for warehouses? Do we want to live next to warehouses, and endure more traffic, more noise and more pollution?


SB 867, Allen. Safe Drinking Water, Wildfire Prevention, Drought Preparedness, and Clean Air Bond Act of 2024
July 10, 2024
This bill would, if approved by the voters in November, authorize the issuance of $10 billion in State General Obligation bonds to finance projects for to improve the climate resiliency of California.
It would provide funding for safe drinking water, drought, flood, and water resilience, wildfire and forest resilience, coastal resilience, extreme heat mitigation, biodiversity and nature-based climate solutions, climate-smart, sustainable, and resilient farms, ranches, and working lands, park creation and outdoor access, and clean air programs. Bonds will also be provided for projects that promote sustainable agriculture, protect biodiversity, and increase outdoor access. This bill reflects the need for comprehensive funding that reflects the many ways climate change is affecting our lives. By investing in our collective future now, we will protect public health and promote environmental stewardship for future generations.
In the Sacramento region, SB 867 will provide specific funding for urgently needed measures — $150M to improve levees and flood protection in the Sacramento-San Joaquin Delta; $50M dollars for the Wildlife Conservation Board to support salmon reintroduction to the Sacramento and San Joaquin River watersheds; $21M for the Sacramento-San Joaquin Delta Conservancy. These measures will help protect one of the most impacted ecosystems in our state, in addition to benefits Sacramento may receive from bonds that are allocated more broadly.
Click here to read the ECOS letter thanking Assemblymember Kevin McCarty.
Click here to read the ECOS letter thanking Assemblymember Angelique Ashby.
MORE Development Proposed in the Natomas Basin
The Natomas Basin is under threat of development again, and we need your help to stop it. We need people who will join our mailing list, read our email blasts, look at and comment on the draft environmental impact report for Airport South Industrial, who will donate money and who will join us in the fall at a LAFCo hearing to consider expanding the potential city limit into Natomas farmland.
Thirty years ago the Natomas Basin Habitat Conservation Plan was approved in order to allow development in the floodplain of the Natomas Basin. The plan established a balance between residential and commercial uses, farmland and habitat preservation. The County also established the urban services boundary beyond which open space would be preserved. These plans are very much under threat from three projects.
Along Elkhorn Rd is the proposed project of Grand Park, 5675 acres slated for residential and commercial uses. An additional 2083 acres are proposed for residential and commercial development, west of El Centro to the Garden Highway, called Upper West Side.
The project up first is 6.6 million square feet of warehouses proposed for 450-acres, the Airport South Industrial project (ASI). It is south of I-5 and not part of the Metro Airport development. It would be located on valuable farmland and would add heavy duty trucks and other traffic to I-5. (See map)
It is also the first of over 8000 acres of development proposed outside of the agreed to urban service boundary.
What do we want to see in the Natomas Basin? Now is the time for our community to speak up. Should more farmland be paved? Should we sacrifice habitat for warehouses? Do we want to endure more traffic, more noise and more pollution?
The current timelines for the projects are:
- Now – The ASI Draft Environmental Impact Review (EIR) is available and the public comment period is until July 17, 2024
- July 2024 – Draft EIR will be available for Upper West Side
- July 2025 – Draft EIR will be available for Grand Park
The ASI draft EIR is long and detailed, but it is critical to understanding the impacts (on air quality, water, traffic, habitat, endangered species, loss of farmland, flood protection, etc.) of this project and the mitigations proposed to make up for their damage. ECOS will brief you on these impacts on July 10. The EIR is an essential process used to inform both the public and government agencies on the consequences of land use proposals.
An ECOS Committee, the Natomas Campaign, chaired by Former Mayor Heather Fargo, is leading an effort to stop ASI as the precedent setting project in order to stop all three projects. These developments are NOT a done deal. Now is the time to make our voices heard about the impact of ASI.
Before July 17, please submit your comments on the Airport South Industrial Draft Environmental Impact Review to the City by emailing: Senior Planner Scott Johnson at srjohnson[at]cityofsacramento[dot]org
We need your support and action now to preserve our farmland and open space for the next generations.
- Link to the ASI Draft EIR: https://www.cityofsacramento.gov/community-development/planning/environmental/impact-reports Projects are alphabetized. Look for Airport South Industrial.
- LAFCo’s website: www.saclafco.org
- The ECOS Natomas campaign website is https://tinyurl.com/SacOpenSpace Please consider making a donation.
If you would like to learn more about what’s in the EIR and can’t bear to wade through it ….. Join us on a Zoom discussion.
July 10, 6:00 pm – Zoom Call
We’ll give a preview of the significant issues in the ASI EIR and how the project will affect Natomas residents. We also want to know what you are commenting on.
Link to join: https://us02web.zoom.us/j/6656164155
To phone in: 669-900-6833, Meeting ID: 665 616 4155
APA Speaker Series (2024)
Presented by Sacramento Valley Section APA (American Planning Association) and Caltrans
DO THE RIGHT THING
As planning, design, and community development professionals, most of us chose our professions because we want to “Do the Right Thing.” But when you’re working to solve complicated, multi-faceted challenges like climate change, the housing crisis, and structural inequities, with many stakeholders and limited resources and power, determining what that right thing is can be hard to define. And once defined, it can be even harder to implement. By bringing together diverse perspectives from various disciplines, industries, and backgrounds, this Speaker Series will explore this notion of what it means to “do the right thing,” how there isn’t one right answer, and how we can use these ideas to connect to a sense of purpose, challenge the norm, and collectively work towards a common goal.
All sessions will be held from 9:30 to 11:30 a.m. Please check in prior to 9:30 a.m.
Join us for networking after each session from 11:30 to Noon
West Sacramento Community Center, 1075 West Capitol Avenue, West Sacramento
Free parking at 1271 West Capitol Avenue (behind Walgreens)
A Live Streaming option is available for all sessions at the same price as attending in person.
Summer of Heat – call to action, Saturday August 17, 2024
Sacramento Summer of Heat on Wall Street
Meet: Saturday August 17th at 10:30 am at Crocker Park, 211 O St, Sacramento, CA 95814
Host Contact: Anushka Kalyan, anushka[dot]kalyan[at]gmail[dot]com, 350 Sacramento Action Team Lead
Bring: Hat, water, a friend
Take to the streets to protest banks from lending to the fossil fuel industry. From Crocker Park, we will hold a short rally at the waterfront and then march through Tower Bridge and Wells Fargo.
The campaign is a peaceful series of actions in solidarity with the events and themes in New York City. Faith communities are invited to inspire collective climate action, address climate grief and the emotional impact of environmental degradation, offer support and resilience to those affected. For far too long, Wall Street has uprooted communities of all faiths through greedy practices and it’s time we come together in solidarity and joy to counter their dirty money.
This will be the last of three actions this summer. We are coordinating with Fridays for Future, 350 Sacramento, Third Act, SacEJC, and other climate groups to join the nationwide demonstrations in support of the Summer of Heat on Wall Street taking place in New York City. Please join in, thank you.