The Sierra Club, the Environmental Council of Sacramento (ECOS) and Friends of the Swainson’s Hawk (FOSH), urge the County of Sacramento Planning Commission to reject the Upper Westside Specific Plan as unnecessary and contrary to the public interest. The Sacramento County Planning Commission will hear the project on Monday, June 23 at 5:30 pm.
The 2000-acre expansion of the urban uses onto farmland north of the City of Sacramento is requested by private landowners and not part of any adopted long-term County plan. The City of Sacramento opposes the project; however, the project relies on the City for water and sewer service. The existing land use supports the air quality plan, the transportation plan and other County General Plan smart growth policies.
“This specific plan is not about meeting housing needs,” said Heather Fargo, president of ECOS and former Mayor of Sacramento. “The County’s General Plan already includes enough land designated for housing units on sites that will not be fully built out until after the year 2100. SACOG, our regional planning agency, has found this project area is not needed to meet housing demand now or in 50 years. The hold-up on building affordable housing is not lack of land for that purpose. This proposal is just about developers making a profit.”
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