Suburban homeowners like Susan Kirsch are often blamed for worsening the nation’s housing crisis. That doesn’t mean she’s giving up her two-decade fight against 20 condos.
Category Archives: News
Ready, Set, Trails!, SACOG, May 23, 2022
May 23, 2022
VISION FOR A CONNECTED SACRAMENTO REGION
Imagine over 1,000 miles of trails connecting you to the region’s favorite destinations. Pretty cool, right?
The Sacramento Regional Trail Network will spark a new wave of walking, biking, and rolling to daily destinations throughout the region. Imagine a network of trails that makes it easy for families to ride to their favorite park, provides a safe route for children to get to school, and offers a simple way for residents to explore new corners of their neighborhoods and cities.
The network envisions reliable routes to the best places around the region for all ages, and abilities.
Click here to learn more: https://www.sacog.org/ready-set-trails
Sacramento’s Air Quality: A Passing Grade, Alberto Ayala LTE SacBee, May 22, 2022
Post: Sacramento Bee, Letters to the Editor, May 22, 2022
AQI PASSING GRADE
RE: “Sacramento among California cities with filthiest air in the US, new study says. What to know,” (sacbee.com, April 22)
The American Lung Association’s “State of the Air 2022” report does not specify that extreme but short-term impacts from wildfires cause high readings, resulting in a misleading picture of Sacramento’s air quality. Air quality and public health are absolutely impacted by wildfires, but to assign an “F” grade without naming the reason unnecessarily undermines public confidence and denies true progress tackling air and climate pollution. Thanks to innovative initiatives by the Sac Metro Air District and our regional partners and stringent rules and regulations, air quality in Sacramento (minus wildfires) has improved significantly over the past several decades and will continue to improve. Our region has made great strides in moving toward meeting strict health-based ambient air quality standards. That is no small feat for the public and private sectors and certainly worth a passing grade.
Dr. Alberto Ayala, Sacramento
https://www.sacbee.com/opinion/letters-to-the-editor/article261627617.html#storylink=cpy
CA Must Finish High-Speed Rail, Ray LaHood, former USDOT Secretary, SacBee, May 12, 2022
By Ray Lahood | May 12, 2022 | The Sacramento Bee
Killing high-speed rail would put the clean, responsible growth of the world’s fifth-largest economy out of reach. Meanwhile, the march of global warming will continue.
Sacramento and smog: Your role in it, health risks and why it’s worse in the summer
By Brianna Taylor | May 9, 2022 | The Sacramento Bee
The list of health risks associated with ground-level ozone is a long one.
According to the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, ground-level ozone is linked to diminished lung function, causing more hospital admissions and emergency room visits, and an increase in premature deaths. “The problem with ground-level ozone is that it causes inflammation in our airways, our trachea, in our sinuses and in our lungs,” Easter said. “The lung issue is probably the biggest of the issues because that affects our breathing and causes asthma, bronchitis and other respiratory impairments.”
Read more at: https://www.sacbee.com/news/environment/article261073407.html#storylink=cpy
Why We Should Save Farmland and Habitat in Natomas, by Heather Fargo and Susan Herre, May 9, 2022, The Natomas Buzz
It is not good that proposed large master plan projects are located outside of the County’s Urban Services Boundary. “The county zoned [this] area as agricultural and has numerous policies in place to protect agricultural land. These projects would eliminate the remaining farmland and habitat of the Natomas basin, in Sacramento County, and weaken the Natomas Basin Habitat Plan.”
In response to the Sacramento Bee article “Washington sending millions to fight Natomas Basin flooding” by David Lightman and Michael McGough:
Portions of the front page article on April 18 regarding Natomas Basin Flooding were inaccurate and misleading. It’s important to correct the record.
The need for strengthening the levees along the Sacramento River are well known, not just for Natomas, but all the way to South Sacramento. And we all appreciate the support of the federal government to help keep Sacramento safe from flooding.
It’s important to recognize that much work has been completed in Natomas and the previous moratorium on construction has been lifted. Natomas now has a similar level of flood protection to the rest of the city. Thousands of housing units have been built, and thousands are currently under construction. But they are all in areas previously planned for housing within the city limits of Sacramento.
Housing developments in the adjacent farmland, outside of the city, are prohibited currently by Sacramento County’s Urban Services Boundary, approved in 1993. And that’s a good thing. It allows agricultural uses to continue, endangered species to survive in protected habitat areas, and contributes to the region’s economy and quality of life, and the build out of Natomas.
The article erroneously states that “The levee improvements are expected to help trigger important economic benefits, allowing more construction to occur.” This is not true. It goes on to say that “The Sacramento River flood threat has choked off development on new homes on the acres west of Interstate 80 and El Centro Road, and south of San Juan Road.” This is also not true.
The project area referred to includes proposed, but not approved, projects. The county zoned the area as agricultural and has numerous policies in place to protect agricultural land. These projects would eliminate the remaining farmland and habitat of the Natomas basin, in Sacramento County, and weaken the Natomas Basin Habitat Plan. This plan which requires one half acre for acre that is developed with the city limits was a state and federal requirement to allow North Natomas to be developed in the first place. The future of North Natomas along with the protected species will be endangered if new projects of thousands of acres are ever approved.
The abandoned Joint Vision for Natomas, approved by both the city and county of Sacramento, called for development to occur only in the city limits, and agriculture and habitat to be done in the unincorporated areas of the county. It still makes sense.
While it’s a developer’s dream to buy prime farmland for cheap, and have it approved for development, the “highest and best use” in unincorporated North Natomas is farming and habitat.
Click here to view the article.
Photo by Edith Thacher
