Kassis Property in SN&R

As vote looms over Rancho Cordova’s last open space, city’s mayor and vice mayor took money from the developer aiming to build over it

By Scott Thomas Anderson | March 24, 2021 | Sacramento News and Review

For months a coalition of Rancho Cordova nature-lovers has been trying to protect the city’s last unspoiled haven along the American River – some 40 acres of grassy, oak-studded wildlife shelter with captivating ties to history and some of the oldest Native American burial sites in the region. If they win, this pastoral property along the brushy shoreline could become a park or learning center. If they lose, it will become 244 tract houses, 24 of which will block one of the most picturesque river views in all of Sacramento.

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Will major scandal at Metropolitan Water District save Delta communities from the tunnel?

By Scott Thomas Anderson | March 2, 2021 | Sacramento News and Review

Metropolitan Water District, the driving financial and political force behind the proposed Delta tunnel, has suddenly found itself on the verge of losing one of its most important customers – the City of Los Angeles. The possibility of a break between California’s largest city and its largest water contractor comes after a host of women and members of the LGBTQ community said they were victims of sexual harassment, intimidation and retaliation while working for the latter.

The revelation has drawn MWD into a new arena of fire, one that’s separate from its ongoing standoff with conservationists, indigenous tribes, regional farmers, tax watchdogs and Northern California’s fishing industry about the future of the Delta.

“…There’s a real sense of imperialism with Met when it comes to how they treat the Delta communities, and now it seems like that’s something that might carry through to other aspects of its organization,” said Osha Meserve, an attorney who represents the Delta’s reclamation districts. “This could be really destabilizing for the tunnel project. There’s significant potential for LA to be a leader in coming up with some minimum standards for what kind of agency they want to get water from. If Met doesn’t share their values, whether it’s the treatment of women or destroying the environment, then they should step away.”

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California Northstate halts 400-bed Elk Grove hospital project to ‘consider all options’

By Michael Finch II | February 26, 2021 | The Sacramento Bee

Many nearby residents and environmental groups, including the Sacramento Sierra Club [and the Environmental Council of Sacramento], were opposed to the planned hospital’s location which would have neighbored the Stone Lakes National Wildlife Refuge.

A consultant from Ascent Environmental, which conducted the environmental impact review for the hospital project, suggested the school could consider at least three alternatives during the planning commission meeting last week.

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California Northstate presses pause on medical center project

By Felicia Alvarez | February 25, 2021 | Sacramento Business Journal

…the Elk Grove Planning Commission unanimously rejected the project plans, citing concerns about the location of the proposed medical center.
…the proposed hospital is still eligible to go before the Elk Grove City Council, which would have a final say on the project.

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California Northstate’s hospital rejected by Elk Grove Planning Commission

By Felicia Alvarez | February 19, 2021 | Sacramento Business Journal

“This is a poorly located project to serve Elk Grove proper, being located at the furthest southwest corner of this city,” Wieser said. “I’m not against a high-rise. There are places in our city for a building of this size, but this is not the right location.”

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See where apartment rent is rising fastest in the Sacramento region, as demand surges

Sacramento’s housing crisis continues to worsen, recent evidence confirms. Our region will not reach our greenhouse emission reduction targets as long as there is a jobs-housing imbalance in our urban core.

By Phillip Reese and Tony Bizjak | February 10, 2021 | The Sacramento Bee

Apartment rents jumped faster around Sacramento than in almost any other metro nationwide last year, adding to a long-simmering housing crunch, new data show.

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