Category Archives: News

Sacramento City Council rejects anti-displacement ordinance that critics called ‘counterproductive’ December 3, 2024, CapRadio

Gerardo Zavala | December 3, 2024 | CapRadio

On Tuesday, December 3, 2024, the City of Sacramento city council unanimously rejected the Community Benefits Agreement Ordinance as proposed.

In a letter to the council, the [Sacramento Investment Without Displacement] coalition argued that the city failed to amend the ordinance with three main recommendations it made in February:

  • Ensuring residents can stay in their neighborhood through minimum benefits around affordable housing, transportation, workforce development and small/local business protections.
  • Community engagement in the negotiation process.
  • Community oversight to enforce the ordinance in a way that makes sure the community gets the benefits for their neighborhoods.

Click here to read the article in full.

Fighting for Land: We need more housing, but we also want to protect wildland, September 23, 2023, Comstock’s Magazine

By Brad Branan | September 23, 2024 | Comstock’s Magazine

The Swainson’s hawk is considered threatened in California, the result of lost habitat. Yet it is doing well in the Natomas Basin, in part because of a conservation plan that sets aside land for habitat, like the farm where the hawk foraged.

That could change due to four major development projects that are planned in the Natomas Basin. The projects would replace important wildland with homes, warehouses and other buildings.

Click here to read the full article.

Upper Westside Plan headed for Sac County supes vote in spring 2025, September 13, 2024, The Sacramento Business Journal

By Ben van der Meer | September 13, 2024 | The Sacramento Business Journal

The Upper Westside Plan for Natomas is facing “…opposition from smart-growth advocates. The Environmental Council of Sacramento, in opposing another Natomas development project called Airport South, said they worried approval of that project and its changes to the urban services boundary would open the door to even bigger projects like the Upper Westside Plan.”

Click here to read the article in full.

Don Shoup on “How L.A. can fix our scary sidewalks for the Olympics” This could work in Sacramento too. September 10, 2024, LA Times

By Donald Shoup | September 10, 2024 | LA Times

Los Angeles’ broken sidewalks are like an obstacle course, especially for people with disabilities. They are bad enough to challenge the Olympic athletes who will show up in four years.

In 2016, to settle an Americans With Disabilities Act lawsuit, Los Angeles committed to spending $1.4 billion over 30 years to make its sidewalks accessible. But a 2021 audit by the Los Angeles Controller’s Office revealed that since 2016, the city had repaired less than 1% of sidewalks. During that period, the city paid more than $35 million in settlements related to sidewalk injuries.

Donald Shoup is a distinguished research professor in urban planning at UCLA.

Click here to read the article in full.

California Mobility Center to boost state climate goals, local economy through new Sac State facility, Thursday, August 8, 2024, CapRadio

By Gerardo Zavala | Thursday, August 8, 2024 | CapRadio

What is the California Mobility Center?

According to the master plan, the mobility center will provide future mobility innovators and industry leaders with access to programs and resources that accelerate the pace of commercialization.

The Environmental Council of Sacramento — a nonprofit corporation with a mission of achieving regional sustainability, livable communities, environmental justice and a healthy environment for Sacramento residents — held a talk Wednesday evening via Zoom with the center’s CEO, Orville Thomas, to discuss how the center will help the region achieve climate goals while also boosting the local economy.

Click here to read more.