Tag Archives: City of Sacramento

Broadway Bridge DEIR: ECOS Comments

On August 23, 2021, ECOS submitted a comment letter on the Draft Environmental Impact Report for the Broadway Bridge in the City of Sacramento.

Below are our comments.

ECOS supports the concept of a bridge connecting Broadway in Sacramento to West Sacramento, near 15th Street. This should facilitate infill development near both sides of the Sacramento River and provide a connection between the two cities south of US 50. Development potential is especially promising on the West Sacramento side, since I-5 is not a barrier there. We encourage significant infill development, which would be facilitated by the removal of old facilities such as fuel storage tanks and the railroad tracks serving the Port of West Sacramento. Once a definitive alignment is selected and necessary property acquired, the bridge would serve as a vital link for transit, bicycles and auto traffic. As mixed-use development near the bridge increases (on both sides of the river), the number of pedestrians and bicyclists would also increase greatly.

Photo by Masha Raymers from Pexels

Transportation Expert Todd Litman – Aug 12, 6pm

Please join ECOS’ Transportation, Air Quality & Climate Change (TAQCC) Committee for its regular monthly meeting, on Thursday, August 12th. Details about joining this meeting using “Zoom” are provided below. Our featured speaker will be Todd Litman, transportation expert and Executive Director of the Victoria Transport Policy Institute.

The City of Sacramento has begun work on its 2040 General Plan (including a Transportation Priorities Plan) which will be the City’s blueprint for how and where Sacramento will grow over the next 20 years. In parallel, the City will also be preparing a Climate Action Plan, a framework to reduce greenhouse gas emissions and establish Sacramento as a climate leader. Todd Litman will advise us how to influence these major planning efforts, to ensure that last year’s recommendations of the Mayors’ Commission on Climate Change (including those adopted by its Mobility Technical Advisory Committee) are fully implemented.

The balance of the meeting will be devoted to updates on other active issues, such as the County Climate Action Plan, Climate Emergency Declarations, the proposed expansion of the CapCity bridge over the American River, and other topics raised by attendees.

When: Thursday, August 12th, 2021 at 6 pm
Where: Videoconference, hosted by Zoom
Link to join TAQCC Meeting: https://us02web.zoom.us/j/85805612058
To phone in: 1-669 900 6833, Meeting ID: 858 0561 2058

Photo by Jonas Ferlin from Pexels

Sac City Building Electrification Ordinance

On May 4, 2021, the Environmental Council of Sacramento (ECOS) sent the following in an email to the City of Sacramento’s Law and Legislation Committee regarding a Building Electrification Ordinance.

Dear City Council members Eric, Katie, Jeff, and Jay,

The Environmental Council of Sacramento (ECOS) supports the proposed New Building Electrification Ordinance, to be considered today by the Sacramento Law and Legislation Committee. ECOS believes that the proposed ordinance is necessary for the City to take appropriate action to be a leader in the development of technology that all cities will need before long, as the threat of climate change becomes increasingly obvious to all. It will benefit the City to be a leader, as we strive to develop a world-class economy.

We note that the proposed ordinance is generally consistent with the recommendation from the Mayors’ Climate Commission. It would require new buildings, with permit applications filed on or after January 1, 2023, to be all electric. Buildings that are four stories or more, with building permit applications filed on or after January 1, 2026, would be all electric. We note that staff has added time limited exemptions for food establishments for cooking equipment only, and for manufacturing process loads within a manufacturing or industrial facility. The revised ordinance also includes more detail on the process for obtaining an infeasibility waiver. We hope that the Committee agrees that, with these changes, it can support the proposed ordinance.

Ralph Propper, ECOS President

Update: Good News!

After we sent our letter, at their meeting later the same day, the Sac City Law and Legislation Committee voted to recommend that the proposed New Building Electrification ordinance move forward to the full Council. The vote was 3:1 (with Schenirer, Harris, and Guerra voting for, and Valenzuela voting against). The Committee also directed the staff to do further outreach between now and the council meeting.

We want to express a huge thank you to those of you who took the time to write support letters on behalf of yourself and your organizations. It made a big difference as the opposition is strong, especially from restaurants.

The item is tentatively scheduled for the May 25 council meeting. It’s important that we continue to express our support between now and then.

Photo by Pixabay https://www.pexels.com/photo/time-lapse-photography-of-blue-lights-373543/

UC Berkeley Urban Displacement Project Presentation to ECOS – Monday, March 8

On Monday, March 8 at 6:00 pm the ECOS Land Use Committee will host two guest speakers from the Urban Displacement Project UC Berkeley at its meeting. The Urban Displacement Project aims to understand the nature of gentrification and displacement in American cities. It focuses on creating tools to help communities identify the pressures surrounding them and take more effective action. Tim and Julia will discuss the ongoing research their team is doing in several major US cities, and how it can help guide public policy in Sacramento. We hope you will join us! 

Tim Thomas PhD, Research Director, Urban Displacement Project

Tim Thomas is a postdoctoral scholar and research director at the Urban Displacement Project specializing in urban sociology, demography, and data science. His research focuses on how neighborhood change, housing, and displacement affects household socioeconomic stratification by race and gender in the United States. Tim is also the Principal Investigator for the Evictions Study, a multi-metropolitan analysis on the neighborhood drivers of eviction using census data and text mining court records. . . In 2019, his team’s work on evictions provided empirical evidence that helped pass several tenant protection laws in Washington State.

He holds a Ph.D. in Sociology from the University of Washington and was a Moore/Sloan Data Science Postdoctoral Fellow at the University of Washington’s eScience Institute.

Julia Greenberg, Research Manager, Urban Displacement Project

Julia is a research manager at the Urban Displacement Project. She is interested in using geospatial and data analysis to understand the impacts of land use, housing policy, and climate change on housing vulnerability and displacement. Julia is committed to collaborating with community-based organizations, governments, and other stakeholders to promote strategies that increase equitable access to affordable housing.

Julia graduated from George Washington University with her Master’s in Public Policy and has a bachelor’s degree in Urban and Regional Studies from Cornell University.

To join the meeting

Link to join Zoom Meeting: https://us02web.zoom.us/j/543524123

To phone in: 1 669 900 6833 – Meeting ID: 543 524 123

Click here to learn more about the Land Use Committee.

Pushed Out: Displacement Today and Lasting Impacts

Sacramento Slow Streets

The City of Sacramento is implementing a pilot program, called “Slow & Active Streets,” to promote more bicycle and pedestrian use of neighborhood streets by restricting through vehicular travel. The pilot project ends April 30th, 2021 – when it’s barely gotten started.

If you agree that it should continue (and we do!), please send your comment(s) to the City.

Comment now

We hope the success of this slow streets pilot will encourage the City to start “slow streets” in other neighborhoods.

Learn more about it on the City of Sacramento’s website.

There was recently an article in the Sacramento City Express about it. Click here to read the article. 

Here is a map.