Sprawl monitor: Sacramento’s leading environmental protection nonprofit sees growing interest in demanding smarter growth

By Scott Thomas Anderson

July 13, 2017

Sacramento News and Review

ECOS prepping ballot initiative against suburban sprawl

South Placer County beware: An environmental organization is on a mission to educate people about the impacts of wide-scale suburban sprawl. And it’s getting big turnouts.

On June 28, the Environmental Council of Sacramento held a town hall-style meeting about potential ballot initiatives aimed at slowing the tide of business parks and subdivisions spilling across the valley.

For critics of sprawl, the issue has become especially pronounced in cities like Folsom, which is currently allowing 11,000 new homes to be built across 3,600 acres of open space. Across the border in Placer County, expanding tract home developments are overtaking oak woodlands and merging the cities of Roseville, Rocklin and Lincoln. ECOS representatives charged that Elk Grove, Rancho Cordova, north Natomas and unincorporated Sacramento County territories are also guilty of approving “egregious” levels of sprawl.

According to the Seto Lab at Yale University, suburban sprawl erodes California’s productive farmlands and delicate habitats, accelerates unnecessary energy demands and harms “high-value ecosystems.”

ECOS has noted that the trend is contributing to a large automobile dependency around the region, along with related air quality issues. According to its research, the region has zoning for nearly 120,000 new single family homes already approved, with another 50,000 single family homes being planned for “remote areas.”

ECOS’ June 28 workshop was held at Mogavero Architects on K Street. “The turnout was great,” said ECOS Director of Operations Alexandra Reagan. “It was standing room only.”

Reagan is planning similar workshops in the future, though she said the next major step would be identifying which municipality should be the subject of a sprawl-controlling ballot initiative from her group. Once that’s determined, she thinks her organization will have a lot of help. “When we asked everyone there who would be willing to work on a campaign, 95 percent of them raised [their] hands.”

Amador County says Sacramento growth plans will turn Jackson Highway into a parking lot

By Tony Bizjak

July 7, 2017

The Sacramento Bee

Sacramento County has asked Caltrans to give it control of 8 miles of the two-lane road so the county can turn it into an urban arterial street that would function as the spine for up to 30,000 new homes in the coming decades, allowing the metropolitan area to march east as far as Grant Line Road.

…

The Jackson corridor is one of several large undeveloped areas of east county slated for growth, along with projects underway to the south near Elk Grove and to the north in Rancho Cordova and Folsom, along the Grant Line Road corridor.

Several of the Jackson Highway development teams are conducting environmental reviews of their project proposals now, one of the last steps before they will receive county approvals to build.

Volkswagen emissions fraud sleuth chosen to head Sacramento air agency

By Tony Bizjak

May 25, 2017

The Sacramento Bee

Alberto Ayala, a state air pollution executive who helped uncover Volkswagen’s massive diesel cheating scandal, has been named head of the Sacramento region’s air quality efforts.

The Sacramento Metropolitan Air Quality Management District board voted on Thursday morning to name Ayala its executive director, replacing retiring executive Larry Greene.

Ayala, a deputy executive officer at the California Air Resources Board, launched the state’s initial review of diesel engines in 2012 that lead to the discovery that Volkswagen had illegally programmed millions of its vehicles internationally, including in California, to pass emissions tests.

Please Use Caution If Driving

May 15, 2017

The Environmental Council of Sacramento (ECOS) strives to provide all residents of the Sacramento region with pedestrian, bicycle and transit access to jobs, schools, shopping, services and recreation.

Unfortunately, Sacramento drivers are hindering this access, as evidenced by three separate pedestrian deaths by motorists in less than two weeks.

On April 30, 2017, Theresa McCourt died when hit by a suspected drunken driver on 47th Avenue in Sacramento. McCourt was a longtime member of the Sacramento running community. She also “…wrote a column on running for The Bee from 1990 to 1998. The British-born McCourt was also a published poet, freelance writer and editor of the California State Auditor.” Read more at http://www.sacbee.com/news/local/article150564292.html.

On May 11, 2017, 35-year-old Alysha McLean was killed on Franklin Boulevard at 42nd Avenue. McLean was attempting to cross Franklin Boulevard when she was struck in the southbound lanes by a vehicle that left the scene. The CHP is asking the public’s help in identifying the vehicle. Read more at http://www.sacbee.com/news/local/crime/article150552657.html.

On the same day, May 11, 2017, 58-year-old Mark Alan Stout was hit and killed by a car in North Highlands as he crossed Watt Avenue in his wheelchair. The California Highway Patrol said that Stout was traveling in his wheelchair across Watt Avenue near Myrtle Avenue. Read more at http://www.sacbee.com/news/local/crime/article150551147.html.

Source: The Sacramento Bee, May 15, 2017

ECOS Comments on Elk Grove’s Latest Attempts to Sprawl

March 31, 2017

On March 31, 2017, ECOS submitted a letter containing our comments on the latest application filed by the City of Elk Grove to expand their sphere of influence, thereby increasing the area in which they are allowed to build.

If you are new to learning about Elk Grove’s application to expand its Sphere of Influence, or need a refresher, please click here for some background information and key terms.

View our full comment letter by clicking here. (PDF)

Stakeholder Meeting for the Downtown Specific Plan

Wednesday, March 29, 2017

5:30 – 7:30 p.m.

Hacker Lab, 1715 I St, Sacramento, CA 95811

The City of Sacramento is developing the Downtown Specific Plan.

The plan will focus primarily on:

* Identifying and evaluating a number of urban infill sites within the project area

* Removing barriers to housing development by streamlining the development and environmental review process

* Incentivizing Transit-Oriented Development throughout the Central City, including along the streetcar corridor

* Maintaining and improving the quality of life for Central City residents, and furthering neighborhood livability by including additional amenities and housing opportunities

The project team is hosting a focus group meeting to discuss community amenities, historic preservation, arts and culture, and public health as they relate to increasing Downtown’s housing supply. Take part in developing the plan, and find out the results of a recent community survey.

Please RSVP by March 24th by responding to Salvador Ramirez at sramirez[at]aimconsultingco[dot]com or calling 916-442-1168. If you have any questions regarding this meeting, please contact Gladys Cornell at gcornell[at]aimconsultingco[dot]com or at 916-442-1168.