Sacramento County Early Action Planning Grant Support

On June 1, 2020, the Sierra Club Sacramento Group, 350 Sacramento and the Environmental Council of Sacramento sent a letter to the County of Sacramento encouraging the County to apply for an “Early Action Planning” grant.

We encourage the County to apply for the subject non-competitive grant as recommended by staff. The grant would fund mandated and non-mandated planning activities related to meeting the County’s housing needs.
We particularly support the proposed Infill Program planning, which would identify, assess, and seek to remove barriers to developing infill opportunities in the unincorporated County. According to the County’s annual General Plan Report for 2019, development of vacant and underutilized land, and revitalization of commercial corridors could provide about 33 thousand new housing units in the unincorporated area.

Click here to read the letter in full.

MTP/SCS EIR Scoping Comments from ECOS

On May 25, 2019, ECOS submitted a letter outlining our comments and concerns about the Metropolitan Transportation Plan/Sustainable Communities Strategy (MTP/SCS) 2020 update, managed by the Sacramento Area Council of Governments (SACOG).

The Metropolitan Transportation Plan/Sustainable Communities Strategy (MTP/SCS) for the Sacramento region pro-actively links land use, air quality, and transportation needs. The current 2016 MTP/SCS was adopted in February 2016. The MTP/SCS is federally required to be updated every four years. The next MTP/SCS is required to be adopted by February 2020.

Click here to view the letter.

ClimatePlan’s Commitment to Investment without Displacement

April 04, 2019

California is in the midst of an affordability crisis. Without careful planning and policies, new investment in existing neighborhoods or ongoing disinvestment in areas where low-income people live can push lower-income and people of color out of their own communities and away from jobs and transit. This exacerbates historical inequities, forces more driving and climate pollution from those who have the highest propensity to ride transit, re-segregates our towns and cities, and destroys natural and agricultural lands. ClimatePlan recognizes that displacement threatens to undermine all of our network’s priorities including climate, equity, health, active transportation, and conservation; it is a central challenge to building a more sustainable and equitable California.

Displacement harms people and communities and worsens the climate crisis. Recognizing these profound impacts, beginning in April 2018, ClimatePlan convened partners from housing, transportation, land use, equity, conservation and climate organizations to develop a shared policy platform on Investment Without Displacement for guiding the ClimatePlan network’s advocacy. Over 20 participants worked collaboratively to develop the approach and solutions outlined in the document linked below.

The ClimatePlan network’s vision is to create a healthier, more sustainable California, where people of all backgrounds and incomes have the opportunity to thrive.

Click here to view the document.

Residential downsizing

Some residents say the property near planned Aggie Square is suited for infill development

By Dylan Svoboda
March 21, 2019
Sacramento News and Review

Amid a worsening housing shortage, a Manhattan Beach-based property management company is seeking to sharply reduce the number of homes it would need to build on a key property in an up-and-coming neighborhood.
Located on the former State Fair site near Tahoe Park, the undeveloped 8.68-acre lot at 325 Fairgrounds Drive would be down-zoned from multi-unit zoning—requiring at least 18 units per acre, or nearly 160 units—to single-unit zoning for future construction of 68 single-family homes.
The property is blocks from economic hubs in the UC Davis Medical Center and planned Aggie Square, the highly-anticipated technology and innovation campus. The move toward less future residential development has some nearby residents concerned.
“This is a prime infill opportunity,” said Tahoe Park resident Zach Miller. “If we want to avoid gentrification effects from Aggie Square, we should be looking at building more homes, not less.”
Nestled between newly-built single-family homes to the north and townhouses to the south, a multi-family development on the property would make for an awkward fit, says City Councilman Eric Guerra.
“There’s no question we need more housing,” Guerra said. “But I would like to look at places like Stockton Boulevard—higher transit frequency spots—for multi-family construction. Trying to squeeze a couple hundred units [at 325 Fairgrounds] wouldn’t be the end of the world, but it just doesn’t fit.”
Alex Kelter of the Environmental Council of Sacramento took the opposite view, noting the lot’s central location, along with its proximity to two light-rail stations and multiple bus lines running up and down Broadway and Stockton Boulevard.
“This not Roseville or Rancho Cordova,” Kelter said. “It’s the middle of our metropolitan area. If we don’t put density here, where are we going to put it? It just doesn’t make sense for this property, especially with the current housing market.”
Jim Perley of Western American Properties, the listed applicant, didn’t respond to written and phone inquiries from SN&R.
Svoboda, Dylan. “Residential Downsizing – Beats – Local Stories – March 21, 2019.” Sacramento News & Review, Sacramento News & Review, 21 Mar. 2019, www.newsreview.com/sacramento/residential-downsizing/content?oid=27883568.

Click here to view this article online.

Click here to view the letter about this property, co-signed by ECOS.

325 Fairgrounds Drive

February 15, 2019

Tahoe Park residents are asking why housing density has been greatly reduced in the plans for a development to be built near Broadway and Fairgrounds Drive in Sacramento. Why reduce housing density in the midst of a housing shortage, especially in a prime infill location?

Click here to read the letter written in opposition to amending the General Plan to lower the density requirements at 325 Fairgrounds Drive. Signatories include Alex Kelter, MD and Robert Meagher, MD, Co-Chairs of Environmental Council of Sacramento (ECOS) Land Use Committee.

Gas stations and pot businesses not welcome, Sacramento says. Here’s where and why

By Tony Bizjak

May 13, 2018

The Sacramento Bee

The city of Sacramento is laying plans to ban new gas stations, drive-through restaurants and marijuana cultivation businesses within a quarter-mile of light-rail stations, saying those areas should be reserved for transit-oriented and pedestrian-friendly uses.

The goal, officials say, is to boost rail ridership at 23 light-rail stations around the city and give more residents the chance of living a car-free lifestyle by paving the way for higher-density housing, job-rich offices and pedestrian-oriented retail in those areas.

Click here to read the full article.