Tag Archives: Natomas Basin

Habitat: Natomas Development Issues

July 3, 2023 — Please join us for the ECOS Habitat 2020 Monthly Meeting on Monday, July 3, 2023 at 7:00pm, where 30 minutes will be spent discussing Natomas development issues, and what we can do about them.

Link to join: https://us02web.zoom.us/j/6656164155
To phone in: 669-900-6833, Meeting ID: 665 616 4155

Agenda

  1. 7:00 Welcome, Introductions, 10 min (Burness)
  2. 7:10 Natomas Development Issues, 30 min (Lamare, Fargo and Whitney)
    a. Neighborhood meetings
    b. New development proposals
    c. South Airport project timeline
    d. City and LAFCo response to ECOS et al letter
    e. Meetings w/ City council and Co board members
    f. Grant application
  3. 7:40 City Parks Initiative, 10 min (Tura and Fargo)
  4. 7:50 Sacramento City General Plan Update Discussion—Should we engage? 20 min (Burness intro)
  5. 8:10 Coyote Creek Sola Voltaic Project, 15 min (Leary, Delfino, Kelly)
    a. Video footage of site
    b. Project timeline
    c. Funding support
    d. Meetings with Co board members
  6. 8:25 Kassis Project, 15 min (Berry, Weiland)
    a. Meetings with Cordova City management re code violations
    b. New application
  7. 8:40 Other Environmental Issues and Updates, 20 min
    a. Mather Preserve Management (Burness)
    b. Tunnel Project (Burness)
    c. Habitat Acquisition Initiative (Schweigert)
    d. 30×30 Effort (Burness)
    e. Aerojet Cleanup (Heple)
    f. Other
  8. 9:00 Adjourn

Opposing development on land that was planned to support threatened species

Photo by Brad Branan: Osprey nest in the Natomas Basin

May 1, 2023 — By Brad Branan, ECOS Board member, representative of Sierra Club Sacramento

ECOS members are leading efforts to protect the Natomas Basin from several large-scale developments proposed for the environmentally sensitive area.

Developers are proposing three major projects in the basin, including the Airport South Industrial Project (ASIP) on 450 acres of farmland outside the city of Sacramento and the County’s Urban Services Boundary line. Together the projects total 8,191 acres, larger than the entire North Natomas area.

The basin is subject to environmental protection through the Natomas Basin Habitat Conservation Plan (NBHCP), which was a federal and state requirement in 1997 to mitigate planned development in the City. The NBHCP was later approved by a federal court. The basin, which includes 54,000 acres in Sacramento and Sutter County, from the Garden Highway to the Cross Canal in Sutter County, provides habitat for the protected Swainson’s Hawk and Giant Garter Snake, among other animals.

The developers of the ASIP need approval from the Local Agency Formation Commission (LAFCo) so the land can become part of the City of Sacramento.

Habitat 2020, an ECOS committee, opposed the first step taken by the City and LAFCo staff in that process – to make the city and the commission co-lead agencies on the environmental review of the annexation and the project. A law firm hired by Habitat 2020 and Friends of the Swainson’s Hawk sent the commission a letter saying that having co-lead agencies is a violation of state environmental law. They are waiting for a response.

ECOS member and former Sacramento Mayor Heather Fargo, along with the ECOS Climate Committee’s Natomas Team, has been meeting with officials to explain why environmentalists oppose the project. Fargo and other project opponents are meeting with LAFCo members and Sacramento council members and are asking that the proposed annexation be brought to the Council for a public hearing and decision by the city council.

Upper Westside Water Assessment

December 6, 2022 — ECOS submitted a letter of comment on the City of Sacramento City Council Special Meeting, Dec. 6, 2022, 2 pm Agenda Item 14 – Upper Westside Water Supply Assessment, File ID: 2022-02041.

Below is an excerpt of our letter, as well as a link to the letter in full.

ECOS understands that if you’re required by law to prepare this Water Supply Assessment, you must comply. But while you are considering this resolution, we would like to raise some serious concerns about the proposed Upper Westside project. We strongly oppose this project for many reasons…

Click here to read the letter in full.

Airport South Industrial Project: ECOS Comments

On June 28, 2021, the Environmental Council of Sacramento, Habitat 2020, Sierra Club Sacramento Group, Friends of the Swainson’s Hawk and Former Sacramento City Mayor Heather Fargo submitted a joint letter on the Airport South Industrial Project.

Below is an excerpt from our letter.

We urge you to remove Item 9 from the Consent Calendar and vote to deny the staff’s recommendation. The Resolution before you conflicts with and interferes with the success of the 2003 Natomas Basin Habitat Conservation Plan (“NBHCP”) the City’s efforts to reach carbon zero status, and General Plan policies. The City’s approval of the proposed annexation and development would constitute a breach of the City’s obligation under the 2003 Natomas Basin Habitat Conservation Plan to not annex or develop outside of the NBHCP permit area, and could lead to revocation of the City’s Incidental Take Permit under the Natomas Basin Habitat Conservation Plan.

Click here to read the letter in full.