July 22, 2019
Sacramento City Express
Despite numerous concerns raised by ECOS and other organizations for over a decade, the panhandle of North Natomas has been approved for the construction of houses, schools, parks, etc. Among these concerns are flooding hazards, negative impacts on wildlife habitat, an increase in air pollution, and various other issues. This article by Sacramento City Express also fails to address the environmental and agricultural concerns related to this plan.
On June 27, 2019, the Environmental Council of Sacramento, Habitat 2020 and the Friends of Stones Lakes National Wildlife Refuge submitted a letter in response to the Notice of Preparation of an Environmental Impact Report for Northstate University Medical Center, planned for the outer edges of the City of Elk Grove, south of Sacramento.
Our concerns include: an increase in bird collisions, helicopter flight impacts on migratory birds in surrounding roosting and foraging habitat, lighting impacts, building a hospital in a floodplain, surface water runoff, cumulative impacts, compliance with our region’s Metropolitan Transportation Plan/Sustainable Communities Strategy, growth inducement and more.
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.