The City of Elk Grove continues to fail to demonstrate a need for more land on which to build, and yet they want more anyway. The Bilby Ridge Sphere of Influence Amendment proposes to increase the City of Elk Grove’s Sphere of Influence, thereby allowing increased urban sprawl around the area of Elk Grove and South of Sacramento. The Environmental Council of Sacramento has submitted our comments regarding the Notice Of Preparation Of A Draft Environmental Impact Report For The Bilby Ridge Sphere Of Influence Amendment_(Lafc 04-16) Application.
Our comment letter addresses the Demand for the Project, the Loss of Agricultural Land, Water Demand and Availability, the Growth-Inducing Effects associated with this amendment, as well as the important Biological Resources at stake.
This is where Sacramento plans to put nearly 3,000 new homes, by Tony Bizjak, May 30, 2017, The Sacramento Bee
Advocates for the Swainson’s hawk, listed as threatened by the state, are unhappy with the habitat mitigation land chosen for the hawks, which is an orchard west of the airport, adjacent to the Teal Bend golf course. Advocate Jude Lamare said the site is too close the airport, where 11 Swainson’s hawks have been counted as hit and killed by jets in the last four years.
The hawks forage in various places around the Natomas basin, but, as development continues, nesting areas will be reduced, forcing more birds into limited sites, including the one next to the airport. “If you are picking a ‘forever’ home for threatened avian species, it would not be next to a runway,” Lamare said. “You are squeezing the species down.”
A Message from Judith Lamare, President of the Friends of the Swainson’s Hawk, a member organization of Habitat 2020/ECOS. May 29, 2017
Here is a text you can copy and email to urge the City to reject the Moody Preserve as part of the Greenbriar project. Use this in the Subject line of your email: Item 19 May 30, 2017: No Hawk Preserve Next to Airport
Dear City Leaders:
Please reject the proposed Moody Preserve as part of the Greenbriar Project at your meeting on Tuesday May 30. (Agenda Item 19)
The property is about 600 feet from the Airport’s west runway.
Eleven Swainson’s Hawks have been listed as fatalities in the FAA bird strike data base for SMF between 2013 and 2016.
Airport operations are expected to grow by 30 percent over the next twenty years.
This is the wrong location to preserve in perpetuity for conservation of a threatened bird species.
Please require the Greenbriar developer to provide another mitigation site that offers more protection to the Swainson’s Hawk, listed as threatened under state law.
The email string to use is: MayorSteinberg[at]cityofsacramento[dot]org, Angelique Ashby <aashby[at]cityofsacramento[dot]org>, Allen Warren <awarren[at]cityofsacramento[dot]org>, Jeff S. Harris <JSHarris[at]cityofsacramento[dot]org>, Steve Hansen <SHansen[at]cityofsacramento[dot]org>, Jay Schenirer
<jschenirer[at]cityofsacramento[dot]org>, Eguerra[at]cityofsacramento[dot]org,”Lawrence R. Carr” <Lcarr[at]cityofsacramento[dot]org>, Rick Jennings <rjennings[at]cityofsacramento[dot]org>, clerk[at]cityofsacramento[dot]org,swainsonshawk[at]sbcglobal[dot]net
Thank you for your help in averting a bad decision on conservation for our threatened wildlife.
Advocates for the Swainson’s hawk, listed as threatened by the state, are unhappy with the habitat mitigation land chosen for the hawks, which is an orchard west of the airport, adjacent to the Teal Bend golf course. Advocate Jude Lamare said the site is too close the airport, where 11 Swainson’s hawks have been counted as hit and killed by jets in the last four years.
The hawks forage in various places around the Natomas basin, but, as development continues, nesting areas will be reduced, forcing more birds into limited sites, including the one next to the airport. “If you are picking a ‘forever’ home for threatened avian species, it would not be next to a runway,” Lamare said. “You are squeezing the species down.”
ECOS has submitted the following letter to provide comment, and questions, regarding SCGA’s proposal that its existing Groundwater Management Plan (GMP) be accepted as an adequate Alternative to developing a Groundwater Sustainability Plan (GSP) as required by the Sustainable Groundwater Management Act (SGMA).
Project Location: The figure below shows the location of the South American Subbasin (located in the central portion of Sacramento County), the existing SCGA GMP area, and portions of the adjacent California Department of Water Resources’ (State DWR’s) Bulletin 118 (2003) groundwater subbasins located within Sacramento County.
The City of Elk Grove has once again applied to amend their Sphere of Influence (SOI) and ECOS is again at the forefront, working to halt urban sprawl.
What is the problem?
A “Sphere of Influence” (SOI) is defined as a planning boundary outside of an agency’s legal boundary (such as the city limit line) that designates the agency’s probable future boundary and service area.
Planning boundaries were put in place to direct growth and to prevent urban sprawl. Expanding these boundaries, especially when there is still plenty of room to build within them, increases the human impact on the environment and decreases the efficiency with which a city or county uses its resources, such as water, electricity, transportation dollars, etc.
Where is the problem?
The City of Elk Grove wants to expand to the south of their urban growth boundaries, into green fields and wildlife habitats that have never before been built upon.
Look at all this green!
Didn’t this already happen?
The City of Elk Grove has submitted previous applications to expand their sphere of influence in the past. In 2008, the City of Elk Grove (City) applied to Sacramento Local Agency Formation Commission (Sacramento LAFCo) for a Sphere of Influence Amendment (LAFC#04-08) to the south and east of its current boundary consisting of approximately 10,536 acres, which was subsequently closed and a new application (LAFC#09-10) submitted by the City for 7,869 acres. The City withdrew its application in 2013. Both of these larger areas included the proposed SOIA Area addressed by the current proposed project. This project is separate and distinct from the previous proposals.
More Background
The affected territory includes a 1,156-acre area that abuts the southern portion of the City of Elk Grove’s existing jurisdictional boundary. This is called the proposed Sphere of Influence Amendment Area (SOIA Area) or “the project site.” This proposed SOI amendment requires approval by the Sacramento Local Agency Formation Commission (LAFCo), which has sole discretion on the establishment and amendment of SOI boundaries.
LAFCo is charged with oversight of changes in governmental organization and has the authority to consider:
Annexations to, or detachments from cities or districts;
The formation or dissolution of districts;
The incorporation or disincorporation of cities;
The consolidation or reorganization of cities or districts;
The establishment of subsidiary districts, and
The development of, and amendments to, Spheres of Influence.
LAFCo has the authority to approve, modify and approve, or disapprove applications, and to impose mitigation measures and conditions of approval. Per statute, LAFCo shall not impose any conditions that would directly regulate land use density or intensity, property development, or subdivision requirements.
Read the Kammerer/Hwy 99 Sphere of Influence Amendment (LAFC #07-15) Draft Environment Impact Report (DEIR) by clicking here.
ECOS Comment Letter on the Municipal Services Review
Here is an excerpt from the ECOS comment letter on the current Elk Grove SOI expansion application Municipal Services Review, which includes the shortage of water in the area:
“…While we have many concerns about the Elk Grove expansion proposal, with regard to the MSR our primary concern is future water supply. Water is an essential service for prospective urban development and an important factor in the LAFCo approval process. The availability of water to meet the competing needs of habitat, agriculture and urban uses is an ongoing and increasingly acute issue in the Sacramento region and elsewhere in the state. This is one of the threshold issues facing LAFCo, and we feel that the prospects of future water supply to this area have not been adequately analyzed or illustrated in the MSR…”
Read our full comment letter by clicking here or on the image of the letter below.
