Planning Commission Considers Elverta
Specific Plan
By John
Sassaman
The Elverta Specific Plan came under sharp attack from community
members during its first hearing before the Sacramento Planning
Commission October 28.
Opponents of the proposal to build 4,900-plus homes north and west of
the Cherry Creek subdivision accused developers and Sacramento county
officials of wasting taxpayers' money and ignoring extensive community
input about the plan, and said that the proposal would destroy the
community's rural quality of life.
The three-and-a-half-hour hearing, the first of several to consider the
Specific Plan, opened with an overview briefing by Sacramento county
officials. County officials acknowledged that the Rio Linda Elverta
Community Planning Advisory Council (CPAC) had previously voted against
the project, citing a number of deficiencies in its Environmental
Impact Report and an overall negative impact on the community.
The county officials were followed by four engineers, hired by the
developers, who displayed maps of the project and outlined drainage,
water supply and sewer aspects of the proposal. During their
presentations, the engineers noted that the development proposal
included a school site north of the Cherry Creek subdivision for the
Center School District that was the target of litigation and intense
community opposition.
The Planning Commission then heard public comment, which was
unanimously opposed to all aspects of the project and, more
importantly, against actions by the developers and the county to
solicit and then ignore community input.
An example of this was a series of never-before-seen maps unveiled at
the Planning Commission meeting. The maps, created by the developers,
outline what will be built where. The new maps were a significant
change from maps previously created with input from a Citizens Advisory
Committee and adopted by the Board of Supervisors.
By doubling the size of the commercial area and quadrupling the acreage
for apartments, the new maps threw out the hard work of community
members who spent many hours developing the original maps.
Furthermore, the new maps add apartments and a sports complex in land
zoned Agricultural-Residential, which opponents of the proposal claim
is sure to lead to future complaints about traffic, noise and intrusive
lighting.
Among the Rio Linda and Elverta residents who encouraged the Planning
Commission to carefully consider the proposal's impact on existing
residents were Dr. Pollie Parker, Charlea Moore and Debbie Byrne. They
urged commissioners to consider the plight of residents who were being
negatively impacted by proposals that will financially benefit
developers.
The Planning Commission schedule for November 4 includes a further
discussion of the Environmental Impact Report and Transportation. The
tentative date for the following meeting, where the Infrastructure
Financing Plan will be discussed, is Monday, November 10, at 6 p.m. in
the Supervisors chambers at 700 H Street in Sacramento.