Plan may help Folsom break the Highway 50 barrier
Published: Monday, May. 23, 2011 - 12:00 am | Page 1B
The city of Folsom, where median income and property values have outshined much of the Sacramento region, is nearing its ultimate push to annex 3,500 acres south of Highway 50.
On many fronts, the plan headed to the City Council on June 14 wins plaudits for urban planning.
The landowner-developers, including AKT Development and Carpenter Ranch Partnership, would create a community with jobs and housing to dovetail with the "Blueprint," the regional plan that seeks to thwart suburban sprawl.
The plan calls for high-density housing – 41 percent of 10,210 planned units – clustered around high-speed transit corridors.
It designates 30 percent of the land for open space and natural areas, and 9 percent for parks and schools. And it would create about 13,000 jobs. City officials say they expect high-paying jobs in high-tech and medical industries.
Backers say it's the kind of project that advances quality of life that has helped sustain Folsom during the downturn.
The city's unemployment rate in March stood at 5.8 percent, well below the countywide rate of 12.8 percent, according to state data.
Last year, banks repossessed about 1 percent of Folsom homes – half the countywide foreclosure rate, according to Foreclosures.com and census figures. And the median household income in Folsom was about $91,000 during 2009 – the highest of the region's incorporated cities, census data show.
The project also has critics, and a final environment impact report notes potential problems.
• Traffic on some routes, for example, would reach unacceptable levels during peak travel periods, according to the report.
Roadway improvements could help ease the problem, the document states. Among the strategies: Adding auxiliary lanes to eastbound Highway 50 from Hazel Avenue to east of Folsom Boulevard, with the developers to pay their proportionate share.
• The acreage is only about a mile north of the approved Teichert Quarry and two others in the pipeline for Sacramento County approval.
David Miller, Folsom's community development director, said project stakeholders are working on a management plan for truck traffic to Highway 50 to transport aggregate for construction projects.
The city of Folsom and project landowners prefer a route that follows the alignment of Prairie City Road.
Quarry representatives and Sacramento County have said they prefer to route their trucks along Scott Road, which runs through the heart of the proposed development area.
County planners warn that having the project so close to the quarries would be a nuisance to nearby residents. And they say a city-proposed truck route along Prairie City Road would lengthen the distance to Highway 50 and add to air-quality problems.
• County planners and residents also have lamented the loss of agricultural lands and significant wildlife habitat.
"Development of this land would be tragic," Folsom resident Debbie Meier told planning commissioners. "This is the last undeveloped, unobstructed view of rolling hills, grassland and oak tree groves in the area."
Commissioners voted unanimously Wednesday to recommend that the City Council certify the environmental impact report. If the council does that, and produces zoning maps, the city can submit its application for annexation to the Sacramento Local Agency Formation Commission, which has the final say.
If approved, the plan would be developed over decades.
Ardie Zahedani of RCH Group, who represents landowners, said build-out would be in 25 years, with rooftops appearing in 2013.
A big part of that development would be a rapid-transit bus plan. Sacramento Regional Transit has agreed to operate the route, linking the El Dorado Business Park on the east and RT's light-rail system at Hazel Avenue to the west.
The city has committed to financing half the costs for public infrastructure and all of its annual operating and maintenance costs, estimated at about $1.3 million a year, said Folsom's Miller.
The Sacramento Air Quality Management District has recognized that the Folsom expansion plan – reducing vehicle miles and improving bicycle, pedestrian and transit uses – should reduce emissions beyond projects that are "business as usual."
"They've invested heavily in rapid transit," said Larry Robinson, program coordinator for the district's land-use and transportation section. "They've really gone above and beyond, more than any other project of its size in Sacramento County."
Robert Holderness, attorney for AKT, told Folsom planning commissioners that the enormous work that has gone into the project shows it to be a "very carefully thought-out, well-planned project."
Commissioners seemed to agree.
"Growth is inevitable," Commissioner Dave Benevento said shortly before voting to send the project to the City Council. "There's no such thing as a perfect project.
"But I think this is a pretty good project, and I am in favor of it."
On many fronts, the plan headed to the City Council on June 14 wins plaudits for urban planning.
The landowner-developers, including AKT Development and Carpenter Ranch Partnership, would create a community with jobs and housing to dovetail with the "Blueprint," the regional plan that seeks to thwart suburban sprawl.
The plan calls for high-density housing – 41 percent of 10,210 planned units – clustered around high-speed transit corridors.
It designates 30 percent of the land for open space and natural areas, and 9 percent for parks and schools. And it would create about 13,000 jobs. City officials say they expect high-paying jobs in high-tech and medical industries.
Backers say it's the kind of project that advances quality of life that has helped sustain Folsom during the downturn.
The city's unemployment rate in March stood at 5.8 percent, well below the countywide rate of 12.8 percent, according to state data.
Last year, banks repossessed about 1 percent of Folsom homes – half the countywide foreclosure rate, according to Foreclosures.com and census figures. And the median household income in Folsom was about $91,000 during 2009 – the highest of the region's incorporated cities, census data show.
The project also has critics, and a final environment impact report notes potential problems.
• Traffic on some routes, for example, would reach unacceptable levels during peak travel periods, according to the report.
Roadway improvements could help ease the problem, the document states. Among the strategies: Adding auxiliary lanes to eastbound Highway 50 from Hazel Avenue to east of Folsom Boulevard, with the developers to pay their proportionate share.
• The acreage is only about a mile north of the approved Teichert Quarry and two others in the pipeline for Sacramento County approval.
David Miller, Folsom's community development director, said project stakeholders are working on a management plan for truck traffic to Highway 50 to transport aggregate for construction projects.
The city of Folsom and project landowners prefer a route that follows the alignment of Prairie City Road.
Quarry representatives and Sacramento County have said they prefer to route their trucks along Scott Road, which runs through the heart of the proposed development area.
County planners warn that having the project so close to the quarries would be a nuisance to nearby residents. And they say a city-proposed truck route along Prairie City Road would lengthen the distance to Highway 50 and add to air-quality problems.
• County planners and residents also have lamented the loss of agricultural lands and significant wildlife habitat.
"Development of this land would be tragic," Folsom resident Debbie Meier told planning commissioners. "This is the last undeveloped, unobstructed view of rolling hills, grassland and oak tree groves in the area."
Commissioners voted unanimously Wednesday to recommend that the City Council certify the environmental impact report. If the council does that, and produces zoning maps, the city can submit its application for annexation to the Sacramento Local Agency Formation Commission, which has the final say.
If approved, the plan would be developed over decades.
Ardie Zahedani of RCH Group, who represents landowners, said build-out would be in 25 years, with rooftops appearing in 2013.
A big part of that development would be a rapid-transit bus plan. Sacramento Regional Transit has agreed to operate the route, linking the El Dorado Business Park on the east and RT's light-rail system at Hazel Avenue to the west.
The city has committed to financing half the costs for public infrastructure and all of its annual operating and maintenance costs, estimated at about $1.3 million a year, said Folsom's Miller.
The Sacramento Air Quality Management District has recognized that the Folsom expansion plan – reducing vehicle miles and improving bicycle, pedestrian and transit uses – should reduce emissions beyond projects that are "business as usual."
"They've invested heavily in rapid transit," said Larry Robinson, program coordinator for the district's land-use and transportation section. "They've really gone above and beyond, more than any other project of its size in Sacramento County."
Robert Holderness, attorney for AKT, told Folsom planning commissioners that the enormous work that has gone into the project shows it to be a "very carefully thought-out, well-planned project."
Commissioners seemed to agree.
"Growth is inevitable," Commissioner Dave Benevento said shortly before voting to send the project to the City Council. "There's no such thing as a perfect project.
"But I think this is a pretty good project, and I am in favor of it."
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