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Thursday, May 17, 2012
Regional Focus: January 2007
Setting the Pace
By choosing quality over quantity, Rocklin has grown at just the right speed
Story by Stephanie Flores
Somewhere between the population boom and plans for neighboring cities to expand, the city of Rocklin has had to balance its small-town history with the progress of its region. Although Rocklin welcomes applications — and revenue — from new developments, it doesn’t have the big-city ambitions of its neighbors, Lincoln and Roseville.
This time last year, Rocklin’s population hit 51,000, according to California Department of Finance estimates. Although its population has more than doubled since 1990, Rocklin doesn’t aspire to get much bigger. There are no plans to expand city boundaries or to exceed 70,000 residents by buildout. Meanwhile, the West Roseville Specific Plan could add 21,000 people to Roseville, and a proposed sphere-of-influence expansion could bring Lincoln from 33 to nearly 56 square miles.
The Rocklin City Council has been pro-growth, says Councilwoman Kathy Lund, but in an orderly way. “To build a subdivision here, our fees are high,” she says. “That’s because we want quality work.”
The city strives for a high quality of life for its residents, Lund says, not just in the new areas, but in the older areas of Rocklin as well. The City Council invests money from new developments in older areas; for example, the first water feature in a Rocklin park was in Veterans Park, an older park next to City Hall.
Assistant City Manager Rob Braulik compares Rocklin to a young Walnut Creek, which he says is a great city. He says development in South Placer bears similarities to the Interstate 680 corridor from Concord to Pleasanton. “It had little business development and commercial and it’s grown into one of the premier areas,” he says.
One way Rocklin gauges quality is by measuring community services using crime rates, school scores and fire-response times, Braulik says. For example, Rocklin consistently ranks as one of the safest cities in the region. In 2005 there were 70 violent crimes reported in Rocklin, or 1.4 per 1,000 residents, according to the Federal Bureau of Investigation. Sacramento had a total of 5,265, or 11.5 violent crimes per 1,000 people.
The city historically has sought to be a quality place to live, says former City Councilman Roy Ruhkala, and the current city leadership is continuing that goal. Ruhkala’s family moved to Rocklin in 1889 to work in the mining business. At age 87, Ruhkala has seen the changes in Rocklin, and among them, he says, is that it’s much more prestigious to be on the City Council these days.
“Used to be you had to talk people into running,” he says. “There was no money involved, not like [campaigns] today.”
In 1978 the Ruhkala family sold its quarries but kept the Ruhkala Monument Co., which is still run by Ruhkala’s son and daughter. Ruhkala says he doesn’t have any ill feelings toward the growth in his community.
“We were always progressive enough to know it was going to happen,” he says. “You have to be modern and live with the times.”
The roots of the city’s economy are clear from the old quarry pits around town and from businesses like Ruhkala’s monument company, which makes headstones, countertops and “anything clients ask for.” However, the economy has transformed over the past decades, and top employers now include technology and education. In 2006 the largest employer in Rocklin was the Rocklin Unified School District with 884 employees, followed by TASQ Technology with 575 and the Oracle Corp. with 500, according to the city.
“The mining industry was big and helped put Rocklin on the map, but today we have evolved into a diverse economy,” says Bill Halldin, chairman of the Rocklin Chamber of Commerce and owner of Halldin Public Relations.
Rocklin appears to be moving away from mining and manufacturing. The city isn’t likely to see an increase in industrial sectors, says Braulik, because land prices are too expensive. However, the growing education industry plays a key role in Rocklin in terms of employment and job training.
City leaders say the local colleges, William Jessup University and Sierra College, are used by businesses as advanced training centers for current employees. After Lund was elected to the City Council, she took classes on public speaking, political science and real estate at Sierra College.
The economic evolution of the city hasn’t been an accident, according to local business leaders, because city government is in tune with the needs of the community. In the past few years Rocklin’s business climate has matured and become more stable, says David Kaiser, CEO and president of Granite Community Bank, which opened for business in 2002.
“The city manager and the City Council have a clear vision for where we’re going and how to get things done,” he says.
Halldin says he has been happy with the zoning and planning done by the city, but hopes to see progress in downtown revitalization. Braulik says infill revitalization is the next natural step as the city nears buildout. Infill plans are brewing already, Lund says. At least three developers have proposed plans for downtown projects.
“The city can help with infrastructure,” Lund says, “but ultimately developers will have to come up with the money.” City leaders want to see a renewed downtown, but improvements will have to be market-driven, she adds.
In addition to infill proposals, there are a few new projects in the pipeline waiting for market demand to catch up. City leaders hope these retail and office projects will expand employment options for residents and tax revenue for the city.
A significant project for the city’s size is the Rocklin Corporate Center, which comprises two class-A office buildings. The 114,000-square-foot buildings by the Opus West Corp. have no potential tenants, says spokesman Gary Marsh. Construction started in November and should wrap-up by September.
“[This is] speculative, but we anticipate there is sufficient demand to lease this space,” Marsh says.
On the retail front, Blue Oaks Town Center has lured two new retailers to the region: R.C. Willey Home Furnishings, which opened in July and was the first in California, and Lucille’s Smokehouse Bar-B-Que, which opened later that summer and was the first in Northern California. About 80 percent of the 650,000-square-foot retail center is leased, says Julaine Johnson, sales assistant for CB Richard Ellis in Sacramento.
Lund has spent more than two decades in Rocklin and remembers when she had to drive out of town to buy anything other than groceries. “Except for Safeway and the pharmacy,” she says, “there wasn’t much here.” Now, she adds, residents can shop for furnishings or buy a car within a few miles of their homes.
That’s because Rocklin has a unique retail mix. For example, “Toy Row” on Granite Drive includes Niello Porsche, Dan Gamel RV and Harley-Davidson Buell of Rocklin. Business has been so good on Toy Row that Harley-Davidson dealer Vic Guidera is expanding his 18,000-square-foot location. He bought the former Kia building down the street to remodel and expand to 30,000 square feet.
“The move was very scientific,” Guidera says. “I found a piece of property I could afford to buy.” Harley has a loyal customer base, so as the region grew, Guidera says, his business was likely to grow too. He plans to add more apparel and accessories associated with the Harley lifestyle, such as leather jackets.
Despite the expansion of old businesses and the arrival of new ones, Braulik says one of the biggest challenges in Rocklin is finding affordable housing for new workers. The city aims to set aside 10 percent of new developments for affordable housing, says Leslie Woodman, housing coordinator for the city.
The city has approved 264 low-income, for-sale condos in the Vicara development of the Whitney Ranch subdivision. Until this project, most affordable housing in Rocklin was for seniors, Woodman says. Based on income requirements from the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development, household income cannot exceed $52,300 for a three-bedroom unit at Vicara and $47,050 for a two-bedroom unit.
As the city builds out and housing supply becomes scarcer in Rocklin, Lund says another challenge ahead is that Rocklin isn’t a fast-growing city anymore. “How are we going to handle it when we don’t have developer fees?” she asks.
