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Thursday, May 17, 2012
Regional Focus: February 2008
Race for the Cure
Finding the Rx for Natomas fatigue
Story by Amy Yannello
“Chocolate is essential to fighting Natomas fatigue,” says city employee Scot Mende, who has a bowl of chocolate espresso candies on his desk.
Mende should know. As the new growth manager for the city of Sacramento, it is his job to help city council members understand the complex issues surrounding Natomas: flood control, habitat preservation, open space conservation, annexations and traffic, among others.
Are your eyes glazing over yet? Then you might have just an inkling about the metaphorical malady known as “Natomas fatigue,” first coined by Mayor Heather Fargo.
“I don’t have it,” Fargo is quick to point out when asked for a working definition of the phrase.
“I don’t get it and neither does Ray Tretheway,” she continues, referring to the city councilman who represents District 1, which includes Natomas. “But I think the rest of the council does sometimes and the community as a whole does sometimes.”
So what is it?
“It’s when people get tired of hearing about Natomas and get tired of making decisions about that area of the community,” Fargo says. “It’s basically a whole new city that we’ve developed that grew over 10 years, after years of planning, so there are many nights at City Hall when the controversial issues that we deal with are about Natomas. And that matters to the people who live there a great deal, but maybe not to everyone in the audience.
“I don’t fault anyone for having it,” the mayor says. “The issues out there are big and complicated. In other communities, things are dealt with more incrementally, because things are already developed. So you focus on a block, not square miles. The scale is just so different in Natomas.”
When people speak of Natomas these days, they’re more likely talking about North Natomas — the new-growth area of the community that houses 34,000 residents and could expand to 66,000 by full build-out in 2017, according to the North Natomas Community Plan, adopted by the City Council in 1994. The city’s Department of Finance puts the total population of Natomas, both north and south, at 76,000 as of last month. Another 16,500 residents are expected to join North Natomas by 2012, and another 16,500 by 2017, according to Mende, who estimates that at full build-out, Natomas will be home to 112,000 residents by 2017.
North Natomas is home to 13,200 single-family homes, more than 6,000 apartments, 2.2 million square feet of retail space and 46 neighborhood and community parks (33 of which have been completed). North Natomas has the distinction of being the only community in America where 90 percent of residents can walk out their front doors and be within 880 feet of a neighborhood park, walking trail or open space.
North Natomas also has the distinction of being the first post-Proposition 13 community built in Sacramento, and as such, has all its services paid for out of developer fees, rather than the city’s general fund — unheard of in established areas like East Sacramento or Land Park.
The point that Fargo, Tretheway and Mende make is the growth in North Natomas sprung from 9,000 empty acres. The bulk of that growth, they note, has occurred in the past 10 years, dominating the council’s time and energies.
“It’s literally been from scratch,” says Tretheway. “We’re adding people, businesses and jobs right next to downtown. No way could this ever be considered suburban growth by any stretch of the imagination.”
So what type of growth is it?
“I don’t have a moniker for it yet,” Tretheway says, adding that he should come up with one to “give it a sense of the pioneering landscape that North Natomas represents.
“There really are so many good things happening out here,” he continues. “I think the term ‘Natomas fatigue’ has been misread. Natomas and downtown items dominate the agendas … but North Natomas is not one major project, like the railyards, where you hear about it then it goes away. We’re in the business of growing a whole new city here, and it’s one of the most exciting things we can do.”
District 4 Councilman Rob Fong, whose district has contiguous boundaries with every district except North Sacramento, says he expects to spend the bulk of his time on North Natomas issues and projects because the city has designated the space as a new-growth area.
“I would suspect that most of us understand that,” Fong says. “The reason Natomas [and the surrounding area] matters to the entire city so much is that we know we’re going to be asked to absorb another 250,000 people in the next 25 years, and there’s only so much infill development we can do.”
But it is exactly this type of expansion — expansion beyond North Natomas’ existing upper boundaries — that has some residents crying foul, saying that the city should focus on finishing the build-out of North Natomas and provide all promised city services there before annexing new land.
“Overall, this is a good community,” says Marc Laver, an eight-year resident of North Natomas. “But the growth has been so prolific, so fast, that the funding has lagged for services — to add police officers, fire stations, signal lights.”
Those lagging services have caused plenty of grief: A signal at Interstate 80 and Del Paso Road may not be done until 2009, though a person was killed crossing the bridge in September. Also, the city still lags in the number of police officers on patrol, though the city approved the hiring of another five officers in January, bringing the total number of officers in Natomas to 40.
“Also, we need more job growth, more high-tech, professional jobs. I just think there’s a whole set of complex issues that need to be looked at. What bothers me is that the city is expanding northward and we’re lacking services in North Natomas. I find that a little difficult to understand.”
He and others point to the proposed Greenbriar annexation — the Angelo Tsakopoulos and Woodside Homes partnership north of Elkhorn that seeks to annex a 577-acre parcel to the city to build nearly 3,000 homes and house 27 acres of retail and commercial development. The project has its issues, however. Unlike other projects in North Natomas, Greenbriar is subject to new mitigation rules that require a 1:1 replacement of agriculture and open-space land.
The annexation has raised the hackles of local environmental groups, as well as state agencies, because the project would require the loss of 329 acres of prime farmland. Opponents contend this would further endanger the habitats of the giant garter snake and the Swainson’s hawk — both on the threatened species list. The detractors feel the project also is premature and detrimental to the North Natomas community as a whole, as the city has yet to fully build within the city’s present boundaries.
To that final point, city leaders say, be patient — things are happening. Since 2006, the city has spent $54 million on various construction projects. Two major interchanges, one at Truxel Road and Interstate 80 and the other at Arena Boulevard and Interstate 5, have been completed, along with numerous signals and bridges. A fire station stands at the corner of Club Center Drive and Regency Park Circle.
“We’re building these things as quickly as we can based on need and the funding we receive,” says Carol Shearly, planning director for the city. “We certainly grew faster than expected, we’re playing catch-up and we will probably be for a while. People like to focus on the police substation, but it’s clear when you drive the community that there are plenty of public improvements and amenities out there.”
Adds Tretheway: “We’re in our adolescent phase in building out the community. The services and jobs always follow the rooftops and we’ve got the rooftops. As with any adolescent, everyone has a different view of a teenager. One calls it growing pains, the other calls it growth spurts. It depends on your perspective.”
Perspective is key, says Phil Serna of Serna Consulting, a local project management firm hired to manage the Greenbriar project. Calls to several developers were not returned for comment.
“I’m also a North Natomas resident, so it’s hard for me to buy into this whole idea of Natomas fatigue, especially on the service delivery side of things,” says Serna, who grew up in south Sacramento.
“There are other areas of the city that don’t enjoy the same amenities as North Natomas, like the parks, and crime is not as acute here as it is elsewhere. So when I hear in the media of these perceived deficiencies, I don’t have much sympathy for that.”
As for residents who worry about expansion, Serna says take a look at North Natomas through the eyes of Natomas residents 10 years ago.
“There were people here then that didn’t want North Natomas to expand,” Serna says. “Now the people who are here because of that expansion are saying don’t grow anymore. That doesn’t make sense.”
As for the other council members, the few who responded say they’re up to the demands that Natomas requires and that long nights are to be expected.
“No one can afford to get Natomas fatigue,” Fong says, reflecting on upcoming projects.
Greenbriar goes before the county’s Local Agency Formation Commission this month, where the city will ask formal permission to annex the complex parcel into the city. It’s bound to be a long and arduous meeting.
Chocolates anyone?
