Alchemist

Tuesday, May 2, 2006

Last week, Alchemist appeared at City Council to oppose the insane plans for Sacramento to expand into the flood plain of Natomas and offered some suggestions on how to accomodate new residents into the existing urbanzied areas of our city. Here's what was said:

Comments on Natomas Joint Vision, April 25, 2006

Good Evening Mayor Fargo and Members of the City Council:
My name is Wendy Carter, I live in the Alkali/Mansion Flats neighborhood, and Im here representing Alchemist, a non-profit community development organization.
As an organization committed to equitable and sustainable development in Sacramento, we must oppose any further action to develop the Natomas Joint Vision area. We believe that the resources both staff time and funding required to study and proceed with development - should be re-directed towards efforts in existing neighborhoods. We understand the need to plan for a growing population, but we dare to believe that this can be achieved primarily within the existing urbanized areas of the city.

To accomplish this, we propose three strategies:

Strategy 1: Dedicate more resources to neighborhood scale planning, and empower communities to take the lead. The idea of Form Based Codes has been so attractive to residents not only because it provides an avenue to protect historic neighborhoods, but because it includes a strong emphasis on public participation. Residents need to be able to define what they DO want, rather than having to spend all their energy fighting against what they dont want. With assurance that new growth will be respectful of the existing neighborhood, residents are much more likely to accept higher densities and new development. The current level of funding dedicated to form based codes is not adequate and the implementation plan is set too far in the future.

Strategy 2: Develop stricter policies and enforcement mechanisms related to vacant buildings and lots to reduce the incentive for speculation, which renders substantial quantities of city land unproductive, especially in older central city neighborhoods such as Alkali Flat and Oak Park.

Strategy 3: Make central city areas attractive to families by continuing to invest in safety, affordable housing, education and the arts.

By halting further development in the Natomas area, you will be taking a great step towards achieving the goals set by the Urban Environmental Accords, signed by Mayor Fargo this past weekend.

Thank you.