The go go approach may not be the best way to develop the most important downtown development since, well, since the K Street renewal?
Process to OK railyard at issue
Some question whether enough oversight remains now that development is on a fast track.
By Terri Hardy - thardy@sacbee.com
Published 12:00 am PST Friday, November 9, 2007
The opportunity to finally develop the long-dormant, immensely toxic 240-acre downtown railyard into a neighborhood with shops, museums, and housing has put the city in a precarious balancing act.
How do Sacramento officials encourage developer Thomas Enterprises to transform one of the largest infill sites in the country, while keeping sight of the public's interests? How much city incentive is too much?
A line in the sand was drawn recently after the city floated a controversial idea to let railyard building projects bypass reviews by the planning, design and preservation commissions in order to speed the development through the approval process.
Outcry from commission members and residents prompted a compromise, but some remain worried that crucial oversight is in jeopardy.
The new approval process, which would eliminate review by the planning commission, will be considered by that group next week. Ultimately, the City Council will decide whether to adopt the new system.
"This has been pretty disconcerting for everybody, the commissioners and people in the community," said Karen Jacques, a member of the city's Preservation Commission…
Robert Waste, a public policy professor at California State University, Sacramento, said he is nonetheless concerned at the special treatment. Park requirements are a part of doing business, he said, and state law allows developers to pay fees in lieu of providing acreage.
A former planning commissioner, Waste says be believes the railyard plan overall is moving forward too quickly.
Said Waste: "This is the largest infill project in the history of Sacramento; better to do it right than to do it fast."
