Stop Elk Grove Expansion onto Farmland and Wildlife Habitat. The City of Elk
Grove has applied to LAFCo to expand the City's potential boundary southward
onto 8,000 acres of farmland. We and others have submitted extensive comments
on the poorly prepared EIR. The expected hearing date for the proposal and EIR
is on March 7, 2012 (Wednesday night at 5:30 pm).
Mike Eaton wrote a good explanation of what is wrong with this application for the Sacramento Bee, February 3, 2012. Click here to read it.
Elk Grove citizens have formed a group called GRASP to advocate for Elk Grove's future without the expanded footprint. See the article here. Find this group on Facebook.
Read comment letters on the EIR and find link to the EIR. The EIR is the best place to find maps showing the location of the SOI proposal.
You can also sign up for email news and alerts on our home page to stay engaged in this process.
Friends of the Swainson's Hawk is very concerned about this proposal. This is the single greatest threat to Swainson's Hawk viability and range in California. But citizens of Elk Grove have many other reasons to be concerned - traffic, impacts on home values, impacts on small businesses in Elk Grove, water, sanitation and other infrastructure costs, and the viability of development already approved but unbuilt inside the City if expansion goes forward.
Fight Urban Sprawl and Loss of Farmland: Reasons to Oppose the Expansion
Plan for Elk Grove Now Before LAFCo
Elk Grove could expand its size by 30 percent, with
concrete covering the farmland and wildlife habitat south of the City. That
is the plan that Elk Grove has submitted to LAFCo, a little known public agency
responsible for ensuring orderly development and protection of open space and
farmland. LAFCo is slated to vote on this proposal on March 7 or sometime thereafter.
You can help defeat this proposal and help LAFCo make better choices for our
region. Check www.saclafco.org for updates. Sign
up here for action alerts.
Send a letter or email opposing Elk Grove's request to expand its footprint
to LAFCo Commission at:
Sacramento Local Agency Formation Commission. 1112 I Street, Suite 100 , Sacramento,
CA 95814-2836
Fax: (916) 874.2939 Email: commissionclerk@saclafco.org
WHY ELK GROVE’S PROPOSED SPHERE OF INFLUENCE
("SOI") EXPANSION SHOULD BE DENIED BY LAFCO
o Elk Grove has provided no evidence that it needs to expand the City into farmland
south of the City, outside the current Urban Services Boundary for the County.
Growth projections for the region don’t justify its claims and there is
also land adjacent to the City to the north that would be a more suitable area
for the City to grow .
o Paving over South County's farmland for more urban development and land speculation
would sabotage efforts to improve the economic sustainability of South County
agriculture. Planning Elk Grove growth for 8,000 acres farmland will cause farmers
to stop investing in agriculture and reduce the "critical mass" needed
to support the infrastructure required for commercially-viable agriculture in
South County.
o Approval of an SOI by LAFCo could trigger runaway real estate speculation
within the SOI area and probably throughout southern Sacramento County, which
would escalate the cost of acquiring conservation easements to mitigate for
development within the USB, and greatly increase the cost of implementing the
South Sacramento County Habitat Conservation Plan, the mitigation for development
in Sacramento south of the American River.
o The 8,000-acre proposed SOI area is very important nesting and foraging habitat
for a significant number of nesting pairs of Swainson’s Hawks, listed as
threatened by the California Endangered Species Act, and irreplaceable wintering
habitat for large numbers of migratory birds, including Greater and Lesser Sandhill
Cranes.o Development within the proposed SOI area (after annexation) could further
devalue existing Elk Grove properties by creating yet more oversupply of residential
and commercial development that has already caused a precipitous drop in local
and regional property values . The expansion hurts Elk Grove residents and businesses.
o Approval of the SOI is inconsistent with the region’s Blueprint for development
and the purpose of SB 375, legislation designed to guide growth to reduce greenhouse
gases and promote sustainability in the future.
o There is no surface water supply for development within the SOI (future annexation)
area outside of the USB. Current surface water contracts are restricted to use
within the current Urban Service Boundary. Thousands of more acres of urban
development reliant on groundwater would accelerate existing groundwater overdraft
and further deplete the Cosumnes River, thereby jeopardizing the Cosumnes salmon
and steelhead runs, and possibly reducing groundwater to less than what is needed
to support riparian forests and habitat of the Cosumnes River corridor and elsewhere
in South County.
o The DEIR for the draft County General Plan Update shows how projected future
wastewater flows from the County of Sacramento, Elk Grove, Rancho Cordova, and
City of Sacramento would greatly exceed the existing permitted and proposed
(but not yet permitted) secondary treatment capacity of SRCSD. (DEIR p. 5-19).
These projections DO NOT INCLUDE additional wastewater which would be generated
by new development within the area proposed for Elk Grove’s SOI.
Map of Swainson's Hawk nesting sites south of the City of Elk Grove
