Sacramento city leaders vote to send letter of opposition over Natomas development plans
A Sacramento housing clash is pitting the city council against the board of supervisors over a massive Natomas development.
The city council voted 8-1 on Monday to send a formal letter of opposition that could stop supervisors from approving the plans.
"So it's unusual for the city of Sacramento to oppose a county of Sacramento project," Sacramento Councilmember Karina Talamantes said.
Talamantes was among the councilmembers in support of the unusual move to send the letter to the county to stop a massive housing development called the Upper Westside Plan.
"Housing is not the issue for me. For me, it's the communication, or lack thereof, communication to the residents in Natomas," Talamantes said.
Talamantes said the county is breaking a Natomas joint vision agreement with the city that called on the county to preserve the space and leave the city to develop it.
The Upper Westside Plan between El Centro Road and the Sacramento River would include more than 9,000 housing units, three elementary schools and a high school, and be home to 25,000 new residents.
Josh Harmatz lives along the Garden Highway and is concerned that all the new homes and businesses will triple the traffic on this narrow two-lane levee road.
"There's just no room and there's no shoulder for this amount of traffic," Harmatz said.
Project supporters say the development will create much-needed housing for the Sacramento region.
Now, the city of Sacramento, awarded a pro-housing designation from the state, is sending this formal opposition to this housing plan.
"That will be to be determined," Talamantes said when asked what impact the letter of opposition would have. "But the city and county working together is the best thing that can happen for the residents of Sacramento."
The Sacramento County Board of Supervisors is set to vote on that development on August 20.