Proposed Trumark at Kassis Housing Project
https://www.cityofranchocordova.org/…/kassis-property
I am opposed to approval of the Trumark at Kassis housing development, as currently presented/proposed, due to traffic, environmental impacts to the American River Parkway, as well as no traditional public stakeholder participation to date.
https://www.cityofranchocordova.org/…/kassis-property
I have signed the petition circulated by SARA (Save the American River Association) and share concerns with Tiffany neighborhood residents about the project and the city council’s responses to date.
https://www.sarariverwatch.org/kassis_property_petition
I am also opposed to the concessions the city and community must make to facilitate this development being built as proposed in the FBSP designated “Parkway Corridor Overlay Zone” (RCMC 23.325.070 Parkway corridor (PC) overlay zoning district), which includes the orchard and river bank, sensitive areas to the health of the American River Parkway.
https://www.codepublishing.com/…/RanchoCordova23325…
As identified as an “Opportunity Site” in the Folsom Boulevard Specific Plan:
https://www.cityofranchocordova.org/home/showdocument…
“The opportunity sites designate locations where the City will concentrate resources (e.g., economic development incentives, public investment, facilities, outreach, coordination) and community assets (e.g., public gathering places, events, activities) with the goal of catalyzing significant private investment in these areas.”
Chapter 5, Opportunity Sites 2013 Folsom Blvd Specific Plan Update
Nowhere in the FBSP Opportunity Site assessment of the Kassis Property does it mention the American River Parkway as a “community asset”. The major blind spot of the perspective of this specific plan is that it promotes private investment at the cost of the American River Parkway.
Our city must strike a balance between meeting our housing needs share identified in the SACOG “Regional Housing Needs Allocation”, the economic development opportunities and challenges facing Folsom Boulevard, and protecting the American River Parkway.
I strongly urge the project proponents demand greater due process for their project and the neighboring property owners’ interests, by demanding that the City Council immediately restore the planning commission, allocate funds to hire additional staff to study this project, and create a task force of neighboring property owners, project proponents and regional parkway stakeholders to iron out project alternatives that don’t impact the American River Parkway and address traffic safety and preservation of quality of life in the established Tiffany neighborhood.
I would also ask that each of the candidates running in the November 3, 2020 election for Rancho Cordova City Council share their position or perspective on the proposed Trumark at Kassis project and protection of the American River Parkway.
Trumark’s most successful projects in other cities have moved through the planning process with a planning commission in play. This fact should inform their sense of urgency to avoid costly and wasteful litigation, and bring neighbors and parkway stakeholders together to achieve a successful housing project that meets the housing needs of the city, mitigates harm to the American River Parkway, and honors the property and due process rights of all involved.
-Donald Childs
