Fair Oaks Blvd. Corridor Plan Fails to Get Enough Votes for Recommendation to Co. Supervisors

After several years of developing a plan for improving the community, the Fair Oaks Boulevard Corridor Plan failed to get enough votes Wednesday evening by the Carmichael-Old Foothill Farms Community Planning Commission to make a recommendation on the plan to county supervisors during a meeting at the .

The purpose of Wednesday's final hearing was to take public testimony about the latest amendments to the plan, titled Amendment No. 5, and deliberate the amendments before calling for a vote to approve the overall plan.

About 100 members of the residential and business communities attended the five hour-long hearing. Members of the Sacramento County Planning Department staff also attended the hearing to guide the commission through the final actions of the plan, assuming Wednesday’s hearing would be the final one.

The corridor plan was developed in order boost the economy and attractiveness of the area by establishing new zoning rules and streetscape designs for Fair Oaks Boulevard and Manzanita Avenue.

One of the main “hallmark” themes of the plan is to create a Main Street feel to the boulevard by implementing modifications, such as placing new buildings at the street frontage with parking in the rear or at the side.

The plan covers a four-mile stretch of the boulevard between Oak Avenue to the south and Marshall Avenue to the east and Manzanita Avenue between Fair Oaks Boulevard to the south (where the road curves to the right) and to Winding Way to the north.

Commissioners heard public testimony from members of the business community and the Citizen’s Advisory Council regarding Addendum No. 5 to the plan, primarily on the issue of land use tables.

The tables outlined how the land could be used in each of the four districts of the plan area. It permitted, conditionally permitted, or outright prohibited certain uses for the land and rose concerns for those interested in development of such businesses as “big box” stores, liquor stores, and drive-through service locations. The strictest rules apply to the Main Street District.

Tim Taron, an attorney with the Sacramento-based law firm Hefner, Stark & Marois LLP, representing a development at the intersection of Winding Way and Manzanita Avenue, requested that stores larger than 50,000 square feet be allowed in the plan through a conditional use permit.

The Evergreen Company, who is under contract to purchase the 24 acres known as the Holesapple Holdings, has submitted a series of comments on the Fair Oaks Boulevard plan, which focuses on emphasizing regional commercial land uses.

“It is an arbitrary, cynical, and anticompetitive provision,” Taron said. “Nowhere else in the county do you have this kind of provision.”

Others also came up to express concern about the plan being too restrictive in other areas and thereby preventing any businesses from coming in to the area because it would be easier for them to open up somewhere else.

“You have to be competitive with the rest of the county,” said Steven Fishbein, of Stevenson Equity, LLC., who also came forward to speak.

Gary Hirsch, a member of the Citizen Advisory Committee, said that while they tried to reach a consensus, that the area at Manzanita and Winding Way, where there is an interest in developing a more-than 50,000 square foot retail space, was “the crown jewel of the entire Carmichael area," and that there should some review of any development that goes in there. 

Another issue that repeatedly came up during the hearing was the prohibition of billboards. Many people said they feel that billboards are a blight and an eyesore in the community.

“I strongly support your position on that,” Hirsch said. “I think that all the billboards should be removed.”

Chris Meyer, president of the Carmichael Chamber of Commerce recently sent a letter to county staff expressing the chamber’s concerns about mandatory rezoning of the entire area.

“This mandatory, one size fits all, approach seems neither practical, nor one that could be successfully implemented,” the letter said.

The letter also stated that the original focus of the plan was on beautification, transportation, and street improvements and most directed toward the “Main Street District.” Chamber officials said they felt that the current plan with amendments had strayed from this original vision by applying mandatory rules for the entire plan area.

During deliberations, commissioners, with the help of county staff members, walked through each item in Amendment  No. 5, primarily deliberating on the language in the plan with regard to such issues as the land use tables, big box retail, signage, and smart street growth.

Regarding regional scale stores, the group ultimately voted to change the land use table to allow stores of more than 50,000 square feet be developed without the need for conditional use permits in the Manzanita District.

The term “road diet” was used in the Amendment No. 5 document, which prompted a request for a definition of the term. A representative from the Department of Transportation explained that a “road diet” refers to the modification of a roadway designed to encourage other modes of transportation such as bicycling or walking.

For example, a four-lane road, one where two lanes in each direction exist, could be changed to convert the outside lane in each direction to bike lanes and sidewalks. Another example would be to convert the space used for onstreet parking into landscaping and sidewalks, making it more pedestrian-friendly.

Commissioners voted 3-2 in favor of the plan, but in order to make a formal recommendation to the Sacramento County Board of Supervisors, four yes votes are needed, Commissioner Lois Wright said. Commissioner Peter Tateishi was not in attendance and a seventh vacant position on the board has not been filled, Wright said.

The plan will now be forwarded to county supervisors for continued review, with no recommendation from the planning commission. Supervisors will then begin conducting further hearings, the first of which may be scheduled as early as this summer.