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Old Posted Jun 2, 2007, 6:04 PM
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North Natomas panhandle decision postponed until June 14th

Planners postpone decision on annexation
By Terri Hardy - Bee Staff Writer
Published 12:00 am PDT Friday, June 1, 2007
Story appeared in METRO section, Page B3


Even though a local school district faces an $11 million penalty if a complicated proposal to annex land into Sacramento isn't speedily approved, both Planning Commission and City Council members said Thursday that they won't be rushed.

Sacramento Planning Commission members surprised a crowded audience Thursday night when they voted 4-1 to continue a recommendation on whether to bring the 1,430-acre "panhandle" area near North Natomas into city boundaries.

Commissioner John Boyd said he felt "extremely pressured" to push through approval of the plan because the Grant Joint Union High School District could pay a hefty fee if ground hasn't been broken for its new education complex in the panhandle by Sept. 30. For construction to begin, the panhandle land must be annexed into the city.

A vote on the issue Thursday -- two weeks after it went to the commission -- would have left inadequate time for members to absorb material on the complex plan, Boyd said.

"I'm not comfortable moving forward, even though it may be inconvenient," Boyd said. "We need to deliver the most solid, the most well-thought-out plan as possible."

The commission continued the issue until June 14.

Commissioner D.E. "Red" Banes was the only member to vote against the continuance. Two other commissioners were absent, and two recused themselves, saying they had clients who owned land in the panhandle.

The panhandle is a vertical swath of land bordered on the north by Elkhorn Boulevard and on the south by Interstate 80. It is bisected by Del Paso Road.

A proposal to annex the area was introduced in 2000 and has slowly been making its way through the approval process.

Commissioners at last week's meeting said they were stunned to learn about Grant's construction timeline problem and of the need for a fast-track decision on annexation.

After Thursday's meeting, however, John Raymond, Grant's assistant superintendent of facilities, said the commission "did the right thing."

Raymond said he'd had several meetings with city and county officials over the past few days and there seemed to be the will to work out a schedule that could allow better consideration of the issue and not place Grant in financial jeopardy.

"I'm hoping there are some options to meet our schedule," Raymond said. "Will we be able to start construction in September? I don't know. But I know there has been increased dialogue about working out a solution."

The Grant district purchased 70 acres of agricultural land in the panhandle in 2005 from Kenneth Cayocca and his family, paying less than $200,000 an acre, Raymond said.

The district looked at several parcels for a potential school site.

The district chose to consider only land slated for annexation into the city so it could operate under the city's habitat conservation plan and avoid having to seek federal and state building permits for environmentally sensitive land on its own.

"We made a conscious decision not to buy something out of the sphere of influence," Raymond said. "It would be difficult to negotiate for utilities, and we'd be accused of leapfrog development, something the city wasn't prepared to do."

Despite the slow progress of the project, Raymond said in meetings with city planners he was confident enough of the annexation timeline to sign off on a construction deadline starting this summer. Grading work had to start then, he said, to avoid disturbing giant garter snake hibernation from fall to late spring.

Raymond also said he'd contacted representatives of Mayor Heather Fargo, Councilman Ray Tretheway and Councilwoman Sandy Sheedy.

Raymond was surprised last week, he said, when he realized the commission was only then taking its first look at the annexation proposal.

Members from Fargo, Tretheway and Sheedy's offices said this week they knew nothing about Grant's deadline pressures.

Sheedy said the three leaders met today and agreed to call a meeting with Grant officials.

Sheedy said they'll be asking to see Grant's contract with its contractor.

"This is putting us into a position we don't want to be in; you'd think if they were going to lose $11 million, they'd put up a red flag," Sheedy said Thursday. "We need to be very diligent about this and what we do, and we are not going to be pushed into anything."

Raymond said he would not comment about previous discussions with those elected officials.
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