Central City Specific Plan

  • The Central City Specific Plan, approved by the City Council on April 19, 2018 is intended to facilitate new housing opportunities in the Central Core. Additionally, the Central City Specific Plan will help to carry out the 2035 General Plan’s vision of infill development, reuse, and growth in urban areas like the Central City.
  • The Plan documents are many and lengthy and the culmination of 18 months of effort. Highlights include establishment of an infrastructure finance district for new development, the elimination of auto centered uses, streamlined environmental requirements and some alterations to the adaptive reuse ordinance to make rehabbing older structures easier. 
  • It also raises height limits in commercial zones (C-2) from 65' to 85' and adds some transitional height limits from those C-2 zones to adjacent residential zoned parcels. We advocated for this transitional height to protect the edges of our primarily residential District to ensure  we did not have an overbearing 'street wall' adjacent to our lower height historic area. We thank the City for listening to our concerns and adding transitional heights adjacent to our District. 
  • While the Plan does not directly protect Historic Districts, the city is moving forward with infill standards for the Districts on a separate timeline. We support this effort and will continue to work with the City, our friends in other historic districts and Preservation Sacramento to ensure an ordinance that more clearly defines infill standards for historic districts is approved in the near future. 
  • All the Plan documents can be found at the City's CCSP page: 
  • https://www.cityofsacramento.org/Community-Development/Planning/Major-Projects/Central-City-Specific-Plan/Resources

Winn Park Historic District Expansion Is Approved

  • On Tues. April 10, 2018 the City Council unanimously approved expanding the District to include 1616, 1620 & 1624 21st Street. 
  • We are thrilled and are humbled by the level of community support. We especially want to thank our friends at Preservation Sacramento, City Preservation Staff, the Preservation Commission, and our District 4 Council-member Steve Hansen for supporting this effort. 
  • We remain concerned about the chain link fence around the properties. Note - THE CITY HAS NOT APPROVED DEMOLITION -If you see anything that even remotely looks like demolition activity, call 311 immediately and report them to code enforcement. 
  • As listed historic structures they now qualify for various rehab incentives including the Mills Act, historic rehab tax credits and use of the CA Historic Building Code, and helps protect them from legal demolition and hopefully encourage the owner to repair/rehab them, or sell them to someone who will repair them. 
  • Thanks all for your support.

1616 - 1624 P Street (jpg)

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Ordinance_Expanding_the_Boundaries_of_the_Winn_Park_Historic_District_April 10 2018 (pdf)

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Pacific Market Hard Liquor License - Update April 2018

In December 2017, Pacific Market applied for a hard liquor license for their site at 2500 P Street.  As of early April we learned the City denied the finding of Public Convenience and Necessity, one of the steps needed to obtain the license. It is our understanding the Applicant has withdrawn their application as a result. We appreciate the City and Police Department recognizing the myriad issues related to this application and opting to not approve it. The WPHDA is strongly opposed based on complex policy issues in our neighborhood and a long an unpleasant history with hard alcohol sales at central city neighborhood markets. Read our attached letter to learn more about this complex issue. Pacific is a good operator and well liked in this community. Opposition is not personal and based on policy considerations. No one, no matter how well liked is entitled to intensify their use. Alcohol sales of any kind are prohibited in residential areas. They're only allowed to operate here because they are grandfathered as the store has been in continuous operation under a series of owners since the 1920's.  We appreciate the City recognizing the myriad issues related to this application and opting to not approve it. 

Pac Mkt PCN Opppose Letter (pdf)
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