Upper Northwest Interceptor 1 & 2 Construction Crews Set Up Traffic Controls in Natomas
Two traffic lanes on Del Paso Road in Natomas will be closed as part of Sacramento Regional County Sanitation District’s sewer pipe construction project. The closures are as follows:
- From July 21 through July 30 - One eastbound and one westbound lane between Gateway Park Boulevard and Parkplace South Drive will be closed 24 hours, seven days a week.
- From July 23 through 24 – One additional (two total) lane will be closed between 8 a.m. and 5 p.m. The lane will be open before and after to allow for commuter traffic.
During heavy commute times, alternate routes may be more efficient. While the lanes will be closed for the duration of the times listed above, normal construction hours are between 7 a.m. and 7 p.m., Monday through Friday, and between 8 a.m. and 7 p.m. on Saturday. Certain exceptions will apply.
For project information, call the 24-hour hotline at (866) 479-0600 or visit the project Web site at www.unwi1-4.com.
There will be a SWAT training exercise in Creekside at 2 p.m. tomorrow.
Anyone that wants to swing by the 4900 block of Winamac is welcome.
Kids who come will be given pencils, stickers, coloring books and will have the opportunity to take photos with the SWAT team and K-9 Dogs (and officers).
Folks are invited to stick around to watch the training after which tours of the Command Post Motor Home will be offered.
Hope to see you there!
The Promenade shopping center just can't hold onto 'em...
First, it was L&L Hawaiian BBQ, then it was Johnny Rockets and now the Starbucks is slated to go according to an article in the Sacramento Business Journal.
As much as we love coffee, we have to admit having -- what, SEVEN? -- Starbucks within the immediate area is a bit much. So we're not surprised at least one Natomas store is on the chopping block.
Developers take note: The neighborhood can only support so many coffee shops -- chain or otherwise. Something to keep in mind.
A full list of closures can be found here.
Paladin Officer Jacobson responded to a call10:27 a.m. this morning from a resident of PORT HENLEY CT who was reporting her 14yr old son JOLOREN NOBELLO (aka JJ) had run away in the middle of the night. The family was in the process of loading a moving truck to move to Texas. Parents report that JJ did not want to go and had run away at some point overnight. JJ is described as a 5’5”, thin build, Filipino male juvenile. Parents advised that JJ had left his cell phone when he ran away and that he had taken his bicycle and a small piece of rolling luggage with some clothes in it. Paladin advised parents to contact Sacramento Police and make a report with them as well. Paladin Officers will be on the lookout for this juvenile in the coming hours and days. Please report relative sightings to the Sacramento Police Dept. and/or Paladin. No clothing description was available given the circumstances (he took a variety of clothes with him).
Non-emergency (police only): 264-5471Paladin Private Security (Natomas Park only): 331-3175
Mayor Heather Fargo last night announced city officials have agreed to sign a lease that will allow a Police Resource Center to open in North Natomas.
The resource center -- a project of the North Natomas Crime & Safety Leadership Team -- will be in the Town Center shopping center (think Safeway) owned by Lewis Planned Communities. Plans are to locate the center in the storefront formerly occupied by Hot Dog Music, next door to Hollywood Video.
Lewis Planned Communities donated the store space for free, but the space needed to be insured by whomever signed the lease.
"The insurance component has been a big hurdle for the leadership team to overcome," says Angelique Ashby, Creekside Neighborhood Association prez and member of the safety team.
According to Ashby, the team reached out to Fargo and asked for her help with the insurance issue. At last night's Creekside meeting, Fargo announced talks with City Manager Ray Kerridge resulted in an agreement the city would sign the resource center lease.
The center will include resources for the community such as computers where area residents can file an online police reports or pick up neighborhood watch information. Sacramento police officer Kurt McCray, who helps coordinate area neighborhood watch efforts, is expected to be at the center one day a week.
The city's Neighborhood Services division is also slated to have a presence at the center. Efforts are underway to get code enforcement and a youth services component at the center.
Team reps say the police resource center is not meant to replace plans for a police substation in the North Natomas neighborhood. The city currently has long-term plans to build a combination fire and police station on the west side.
Volunteers will be needed to help staff the new police resource center which is expected to open some time in August. Look for it!
Dinner My Way is in the process of moving into the storefront formally known as Camille's Sidewalk Cafe.
An e-mail Councilman Ray Tretheway sent to the Natomas community following the city council's decision to approve the Arena Seniors project last night:Greetings:
Today the Sacramento City Council approved the Arena Seniors Project. This site is already zoned for residential high density housing. Further, this project is not subject to the inclusionary housing ordinance. The decision to offer subsidized housing is, in fact, strictly market driven. The developer is responding to community demand for affordable housing for seniors. At this point there are several market rate options for seniors in Natomas, but there are no affordable options for seniors, and this project addresses that demand.
The developer has many years of experience building similar projects. They built a similar affordable senior complex in Power Inn and Calvine in Sacramento as well as other affordable senior complexes in Roseville, Rocklin and Lincoln.
In order to get feedback on the project the city forwarded this project to the Creekside Neighborhood Association, Heritage Park Homeowners Association, Walk Sacramento, Partnership for Active Communities Natomas Community Association, Natomas Crossing Community Association, Natomas Park Homeowners Association, North Natomas Alliance, Regency Park, Terrace Park and Westlake to get feedback and to keep the community informed of the project.
This project was heard twice at the City of Sacramento Planning Commission. There was public comment from a few individuals opposed at the first hearing. After the first hearing the developer addressed many of the concerns and made changes to the site design, building design and floor plan. There was no public comment at the second hearing, and there was no community comment at the meeting tonight.
I supported this project because we need to make sure that our seniors on fixed incomes have affordable options when choosing to live in Natomas.
Sincerely,
Ray Tretheway
Councilmember, District One
City of Sacramento
(916) 808-7001
Got thoughts? Share 'em by clicking on "comments" below.
There has been a lot of talk lately about all the "inclusionary" or low-income housing in North Natomas.
At issue? The rule that a certain percentage of low-income housing be built whenever new development occurs. Since North Natomas is the site of nearly all new development within the Sacramento city limits, many feel the neighborhood has more than its fair share of inclusionary housing.
Today's Sacramento City Council agenda includes the following:
- Item 17: Arena Seniors inclusionary apartments, project P08-013 (W. Truxel just N of Arena)
Natomas-area leaders are calling on the city to decrease the area's inclusionary housing requirement to offset the 243 inclusionary senior apartments planned for Arena. They are asking area residents testify in this vain at tonight's public hearing on the matter set for 6 p.m. in the city council chambers, 915 I Street.
Says one, "There is no market-rate housing being built with them so why do we once again have 15% of zero being built (another dangerous precedent)?"
Heat Forces Delay
Caltrans is advising motorists the completion of stage three of the Fix I-5 project in downtown Sacramento, originally scheduled for tomorrow has now been moved to Thursday.
The fourth and final stage of the project, which is the full closure of northbound I-5 through downtown Sacramento, is now scheduled to begin Friday, July 18 at 8 p.m. The re-opening of those northbound lanes is now scheduled for Monday, July 28 by 5 a.m.
The Sacramento area’s recent heat wave dramatically reduced work time for crews placing the polyester-based concrete onto the roadway. That polyester concrete will serve as the final driving surface for the rebuilt lanes of I-5’s Boat Section between L and S Streets in downtown Sacramento.
Due to extremely high temperatures, paving crews lost valuable work time in each day of the stage. For more information please visit www.fixI5.com.
Click on image for larger view.
A grassroots effort on the part of four dedicated community-minded homeowners in the Gateway West and Park View neighborhoods of North Natomas has created a new neighborhood association.
The name Witter Ranch Community Alliance was chosen to honor historic Witter Ranch within the new association's boundaries, plus the elementary school and park central to the community which share the same name as the landmark.
The group's web site, launched over the weekend, can be found at WitterRanchCommunity.org.
The Witter Ranch Community Alliance boundaries include south of Arena Blvd., west of Duckhorn Drive, north of San Juan Avenue, and east of Witter Way.
The group's founders had planned to unveil the organization at a later date, once bylaws, among other things, were in place. But the recent spree of armed robberies and home-invasion crimes move up the association's launch.
Plans are now in the works to hold a "Meet Your Neighbors" event in time for this year's National Night Out on August 5.
Then check out the videos posted on You Tube.
Even though we know it would be cheaper to shop at Safeway, THE BUZZ continues to frequent Raley's.
What can we say? We're creatures of habit -- and convenience.
That being said, NATOMAS BUZZ readers may recall we have not been too pleased with the quality of customer service at our neighborhood grocery store.
In the last month, the store switched its play care hours to open an hour later and has discontinued its .10/gallon of gas discount at Aisle One (you can still get .25/gallon off if you buy more than $100 worth of groceries).
And shoppers were not notified of the above-mentioned changes until after the fact...
Imagine our delight, when we were told the store director had been transferred elsewhere and that Raley's on Natomas Boulevard is now under new management! We're also told some of the departmental management might also be changing.
This could be a good thing!
According to our informal poll in the right-hand column, it looks like most NATOMAS BUZZ readers have chosen to follow the Guv's suggestion and not set off their own fireworks.
Fireworks are a family tradition in THE BUZZ household. Each year, my husband researches the best bang for the buck -- as it were -- and each year he creates a new CD of patriotic music to play while we sit on the court and share fireworks with the neighbors. We're still hoping to celebrate with the other families who live on our court, but probably without the usual spectacle.
For those of you still undecided, or who just cannot resist setting off fireworks this 4th of July, here are some simple safety tips to keep in mind:
- Use common sense when using fireworks.
- Use fireworks outdoors ONLY.
- Obey local laws.
- Always have water handy (a bucket of water or hose).
- Only use fireworks as intended—do not try to alter them.
- Never try to re-light a “dud”.
- Spectators should keep a safe distance from the fireworks.
- The person lighting the fireworks should wear safety glasses.
- Alcohol and fireworks do not mix.
- Do not use homemade fireworks or illegal explosives.
- Report illegal explosives to the fire or police departments.
- Legal fireworks can only be discharged LEGALLY within the city from noon on June 28 to midnight on July 4.
Emergency (police, fire, medical):- From a regular telephone ("land line"): 911
- From your cell phone: 732-0100
Non-emergency (police only): 264-5471Paladin Private Security (Natomas Park only): 331-3175
If you talk on a cell phone while driving, note that the new hands free law goes into effect today!
Get caught driving without a hands-free headset, be prepared to pay a $20 fine for the first offense and $50 for each subsequent offense.
Safe drivin' nabes, safe drivin'.
Now that the local media has picked up the story about the recent series of armed robberies here in Natomas, THE BUZZ wanted to give our readers a recap of what's been going on to date, and what they should expect to hear at tonight's community meeting on the topic.
So we chatted at length this morning with police Capt. Daniel Hahn who initiated the meeting with Creekside HOA president Angelique Ashby after noticing an unusual spike in violent crimes throughout Natomas neighborhoods.
"A significant number of these home invasions and robberies were in broad daylight," says Hahn. "There were no commonalities on the victims. They were male, female, black, white, young and old."
Between June 1 and June 24, Sac PD recorded more than two dozen separate robberies including :
- 15 home invasion robberies. Of those nine were at apartments and six at houses.
- Five of these were through open garage doors and the victims were women ages 29 to 68. Four of these occurred between 1:40 p.m. and 5 p.m. and one was at 9:18 a.m.
- In 6 cases, the suspect knocked on the door, the victim opened the door and the suspect rushed in brandishing a firearm. Most of these occurred at night.
- Two of the 15 home invasion robbery victims were actually hit during the crime.
- Items taken included money, purses, cellular phones and laptops.
- Suspects had guns in all 15 cases.
Also of note during the same time period:- 14 robberies, 11 of which were with guns and one with a knife. No weapons were seen by the victims in two of the incidents.
- Two of the 14 victims were assaulted.
- More than half these robberies occurred during daylight hours, between 2:30 and 7:30 p.m. One robbery was late at night and the other five in the morning between 3 and 11 a.m.
- Four of the robberies were in the Northgate/West El Camino area.
- Nine of the 14 robberies were successful, the other five were not and have been classified as attempted robberies.
In some of the above-mentioned incidents, the difference between the crimes was simply geography. If a victim was standing in their garage, for example, that crime was considered a home-invasion robbery. If they were on the sidewalk in front of their home, it was not.
After a run of about two incidents a day there have been no home-invasion robberies since a week ago Tuesday and there has been only one street robbery on June 27, where the suspect snatched a cellular phone, but tonight's community meeting is going forward as planned.
"That's the way we are going to catch these guys in partnership with the community."
Capt. Hahn warns area residents should not get too hung up on the suspect descriptions now circulating. The important thing to pay attention to is peoples' actions.
"The biggest thing people can do to help themselves and help us is to trust your instincts," says Hahn. "The car acting weird, the guy who's on the street and seems to be watching houses and looking in windows, at least write down license plate numbers."
To date, Hahn reports police investigations have led to the arrest of seven people in connection with the series of robberies in Natomas. And although police believe these suspects -- all ages 15 to 19 years old -- are linked to many of the crimes, they have not arrested everyone responsible.
Hahn believes these arrests have put a damper on the robbery spree and that is why police are seeing fewer incidents in recent days. He hopes raised community awareness will send a message to criminals that Natomas is not easy pickings.
"Crime is not up in Natomas," says Hahn. "This is a dramatic spike in robberies and it's very unusual."
A seemingly innocuous item on the Natomas Unified School District board of trustees' agenda last week has since generated outcry by some area residents.
The item in question appeared on the school board's June 18 agenda as follows:XIV. PUBLIC HEARINGS
a. Proposal to establish a Community Day School for grades six - eight within the Natomas Unified School District Time Certain: 06:50 PM
Residents in Creekside, Hamptons and Natomas Park tell THE BUZZ they weren't aware of the proposed community day school or that it had any bearing on their community -- being located at the brand-new H. Allen Hight Learning Center -- until a few days after trustees approved the proposal. There was no public comment.
That's when area resident Darryl White, also a member of the grassroots Natomas Parent Alliance Organization, started passing out these fliers at a neighborhood garage sale held over the weekend:
"It is clear the Natomas School District is trying to put one over on the Creekside and Hampton community regarding its placement of the Community Day School Program on the Hight campus," White tells THE BUZZ. "Placement of a program with negative community potential in any neighborhood one would think the district has enough respect for the community to ask first."
To say White's fliers ignited a firestorm is an understatement as a flurry of telephone calls and electronic messages were exchanged between community leaders, school district reps, and other entities.
"What I can tell you is that several board members (I specifically) voiced serious concern and disappointment in the fact that this proposal was not an information item and very unhappy that it was an action item," trustee Lisa Kaplan tells THE BUZZ. "It was expressed to the board that this item needed to be voted on so that it could be presented to the (California Department of Education) at its July hearing for review and approval."
Kaplan says she and the other trustees were told they could not delay voting on the proposed community day school if the district planned to open one this year. The reason, she says, is the state Department of Education meets in July and then again in September -- which would be too late for the school to open on August 11 as planned.
"The board's approval of the plan was conditioned on the fact that this was needed for California Department of Education review and approval only and if the board did not feel our questions and concerns about the success of this program were satisfactorily answered by the district we could pull the approval of opening the school," she adds.
But Creekside residents call into question both the timing of last week's vote and the district's failure to include the neighborhood in their planning process for a community day school.
"(They cannot) say they did not know us -- since obviously they do," says Angelique Ashby, president of the Creekside homeowner association. "(The district) asked us for help reaching out to get folks to the (H. Allen Hight) introduction meetings and registrations."
Kaplan confirmed the board asked the Natomas district to move toward establishing a community day school for middle school-age students about a year ago.
"The board has had several public discussions regarding the establishment a community day school for kids from our community since 2006," said board president Ron Dwyer-Voss. "The decision to locate it, for now, at H.Allen Hight was a recent development based on the availability of space."
Agenda documents show a committee was formed consisting of two middle school principals, the Discovery High School Principal, the middle grades Opportunity Teacher, the Assistant Superintendent for Facilities and Planning and representatives from Student Services and Special Education as a result of this action.
The committee reviewed several models provided by the California Department of Education, made recommendations and developed the proposal trustees later voted to approve. According to these same documents, reps on the state level have already reviewed the proposal and made recommendations to assure its approval at the State Board of Education's meeting on July 11.
Students expected to attend the new community day school are 11 to 14 year olds who live in Natomas. They will reportedly be in a closed campus environment, and not free to roam the neighborhood or elementary portion of the school."They are kids who have made a mistake or are not fitting into our traditional, large middle schools very well and need a more focused environment with a higher staff-student ratio," Dwyer-Voss says. "They are not children who pose a danger to the neighborhood or elementary students at the school."
Currently, Natomas students go to school community day school in another area. It's Dwyer-Voss' opinion, however, "schooling options provided by the county office of education or other districts for these students are not up to our community's standards, and therefore we do well by our kids to run our own community day school."
According to Dwyer-Voss, the Natomas district will be more effective -- educationally and financially -- running its own community day school.
The proposal presented to trustees last week indicates the district expects 16 students in the new program and that the district will receive an additional $5,485.53 per student in the program. The numbers also indicate the district could net more than $9,000 in revenue after school expenses.
Despite Dwyer-Voss' assurances the community day school would not impact on the surrounding neighborhood beyond the normal traffic that comes with a school, he agrees with area residents the district should have met with the community."What is most disconcerting to residents of Creekside and Natomas Park was the lack of notice and opportunity for public comment on such an important issue," Sean Avalos, Creekside Neighborhood Watch program coordinator said Thursday night. "I met with Board President Ron Dwyer-Ross and Superintendent Dr. Steve Farrar this evening. They both agreed that the community did not have an adequate opportunity to review and comment on the proposal prior to the NUSD Board approval of this action item."
The Natomas Unified School District has agreed to hold a public informational meeting on 6:30 to 8:30 p.m. on July 1, at Heron School. At this meeting, area residents will have an opportunity to review the plan and ask questions about the community day school program.
According to Avalos, on trustees' July 9 meeting agenda the district will have an action item whether or not the community day school should be placed on the H. Allen Hight Learning Center campus.
"I do believe in the success of a CDS and that we can develop one that will meet the needs of our students who are having difficulty in school and their personal life," says Kaplan. "Now with that said, I do believe in making sure we start off on the right foot with a well thought out plan to optimize the success of a community day school."
