Elsewhere Near River City …
West Sacramento hopes to become home to a minor league baseball team in little more than a year. The 12-year-old city is forming a Joint Powers Authority with Yolo and Sacramento counties to issue $40 million worth of taxable bonds to build a 10,000-seat baseball stadium near the Sacramento River. The new owner of the Oakland A's Triple-A franchise, now located in Vancouver, B.C., wants to play ball in West Sacramento in April 2000.
Under the plan all three entities approved in February, Sacramento County will guarantee two-thirds of the annual $3.3 million bond payment with its motel bed tax revenues, explained Geoffrey Davey, Sacramento County chief financial officer. West Sacramento will pledge its general fund, and Yolo County will pledge its property tax increment from area development. Stadium revenues will pay off the 30-year notes. The team must average 3,500 fans for each of its 71 annual home games to generate enough money to retire the debt, according to a West Sacramento analysis.
West Sacramento also intends to form a Mello-Roos District to issue $8.5 million worth of bonds for infrastructure near the stadium and spend another $1.5 million of city funds on similar needs.
"Economically, it doesn't mean a whole lot," West Sacramento Mayor Christopher Cabaldon said of the baseball stadium. "There are some very localized impacts that we expect to see within a few blocks of the stadium. For us, it's a quality of life issue. It's a good, quality, family-oriented entertainment asset."
Sacramento County Supervisor Roger Dickinson agreed the desire to add a regional entertainment attraction is driving the deal. However, the chance for three jurisdictions to work together is enticing because regional cooperation is needed to address tougher issues, such as flood control, air pollution, traffic congestion and economic development, he said.
Significantly absent from the deal is the city of Sacramento. The city for more than 10 years has pursued a big-league baseball or football stadium next to Arco Arena, in the north end of town.
The wealthy City of Indian Wells will give $1.5 million in housing funds to the City of Coachella, a neighboring town where residents' median income is less than one-third that of Indian Wells' citizens. The money is a portion of the mandatory 20% housing set-aside from an Indian Wells redevelopment project, which transformed desert land into an upscale golf resort.
Indian Wells has spent $13.6 million in housing funds on 90 senior apartments and earmarked $14.6 million for 100 more senior units. The ...
Two lawsuits Attorney General Bill Lockyer filed against Tulare County regarding approval of giant dairies have been settled. The county agreed to add an animal waste management element to its general plan and to complete a program EIR by the end of the year.
Under terms of a settlement reached in August, the Airosa Diary agreed to suspend its 3,600-cow expansion of a dairy near Pixley until the county completes the EIR and reviews the expansion. An October settlement of a second lawsuit places the sa...
An initiative to prevent hotel and resort development on 60 acres of city-owned land in Sonoma passed with 77 percent of the vote during a Sept. 21 special election that attracted 59% of registered voters. A Mexican investor had proposed an upscale, 100-room resort for the hillside above Sonoma Plaza. Project opponents said they wanted to preserve open space and a scenic view.
Burbank city leaders and the Burbank-Glendale-Pasadena Airport Authority have announced a new agreement that would lead to expansion of the crowded Burbank Airport and end a four-year legal battle.
The deal allows the airport to build a terminal nearly twice the size of the current terminal but retain the same number of gates — 14. The airport would close concessions and services from 11 p.m. to 6 a.m. daily and phase out noisier Stage 2 jets. If the airport convinces federal regulators to approve a 1...
Loretta Lynch, a San Francisco lawyer with solid Democratic credentials, is the new Office of Planning and Research director.
Gov. Gray Davis in mid-March named Lynch to the top job at OPR, which provides technical assistance to local planners and runs the State Clearinghouse for project review. The 37-year-old Lynch has been a partner in Keker & Van Nest since 1991, where she represented small and large companies in securities trading matters.
Lynch is a graduate of University of Southern California ...
L.A. may have multiple planning commissions
An overhaul of the Los Angeles City Charter, which will go before voters June 13, calls for creation of at least five area planning commissions. But those area commissions would have limited powers, and the citywide Planning Commission would remain in place, under the proposal.
"The citywide Planning Commission is seen as a body that's not very closely related to the people," Jackie DuPont-Walker, chairwoman of the Elected Charter Reform Commission said. ...
North Natomas
A lawsuit challenging a habitat conservation plan for Sacramento's North Natomas area has been filed in federal court by a group of environmentalists. A popular tool promoted by the Clinton administration, HCPs are intended to end disputes with landowners over plants and animals covered by the Endangered Species Act.
Under the Natomas HCP, an acre of land is to be preserved for every two acres developed in the area, a few miles north of downtown Sacramento along Interstat...
In a split decision, the Fourth District Court of Appeal has ruled that the City of Riverside's requirement that poolrooms be closed from 2 a.m. to 6 a.m. is unconstitutional because it denies poolroom owners equal protection under the law.
Noting that the ordinance dates back to 1909, Acting Presiding Justice Thomas Hollenhorst wrote for the majority: "Unfortunately, times are different today, and there are many establishments that cater to idleness and are open all night. The City...
In a split decision, the California Supreme Court has once again expanded the scope of the anti-SLAPP law. This time, the court concluded that an allegation of racism in small-claims court and a complaint to the federal government does constitute the type of "issue of public significance" described in the law.
In overturning a ruling by the First District Court of Appeal, the five-member Supreme Court majority rejected the argument that a nonprofit organization's tenant counseling activities wer...
The lack of precise engineering plans in an environmental impact report's project description of a proposed gravel mine expansion did not violate the California Environmental Quality Act, the Fifth District Court of Appeal has ruled.
"CEQA requires an EIR to reflect a good faith effort at full disclosure; it does not mandate perfection, nor does it require an analysis to be exhaustive," Justice James F. Thaxter wrote in the unanimous decision for the three-judge panel.
When considering an ...
The Del Mar City Council had enough evidence to deny a permit for a two-story home addition based on aesthetic grounds only, the Sixth District Court of Appeal has ruled. In so doing, the court reversed San Diego County Superior Court Judge Lisa Guy-Schall's decision to grant the homeowner a writ of mandate requiring the city to issue the permit.
In overturning the trial judge, the appellate court found that Del Mar had not violated the landowner's civil rights under federal law. Significantl...
The defendants in an alleged SLAPP suit are entitled to attorneys fees even if the plaintiffs drop the case before the SLAPP motion to strike is heard, the Second District Court of Appeal has ruled.
The appellate panel overturned the ruling of Los Angeles Superior Court Judge Carolyn B. Kuhl, saying that Kuhl's ruling "constitutes a nullification of an important part of California's anti-SLAPP legislation" because it denies the defendants monetary relief and relieves the plaintiffs of punis...
