Sacramento Region Consortium Sustainable Communities Regional Planning Grant Program

Sacramento Area Council of Governments (SACOG) and its partners are using a grant from the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) for regional planning to accelerate transit-oriented development. A Regional Plan for Sustainable Development (RPSD) will be the outcome of collaborative work with local governments, community and advocacy groups, and the public. The focus is on improving quality of life through creating more complete communities and reducing overall cost of living.

Through this project, SACOG is working to develop a Regional Plan for Sustainable Development building on the update of the Metropolitan Transportation Plan (MTP2035) and development of the Sacramento region's first Sustainable Communities Strategy (SCS), consistent with policy efforts in California to reduce greenhouse gas emissions.

What are the elements of the Grant Project?

There are three main components/phases of the grant project:

1. Transit Priority Area Selection (February-June 2011). In the first phase of this effort, with input from the Sacramento Regional Consortium, four Working Groups, and the Project Steering Committee, SACOG assessed and selected five Transit Priority Areas (TPAs). These are areas within ½-mile of a rail station or a transit hub or stop that provides, or will provide, at least 15-minute frequency of service during peak commute hours as described in Senate Bill 375.
2. In phase two of the project (June 2011-June 2012), SACOG has prepared a new Draft Metropolitan Transportation Plan and Sustainable Communities Strategy (MTP/SCS) and Environmental Impact Report (EIR), and disseminated it for public review and comment (www.sacog.org/2035). Adoption of the final MTP/SCS and EIR in April 2012 will be followed by TPA Sustainable Community Environmental Assessments to demonstrate the use of SB 375 CEQA streamlining provisions to facilitate compact residential or mixed-use projects near quality transit. SACOG will also organize community-based workshops to develop an action plan for each of the selected TPAs.
3. In the final phase of the project, SACOG will produce a Regional Plan for Sustainable Development to provide for more transportation choices, promote equitable, affordable housing, enhance economic competitiveness, support existing communities, and coordinate policies that leverage public investment through this new comprehensive and integrated approach to planning.

The Regional Plan will include:

• an analysis of how federal and state regulations provide opportunities or contradictory processes for local governments;
• a regional housing analysis and an Enhanced Regional Housing Needs Plan;
• qualitative and quantitative natural resource mapping;
• a review of regional economic development and infrastructure planning efforts; and
• recommendations for improved linkages between planning efforts for the region to support regional quality of life and sustainability

To see the more detailed work plan, click here.

Who is leading the project?

The project work is led by a Steering Committee of partner organizations, which has convened the Regional Consortium. The Consortium will inform SACOG staff and SACOG's Board of Directors. Members of the Steering Committee are also chairing four Working Groups. SACOG staff is coordinating the public, private, and nonprofit groups involved in the work on the various project phases. SACOG will share the work and input from participants in the Consortium, observing the governance structure of partner agencies and organizations, and informing all parties of progress on the project. The SACOG Board reviews recommendations of the Consortium and public to approve the Transit Priority Area selection, the final MTP/SCS and MTP/SCS EIR, and the Regional Plan for Sustainable Development (RPSD).

Who is the Sacramento Regional Consortium?

Anyone living in the six-county region interested in informing what sustainable communities planning should include is invited to participate.

Throughout the project, a broad cross section of interest groups and members of the general public have the opportunity to participate in regular meetings of the Sacramento Regional Consortium. Interests currently represented include:

Anyone may register to join the Regional Consortium and receive updates and meeting notices. For a list of upcoming meetings and archives of previous meetings, click here.

The Consortium also has four Working Groups that anyone may join. For more information on the working groups, click here.

Who are the Consortium Steering Committee Members?

SACOG is leading the project. SACOG is responsible for developing the Metropolitan Transportation Plan and Sustainable Communities Strategy. The Regional Plan for Sustainable Development (RPSD) will be integrated into SACOG's long-range planning. SACOG's 31-member board is made up of city and county elected officials from across the six-county region and the 22 cities within.

Sacramento Housing and Redevelopment Agency (SHRA) is supporting SACOG in developing the RPSD. SHRA is working with the Consortium to facilitate collaboration between regional public housing authorities, jurisdictions, the Equity, Housing and Health Working Group, and the broader housing community to conduct an analysis of impediments to fair housing and most of the work elements needed to complete an Enhanced Regional Housing Plan. SHRA is the housing authority and redevelopment agency for the city and county of Sacramento and the leading public investor in affordable housing, with residential and commercial revitalization activities. Community development activities include economic development, affordable housing policy and production, and reinvestment in lower income communities to improve the quality of life for Sacramento's residents.

Valley Vision is recruiting stakeholders to help assess economic development planning and strategies for the region and leverage critical regional economic assets, including the Next Economy effort (regional economic recovery initiative), the Greenwise Joint Venture (a public-private partnership managed by Valley Vision), Sacramento Area Regional Technology Alliance, Sacramento Area Commerce and Trade Organization, the Sacramento Metro Chamber, ethnic chambers of commerce, and the region's major higher educational institutions, Valley Vision is chairing the Economic Development Working Group. Valley Vision is a nonprofit association working to secure the social, environmental and economic health of the Sacramento region. Founded in 1994, the organization is committed to regional problem-solving as well as impartial research for sound decision making. Valley Vision partners with a broad cross-section of the region's leadership from business, government, agriculture, the environmental community, organized labor, education, utilities and the nonprofit sector to develop coalitions, strategies and specific actions that improve quality of life in the Sacramento region. Valley Vision served as civic engagement partner with SACOG for the original Blueprint Visioning Project, the development of the Metropolitan Transportation Plan for 2035, and the Rural-Urban Connections Strategy.

Urban Land Institute (ULI) Sacramento District Council is working with the Consortium to ensure broad representation and active engagement of stakeholders with expertise in transit-oriented development and sustainable communities from both the private development and public community perspectives. They will also publish as a case study the results of the Transit Priority Area (TPA) selection process and TPA Action Plan development. ULI is a nonprofit research and education organization serving as the preeminent, multidisciplinary real estate forum for industry leaders and policy makers dedicated to creating better places. In the greater Sacramento area, ULI has assisted in the implementation of transit-oriented development with elected officials, public agency staff, agency commissioners, developers and others interested in creating change in our communities.

The University of California, Davis Center for Regional Change (CRC) brings core competencies in GIS (geographic information system) and community-based mapping of social equity and environmental justice indicators as well as multiple-method analysis of regional change. CRC will work with both data and outreach staff to provide guidance, analysis and recommendations for social equity performance measures, appropriate materials development, and assistance in the development of public workshops that are meaningful, engaging, and inclusive of the hardest-to-reach populations. CRC is co-chairing the Equity, Housing and Health Working Group with SHRA. CRC actively works across disciplines to break down silos and bridge divides to address social, economic, political and environmental dimensions of sustainability on community and regional scales. CRC conducts critical work on place-making with youth and environmental justice groups, including affordable housing advocates and developers, transportation advocates and providers, organized labor, the faith community, and ethnic and age-related organizations, with a focus on objectives including: diverse communities with fair access to jobs, schools, transportation, and quality housing; walkable and accessible neighborhoods; investment in existing communities and infrastructure; preservation of working farms and ranches; and clean air, water and fresh food options.

Regional Water Authority (RWA) is engaging water purveyors, sanitation districts, utilities, cities and counties in assessing infrastructure adequacy and investment needs for Transit Priority Areas to support transit-oriented development, and regional infrastructure and water planning as part of the Regional Plan for Sustainable Development (RPSD). RWA is also chairing the Infrastructure Working Group. RWA is a joint powers authority that serves and represents the interests of 21 water providers in the greater Sacramento, Placer, El Dorado and Yolo counties to help protect and enhance the reliability, availability, affordability and quality of water resources. RWA consolidated several regional associations to promote collaboration and provide a unified voice on Northern California water issues, including significant programs and services on a regional scale for water efficiency, best management practices, and implementation of the American River Basin Regional Conjunctive Use Program. RWA's forward focus is on saving rate-payer dollars by pooling resources, providing a forum for regional policy development and collaboration, protecting surface water and groundwater rights to assure reliable future supplies, assistance with new state and federal regulations and security requirements, and developing and implementing a regional water master plan.

is facilitating discussions on the MTP/SCS environmental review with federal and state regulatory agencies, helping with the development of mitigation measures for the MTP Environmental Impact Report (EIR), and working with the Consortium and Natural Resources Working Group on natural resources issues to consider in TPA selection and action plans, and development of the Regional Plan for Sustainable Development. The McKinley Group was instrumental in work with the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers to secure American Recovery and Reinvestment Act (ARRA) and other funding to develop a comprehensive aquatic resources inventory for SACOG's six-county region. The McKinley Group will work with the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency and the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service on final approval for the Six County Aquatic Resources Inventory and permitting strategies that can increase the certainty of federal permitting processes. The McKinley Group is also assisting SACOG with natural resource preservation work with the Placer County Conservation Plan and South Sacramento County Habitat Conservation Plan processes as they conduct negotiations with federal agencies ahead of their final environmental review.