Planning Commission members listen as Citrus Heights resident Norman Hill addresses concerns about the project, Wednesday night.
In a packed council chamber Wednesday night, the Citrus Heights Planning Commission voted in favor of recommending the city council amend its General Plan and zoning codes, allowing for a controversial proposal to move city hall and construct a three-story medical building in its place.
“I think it went very well,” said Planning Commission Chairman Albert Fox, who voted in favor of the recommendation. “There’s some highly emotional issues involved… and I appreciate and respect those folks for their position.”
The Commission made its nearly unanimous decision after a three-hour meeting that was filled with public comment from over 20 community members, a majority of whom opposed moving city hall.
“I have nothing against a medical office building, just not in this space,” said resident Susan Howell during the public comment portion of the extended, three-hour meeting. “This is our city center. We should keep it that way.”
Proposed 3-story medical office building being considered by the Planning Commission. //Photo courtesy Dignity Health
After a year of negotiations and community input, the Citrus Heights Planning Commission will hold a public hearing Wednesday night for the proposal to build a 68,000 square feet medical building at the current City Hall site, and build a new hall on Antelope Road.
While the City calls the proposal a “once-in-a-lifetime” deal that would give residents a new City Hall and bring jobs and dollars to the area, opponents say the numbers “don’t make sense,” and plan to be at Wednesday’s meeting to advocate for keeping City Hall at its current location on Fountain Square Drive.
“We’re taking every opportunity to make our point known, whether it’s through the Planning Commission, or through the City Council.” said proposal opponent Tim Schaeffer, who heads up a volunteer group called Save City Hall.
Schaeffer said his group is made up of about 25 volunteers who have been circulating petitions, sign-waving, and educating residents as part of their effort to keep City Hall in the civic center, next to the Police Department and the recently built Community Center.
The civic center aspect of the proposal to move City Hall is expected to be a major point of discussion at tonight’s meeting, due to the wording of Goal 21 in the City’s General Plan which states that government services are to be concentrated at a “civic center complex.”
Suggested amendment to the City’s General Plan, which would allow for City Hall to be moved away from the other civic center buildings.
A City staff report suggests that the Planning Commission eliminate the “civic center complex” language from the goal to allow the proposal to go through. The report also recommends the commission approve several other key entitlements needed for the projects to go forward, including the approval of zoning code amendments, tree permits, design review permits, and an environmental report’s findings.
Following the Planning Commission’s recommendations, the City Council is expected to take up the matter at their July 24 meeting.
—
If you plan to go tonight:
Planning Commission meeting
Public Hearing
7:00 p.m., July 9, 2014
City Hall Council Chambers
7117 Greenback Lane
Over 800 pages of documents were released for public review this week, as part of the City’s proposed plan to move City Hall to Antelope Road and allow a 68,000 square feet medical building to be built in its place.
The documents include a detailed assessment of environmental and traffic impacts at the new hall’s proposed location, as well as the medical office building location at Greenback Lane and Fountain Square Drive.
Environmental assessment portions of the documents make up nearly 700 pages, while the traffic study portion details the findings of Fehr & Peers in a 47-page report, with an additional 110 pages of appendices. Among other findings, the study determined that a new traffic light would be necessary if the new hall were to be built on Antelope Road, between Mariposa Avenue and Auburn Boulevard.
The Citrus Heights Planning Division included a statement along with the documents which indicated the proposal would require the City to amend its General Plan in order to change the land use designation from “public use” to “general commercial” on a portion of the proposed medical building site. The statement also said the City would need to amend its zoning code in order to allow public buildings at the residential-zoned Antelope Road site.
Interested parties and agencies are encouraged by the City to review the report and provide comments during the public review period which will continue until July 11, with documents available for viewing online at the City’s website, or in person at City Hall’s public counter.
Following the public review period, the Planning Commission will consider the building proposals on July 9, and the City Council will take the matter up at its July 24 meeting.
A conceptual view of the proposed 3-story medical office building at Greenback Lane and Fountain Square Drive, which some residents say doesn’t fit with the “small-town” character of the city. // Courtesy of Dignity Health
*Editor’s note: As this story is now several months old, a more up-to-date story can be viewed by clicking here.
Controversy erupted at a community meeting this week over a proposal to bring a new 3-story medical office building to the existing Citrus Heights city hall location, and move the hall to Antelope Drive.
In a full room of about 200 people, public comments from the audience were largely critical or skeptical of the proposal, although Board Chairman Evan Jacobs from the Citrus Heights Chamber of Commerce announced the Chamber had recently taken a unanimous vote in support of the proposal.
The meeting was the sixth in a series of evening sessions designed by the City to inform the community about the proposal and invite feedback from residents — and during the evening’s four separate Q&A times, many residents expressed concern over building size, construction noise, traffic, location choice and cost.
Event Facilitator Wendy Hoyt sought to keep the meeting moderated and on schedule, but audience members shouted accusations of “cutting off” speakers when she tried to close comments while a few hands were still up in the room.
“Many assumptions have been made in the financial scenarios made by the City-hired consultant,” said Joan Bippus, during one of the evening’s question times. “There are still too many unanswered questions for these proposals to be accepted as gospel.”
The 40-year resident also said the 68,000 square feet medical building would not be in keeping with the City’s General Plan, which lists a community development goal of “Preserv[ing] the unique character of Citrus Heights” and its “small-town attributes.”
City Manager Henry Tingle responded to some of the concerns by calling the Dignity Health medical building proposal a “once-in-a-lifetime opportunity,” where the City could get an $18.9 million new hall for an estimated net cost of about $5 million — primarily due to income from leasing land for the medical building, as well as projected energy and repair savings coming from a new city hall.
Built in the 70’s and previously used by a nursery, the City has said the existing hall buildings are in need of major repairs and upgrades. Additionally, City officials have emphasized that the current city hall was always considered to be a temporary solution when the City first incorporated in 1997.
If the City were to reject the Dignity Health proposal, it estimates a cost of $11.9 million to provide “necessary improvements” to the existing hall structures, although it had previously reported a lower repair and upgrade cost of $5.5 million earlier this year.
Reacting to the cost estimates, one resident called the numbers presented by the City “a shell game.”
“They only give the information they want to give,” said Susan Howell, who also lives nearby the proposed medical office building location. She also expressed concern about construction noise, and adding more traffic to an already-busy Greenback Lane.
Presenters from both the City and Dignity Health sought to calm tensions by calling the proposal a “win-win” for everyone involved, saying the new medical office building would help serve Citrus Heights’ aging residents, bring in jobs, help pay for a new city hall and boost business in the Antelope Road area.
A packet handed out to attendees also included a list of ways Dignity Health had responded to community input at past meetings, including decreasing the size of the building by 25 percent, adding more trees, and agreeing to retain most of the existing palm trees.
Varying reactions to the proposal have also been seen across the city.
Notably, both of the neighborhood associations representing residents around the Antelope Road and Fountain Square sites have avoided taking a position on the proposal, citing conflicting opinions of residents and unknown impacts.
The City acknowledged there are still unknowns about the proposal, with environmental and traffic impacts among those brought up and currently being studied.
Environmental unknowns will be reviewed, and findings will be released for public review in June, followed by a final decision on the proposal in July by the council, according to Citrus Heights Planning Manager Colleen McDuffee. She added that a final decision date is tentative, as it is dependent on environmental review findings.
A full traffic report is also expected to be available in June by Fehr & Peers, but a representative from the company said it was already “clear” that a new traffic light would have to be installed if city hall were moved to the proposed 7625 Antelope Rd. location.
The agenda for the evening also allowed for an “open house” one-on-one opportunity at the end, and Hoyt made it clear to attendees that city staff and architects wouldn’t be leaving until everyone had an opportunity to ask questions and get answers. Conversations continued until about 9 p.m., well after the main session was scheduled to close at 8:20 p.m.
Although the April 30 event was the final community meeting, residents will still have an opportunity to voice their opinion when the planning commission and city council take up the issue this summer.
The City welcomes questions and comments about the proposal via email at publicinfo@citrusheights.net, or by phone at (916) 725-2448.
The “preferred design” of a new city hall, selected by the Citrus Heights city council at its April 10 study session.
A final community meeting to discuss the potential relocation and construction of a new city hall for Citrus Heights has been scheduled for April 30.
The meeting is the last in a series of City-hosted community discussions, following a proposal by Dignity Health last year to build a 66,000 square feet medical office building in place of the existing hall on Fountain Square Drive.
Although a final decision is not expected until July, the city council selected a preliminary “preferred design” and site for the proposal at an April 10 study session, choosing 7625 Antelope Rd. as the best location to move city hall.
While council members in favor of the site selection mentioned economic reasons as a primary motivator, Councilwoman Jeannie Bruins was the only one to vote against the Antelope Road site, commenting that a city hall “doesn’t fit” the residential-zoned area. Several residents also spoke out against the Antelope Road location in their public comments.
In an update posted on CitrusHeights.net, the City is encouraging community members to attend the April 30 meeting at 6:30 p.m. in the Community Center at 6300 Fountain Square Dr. Attendees are also invited to come at 6 p.m. for an opportunity to review plans for the medical office building and city hall.
One of the preliminary City Hall designs presented at a community workshop held on March 19.
Citrus Heights is continuing its effort to gather community input as it considers a proposal to replace –and possibly move– its existing city hall.
Three community workshops have been hosted this year by the City in order to gather input on design ideas and preferred location for a new hall. More workshops have been scheduled as well.
Upcoming meetings to discuss aspects of the new city hall proposal will be held on:
April 10, 2014 5:00 p.m. – City Council Study Session on City Hall Site (meeting location: Citrus Heights Council Chambers, 7117 Greenback Lane)
April 30, 2014 6:30 p.m. – Community Meeting on Medical Office Building and City Hall Project (meeting location: Citrus Heights Community Center, 6300 Fountain Square Drive)
Planning Commission and City Council Hearings will likely follow in June and July, according to the City website.
