Updated 2:20 p.m.–
Citrus Heights welcomed a new discount tool retailer to town this month, with Harbor Freight Tools celebrating its grand opening on Greenback Lane mid-December.
The new Harbor Freight Tools store in Citrus Heights is located next to Big 5 Sporting Goods in the old Aaron Brothers art store.
Setting up shop in the old Aaron Brothers art store across from Toys R Us, the new tool supply store promises “ridiculously low prices” on its shop equipment and array of automotive, power, and hand tools.
Harbor Freight Tools began in California in 1977 with a small shop owned by current CEO Eric Smidt and his father, and now boasts over 500 stores nationwide, according to its website.
The company’s new store is located next to Big 5 Sporting Goods at 7829 Greenback Ln. in Citrus Heights, with operating hours Monday through Saturday from 8 a.m. to 9 p.m., and Sunday from 9 a.m. to 6 p.m.
Citrus Heights city council members unanimously voted Thursday night to select Sue Frost to replace Mel Turner as mayor of Citrus Heights, choosing Jeannie Bruins to serve as vice mayor for a one-year term as well.
Former Mayor Mel Turner shakes hands with council member Sue Frost, as she officially took the seat as mayor of Citrus Heights, Thursday night.
“I’m extremely proud and honored to serve as the mayor of Citrus Heights,” said Mayor Frost just after officially being voted in as mayor by her fellow council members. “I want to thank the citizens of Citrus Heights for the opportunity to be a public servant.”
The new mayor listed several priorities for the coming year, including continuing the former mayor’s efforts to foster new leaders through the “Shadow Program,” and collaborating with citizens through the Residents’ Empowerment Association of Citrus Heights — proposing a new “citizens leadership council.” She also expressed a desire to expand relations with regional leaders, continue to support local police, promote economic development and continue the City’s “tradition of fiscal responsibility.”
Council members also offered praise to former mayor Turner for his work over the past year, with Jeff Slowey giving Turner “kudos” for the way he responded to several controversies over his term as mayor.
“There was a couple of tough issues that came up this year,” said Slowey, likely referring to citizen uproar over a creek trails project and complaints over a new city hall proposal. “You handled them very well.”
Joining the council in 2012, Frost is the newest member of the council to serve as mayor, with her four colleagues all having served at least one term as mayor in the past. Her colleague Vice Mayor Bruins is the council’s longest-serving member, joining the council in 2002.
The five-member council is in charge of making all policy determinations in the city of Citrus Heights, and votes in a new mayor and vice mayor from among its ranks each year. The council also appoints the city manager, city attorney, and members of advisory boards and commissions.
*Editor’s note: Check back this week for a follow-up “Meet your new mayor” profile story.
updated 12:17 p.m. –
A controversial proposal to relocate city hall picked up community support last night as the City presented a new site option located a block away from the existing hall, but many residents remained staunchly opposed to a related proposal to construct a three-story medical building “monstrosity” in place of the existing hall.
An artistic rendering of a proposed new design for city hall by Capital Partners Development Co.
“We had some really good input,” said City Manager Henry Tingle, commenting after Wednesday’s community meeting which was attended by about 150 residents. “There’s no question that we had an overwhelming consensus that the new site that we’re proposing is much better (than the previously proposed site on Antelope Road).”
About a dozen residents spoke during the evening’s question and answer period, with comments describing the proposed design as “beautiful” and “far-superior,” thanking the City for listening to resident complaints about the Antelope Road site being too far from the “heart” of the city.
The presentation of the new single-story hall design was delivered by Rod Johnson of Capital Partners Development Co., who said he pitched the idea to the City Manager after reading last month about the city council’s decision to take “no action” on plans to move forward at the Antelope Road site, following a lawsuit threat. He said his company was hoping to turn the 10.9-acre site into a new housing development with 160-unit multi-family townhomes, but that a deal they were working on recently “went away.” The parcel is currently zoned RD-20 for medium density residential, and would need to be re-zoned in order for the hall to be built there.
With colorful artistic renderings and slides, Johnson explained his proposal would turn the triangle-shaped property adjacent to the Post Office from a field of weeds into a 35,000 square feet city hall, with plenty of room for parking, expansion and a 1.5-acre corp yard for City vehicles — options unavailable at the smaller Antelope Road site. He also said his “build-to-suit” proposal would cost about the same as the estimated $18.9 million to build at the Antelope Road site.
Johnson acknowledged the site has some downsides, citing its protected “wetlands” areas which he said would likely limit development on portions of the land, and also some traffic difficulties on the 2-lane Fountain Square Drive in front of the site — although he said traffic would be significantly lower with a city hall than with townhomes.
Johnson’s presentation left even the most staunch opponents of moving city hall more open to the idea, although many still opposed the related plan to allow Dignity Health to construct a 68,000 square feet medical office building in place of the existing hall.
“This is a super positive development,” said Tim Schaefer, who has been a lead voice in opposing plans to move city hall and also initiated the lawsuit threat to stop the City from building at Antelope Road. He balanced his remarks with a caution that the City should fully research the new proposal, asking “what’s the rush?”
Concerns voiced during the meeting over the medical building revolved largely around increased traffic on Greenback Lane and its 57-foot height, which one resident called a “monstrosity” that would invade privacy in nearby homes, since backyards would be visible from the three-story structure.
Resident Sally Smith said she appreciated the City responding to concerns about the Antelope Road hall site, but felt the City is not listening to concerns about the proposed medical building site. She would prefer to have the medical building in another location, but said a lower, two-story design would help alleviate some privacy concerns at its currently proposed location at the corner of Greenback Lane and Fountain Square Drive.
Another criticism of the medical building was offered by Schaefer who said the City would be better off selling the existing property to a for-profit business, since Dignity Health would not be paying property tax as a non-profit hospital – an amount he says could be as high as $400,000 a year on a $30 million building.
Although the existing property has been assessed in the $1 million price range, the Dignity Health proposal would allow for the City to gain a much higher amount of $6.9 million from a 15-year lease, helping subsidize the cost of a new hall.
City officials have called the Dignity Health proposal a “once-in-a-lifetime opportunity” for Citrus Heights to get an $18.9 million new hall for an estimated net cost of about $5 million. The discounted cost would come primarily from income brought in by the proposed Dignity Health lease, as well as from projected energy and repair savings coming from a more efficient new city hall building, according to the City Manager.
Tingle also responded afterward to an accusation that a new hall is unnecessary, based on a 2014 Appraisal Report which gives the existing hall a remaining 30-year life.
“If you continue to spend money, you can keep any building going for 30 years,” said Tingle, likening it to fixing up an old car rather than replacing it. He argued that it would be more cost effective in the long run to build a new hall and sell the existing property, acknowledging during his public comments that even if the deal with Dignity Health fell through, there are “other funding opportunities” for a new city hall.
Staff said they will be asking the city council next week to declare the Stock Property as the “preferred site” for a new hall, focusing attention away from Antelope Road and authorizing a full Environmental Impact Report on the new site.
At a special meeting tonight, the Citrus Heights city council will decide on a location for the proposal to build a new city hall.
“We encourage community involvement and hope you can attend this session of the City Council when the City Council discusses and selects the site for a proposed new City Hall,” read an email alert sent out by the City.
An economic and fiscal report was released last month comparing two scenarios of re-building the new hall at its current location on Fountain Square Dr. or moving the site to a location on Antelope Rd near Old Auburn Blvd. The report, issued by A. Plescia & Co, found that the Antelope Rd. location would result in a greater general fund account balance for the City in a 15-year projection.
The full report is available here on the City’s website.
According to a timeline released by the City, additional community input related to the project will be sought at an April 30 workshop, followed by an environmental review and a Planning Commission review. A final decision on the proposal to build a new city hall is estimated to be in June or July.
Tonight’s meeting will be held at 5:00 p.m. in the city council chambers at 7117 Greenback Ln.
Residents gather to brainstorm design ideas for new City Hall
About 80 residents gathered around tables Wednesday night with pens out and drawing pads handy, ready to give their input on design ideas for the proposal to build a new City Hall in Citrus Heights.
“This was a tremendous success,” said Facility Manager Chris Myers. “With all of the conversation going on, and the dialogue, and everybody having input… this is a phenomenal start for us to be able to pull this together.”
Wendy Hoyt, a facilitator for the event, explained the limited purpose of the meeting: to plan, envision, collaborate, share design ideas with fellow citizens, and give the architects a feel for what image the community would like to have reflected in their City Hall. Myers also added an emphasis on looking 50-100 years ahead, considering the image the building would convey to future children and grandchildren.
“There’s no decisions being made tonight,” clarified Hoyt, in her introduction. “The council hasn’t made a decision on whether or not to move forward with the City Hall.”
Following a slide show presentation of design ideas by WLC Architects – the City’s newly hired architect group – residents discussed ideas in groups, organized by tables titled “Grapefruit,” “Seville Orange,” and other citrus tree names – apparently reflecting that aspect of the city’s name and history.
After collaborating for about 30 minutes, each table shared their ideas with the other groups, and several areas of agreement were heard.
Residents tended to favor a transitional style, rather than a classical or fully modern style for the building. There was also agreement on maximizing energy efficiency through solar panels, avoiding steps to aid accessibility for the elderly, and a general agreement on some kind of outdoor water features like a pond or fountain, although the drought was a concern. There also appeared to be agreement on the need for a portion of the building to be two-story.
Discussion regarding location of the new building was considered off topic for the meeting, although one comment slipped through from a resident who said the location for City Hall should not be moved. His comment was met with a brief applause.
Plans for building a new City Hall were first discussed last year, when Dignity Health proposed plans to construct a massive 66,000 square ft. medical office complex in the current hall’s location, generating discussion about demolishing the existing City Hall complex and building another to replace it at one of several proposed locations.
Hoyt explained that when the City first incorporated in 1997, they had to “scramble” without public involvement at all – resulting in the current location on Fountain Dr. She said the Dignity Health proposal has given the City a unique opportunity to do it better this time, and build a new hall with proper planning and input from residents to reflect the nature of the community.
The event Wednesday night was the third in a series of workshops put on by the City. The first was held in August of last year, and the second workshop was held last month, each with a focus on a different aspect.
During the first meeting, residents were presented with a preliminary design for City Hall, but residents disliked the look, calling it “just a box,” according to Hoyt. The second meeting, packed with about 180 people, discussed the aspect of location.
Noticeably absent from the room were the voices of residents under 30 years of age, a fact brought up by several comments that addressed walkway accessibility and long-term planning for the building’s appearance. A concern about sidewalks and steps was mentioned by an elderly gentleman from the “Grapefruit” table who commented, “We don’t walk, we shuffle.” His remark was met by understanding chuckles from other attendees.
Asked about the reason for the generation gap in those present at the meeting, Hoyt replied, “I don’t know.” Although she added that couples with younger children typically have less available time than those who are retired.
The meeting closed with a short session of questions and answers, the majority of which revolved around site selection and costs – both of which the City says will be addressed during future meetings.
A summary of the community input will be presented to the council on February 27, and a follow-up community workshop will be held on April 30, at 6:30 p.m. at the Citrus Heights Community Center.
Community input on selecting a replacement for the top administrative position is being sought by San Juan Unified Board of Education, following the removal of Superintendent Glynn Thompson. Deadline to submit input is March 3.
The Board has specified that input is not limited to students and parents, and invites all members of the community to submit their feedback.
The input form, along with additional information can be viewed at the
