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Sacramento, CA - Advisory Services Panel
December 6, 2022
The ULI Advisory Services panel developed recommendations for accelerating mixed-use development in Folsom’s Central Business District and Sacramento County’s North Watt Avenue corridor. Panelists’ recommendations will assist SACOG in allocating up to $40 million in state planning and infrastructure funding to expedite housing production in designated Green Zones, including the central Folsom and the North Watt Avenue corridors, that have capacity for infill development and high potential for reducing vehicle travel.
In California, the smart-growth plans promoted by cities, regional agencies, and other public institutions in major metropolitan areas are not delivering the residential units needed to address the state’s housing crisis. In the Sacramento region, commercial corridors are often over-retailed, under-utilized, unfriendly to pedestrians, and lacking in identity and community character. The development economics in the Sacramento region often are not strong enough to spur the private sector to build the 7,000 infill housing units a year the region needs in order to accommodate population growth while meeting shared regional objectives around greenhouse gas reduction.
In response, the Sacramento Area Council of Governments (SACOG) has developed the Green Means Go program to catalyze development in Green Zones—locally designated areas that have capacity for infill development and show a reduction in vehicle miles travelled in the region’s Sustainable Communities Strategy. Green Means Go is supported by all 28 local jurisdictions in the six-county region.
Photo By ULI
The panel was led by chair Philip S. Payne, chairman, Lotus Campaign, Charlotte, North Carolina; and included panelists Keith A. Baker, executive director, ReConnect Rondo, Saint Paul, Minnesota; Jenna Hornstock, deputy director of planning for land use, Southern California Association of Governments Los Angeles, California; Andrew Jakabovics, vice president, policy development, Enterprise Community Partners, Washington, DC ; Lewis Knight, urbanist, SERA, Oakland, California; Rochelle Mills, president and chief executive officer, Innovative Housing Opportunities, Inc., Santa Ana, California; Yvonne Yeung chief executive officer, SDG Strategies, Markham, Ontario, Canada. ULI staff Thomas Eitler, Barbra Gustis, Kelsey Steffen, and Fabiola Yurcisin supported the panel. Deborah Myerson, Myerson Consulting, served as the panel program manager for ULI.
Date: November 13-18, 2022
Location: Folsom and Sacramento County, CA
Sponsor: Sacramento Area Council of Governments
Panel Chair: Philip Payne, Lotus Campaign
The ULI Advisory Services panel developed recommendations for accelerating mixed-use development in Folsom’s Central Business District and Sacramento County’s North Watt Avenue corridor. Panelists’ recommendations will assist SACOG in allocating up to $40 million in state planning and infrastructure funding to expedite housing production in designated Green Zones, including the central Folsom and the North Watt Avenue corridors, that have capacity for infill development and high potential for reducing vehicle travel.
In California, the smart-growth plans promoted by cities, regional agencies, and other public institutions in major metropolitan areas are not delivering the residential units needed to address the state’s housing crisis. In the Sacramento region, commercial corridors are often over-retailed, under-utilized, unfriendly to pedestrians, and lacking in identity and community character. The development economics in the Sacramento region often are not strong enough to spur the private sector to build the 7,000 infill housing units a year the region needs in order to accommodate population growth while meeting shared regional objectives around greenhouse gas reduction.
In response, the Sacramento Area Council of Governments (SACOG) has developed the Green Means Go program to catalyze development in Green Zones—locally designated areas that have capacity for infill development and show a reduction in vehicle miles travelled in the region’s Sustainable Communities Strategy. Green Means Go is supported by all 28 local jurisdictions in the six-county region.
SACOG asked the panel to identify challenges and provide recommendations to facilitate equitable residential and mixed-use infill development within commercial corridors via the locally-adopted Green Means Go program.
Key recommendations from the panel included:
- Shape a vision for vibrant, walkable, intergenerational communities where residents can live, work, and play
- Build consensus through leadership and social infrastructure
- Ensure that sufficient physical infrastructure, especially utility capacity, is in place to support growth and new residential development
- Invest in staff capacity and case management services at the jurisdictional level
- Invest in pilot projects to prove feasibility
- Launch simple engagement activities such as public art, street fairs, and performances to invite placemaking and activate underutilized parking lots
- Create 15-minute communities as settings for new housing; diversify uses within walkable hubs
- Streamline and reform the approval process
- Commit to a transportation vision for these corridors at the local level; pursue Complete Streets policies to diversify mode share
- Adopt higher density zoning in Green Means Go corridors; evaluate parking requirements at the neighborhood level
- Shift to form-based codes to create flexibility while maintaining land use goals
- Identify partners and public/private partnerships, real estate funds, grants, and other sources to raise capital
In the Folsom Central Business District:
- Create more opportunities for mixed income housing.
- Orient housing towards existing residential areas and amenities but with strong connections to retail
- Produce design guidelines consistent with facilitating a walkable, connected corridor
In the North Watt corridor:
- Improve the urban environment to enhance mobility and economic opportunity for existing residents.
- Shape land acquisition to focus on an affordable housing strategy that can preserve permanent affordability.
- Capitalize on Environmental Justice Community status to leverage funding resources and build community capacity
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