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Filling in the Spaces: Building in Built-Out Areas: Cities Try to Balance Need for Infill With Concerns of Residents

Posted on: Sunday, 19 February 2006, 12:00 CST

By Molly Dugan, The Sacramento Bee, Calif.

Feb. 19--The idea of infill is simple - build on vacant parcels that are surrounded by development. But executing infill development is proving, in some cases, to be arduous and controversial. Citrus Heights and Rancho Cordova leaders emphasize the need for infill to alleviate affordable-housing shortages and prevent more building in environmentally sensitive places outside the urban core. Residents, however, oppose some infill projects, fearing the development could change the character of their neighborhoods and bring more traffic and air pollution. As infill projects are increasingly being proposed in the two cities, both are struggling with how to reconcile the need for infill with the concerns of residents. "Infill is always controversial, because people have enjoyed that vacant lot as an unofficial park, or they are simply used to the neighborhood as it is and find any potential change distressing," said Bill Van Duker, chairman of the Citrus Heights Planning Commission. "Just because the neighbors don't want (a parcel) developed, that doesn't remove the right of the owner to develop it." The task of local government is to ensure infill projects will enhance, not degrade, neighborhoods, said Mike McKeever, executive director of the Sacramento Area Council of Governments. Owners are legally entitled to develop their land as the zoning allows, and infill is less expensive for developers because they do not have to install infrastructure, such as streets and sewers. Cities cannot deny projects because the neighborhood doesn't like them. "Trying to stop change won't work," McKeever said. "But citizens are completely reasonable to say we've got to be careful in how we do this." The benefits of infill are many, McKeever said. The projects are closer to jobs and services and public transportation, thereby reducing commute times and removing vehicles from the highways. Air pollution, mainly the result of vehicle exhaust, is minimized. When economic activity is pushed farther and farther out, core neighborhoods suffer, Mc-Keever said. Infill ensures that neighborhoods retain economic activity, he said. For Citrus Heights, there are few options besides infill; the city is almost entirely built out. More than 25 infill housing developments are in the works. "The only place we're going to develop is where there are already residences or commercial buildings," said Janet Ruggiero, the community development director for Citrus Heights. "We ensure that whatever is put in improves the situation and is never detrimental." Ruggiero said the city tries to address residents' concerns with every project and eliminate potentially negative impacts. But that doesn't mean that all residents support infill. The Residents Empowerment Association of Citrus Heights, the umbrella group for the city's 11 neighborhood associations, wrote a six-page report stating concerns about how infill is potentially compromising the character of neighborhoods. "We don't want our neighborhoods carved up with developments that don't belong," said Jay Evans, treasurer of REACH and co-author of the report. "We're trying to get the city to understand where we're coming from and perhaps put a stop to high-density development." The problem with high-density development, Evans said, is that it generates more traffic and can destroy the identity of a surrounding neighborhood. The report, released to city leaders in January, signifies the beginning of a new dialogue between officials and residents, said Councilman Steve Miller, former president of REACH. "There are times when we're going to have to agree to disagree," he said. "But I think some of the concerns are truly valid. I think we can work together to make these projects more compatible with the neighborhoods." Unlike Citrus Heights, Rancho Cordova has plenty of land to develop south of Highway 50. But north of the freeway, the city is building some infill projects. Councilwoman Linda Budge said the idea is to improve the older neighborhoods with new development. The solution to reconciling the tension between the need for infill and the concerns of residents, she said, lies in getting residents involved early on, giving them accurate information, listening and being responsive to their concerns. "Infill needs to be a benefit to the surroundings," Budge said. "The benefits can be physical and social. They can be problem-solving." Rancho Cordova residents have opposed just two infill projects: a complex of 208 apartments on Laurelhurst Drive near Mather Field Road and a nine-condominium development on Terra Loma Drive, just off Folsom Boulevard. In many cases, city leaders said, infill can improve areas, adding increased storm drainage capacity or new sidewalks, landscaping and fencing. Citrus Heights is rewriting the zoning codes, and Rancho Cordova is working on a general plan.

The early planning process is the time to get involved, McKeever said. "That's where the real choices are made about where housing is going to go," he said. "That's where you lay the framework for how a community is going to be built." ------------ Related graphic Tale of two cities' development [138k PDF]

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Copyright (c) 2006, The Sacramento Bee, Calif.

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Source: The Sacramento Bee

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