Shifting of Greyhound bus depot OK'd

After more than two decades of vows and wrangling, it appears to finally be happening – the trouble-plagued Greyhound bus station is moving out of downtown.

The Sacramento City Council unanimously approved a multimillion-dollar deal Tuesday night to relocate the station to a city-owned lot on Richards Boulevard until a permanent depot is built in the downtown railyard.

"This is a major step forward," said Mayor Heather Fargo. "For a long time this has been a top city priority."

For years, the area around the depot at Seventh and L streets has been one of the most congested in Sacramento. The terminal also "creates an attractive nuisance for crime and loitering in the immediate area, and contributes to overall blighting conditions existing in downtown," according to the council resolution.

Despite several attempts, no viable relocation plan had materialized.

But now it appears that developer Danny Benvenuti, who owns the Greyhound site; property owners in the Richards area; and Greyhound support the latest proposal, said Rachel Hazlewood, a city senior project manager.

"Thank you, thank you, thank you," said Michael Ault, executive director of the Downtown Sacramento Partnership, told the council. "This is a real opportunity to see momentum in downtown."

Keith Kaplan, a representative of Westfield Corp., which owns Downtown Plaza, said relocation of the bus station is of "paramount importance" to revitalizing the downtown.

He said the depot was one of the biggest deterrents for retailers when they were thinking of opening a store in the mall, and a chief reason they chose to leave.

Muriel Strand, a local activist who is one of five candidates challenging Fargo in the June 3 election, was the only person to raise concerns about the move.

The new location was not as convenient or close to amenities as the downtown site, she said, adding that the council should approve the plan contingent on light rail connecting the Richards Boulevard area to downtown.

"I have a soft spot for Greyhound riders because I actually am one," Strand said.

Then Strand's comments took a strange turn.

City Councilwoman Bonnie Pannell took Strand to task for an e-mail to council members expressing concerns about the treatment of the poor. The message included an entry on Strand's blog site, and ended with a racial slur.

"We don't need to make poor people our new ('n' word)," Strand wrote on her blog, which serves as her campaign Web site.

After the meeting, when asked if she regretted her word choice, Strand said, "It's a word that recalls a lot of pain and cruelty; of course people get emotional. But nobody has a monopoly on inflicting or experiencing it."

Under the terms of the Greyhound relocation deal, the city would buy out Benvenuti's lease with the bus company, which expires in 2012, for about $1.4 million.

Benvenuti will put in about $3.5 million developing the new site at 420 Richards Blvd., said John Dangberg, assistant city manager. Benvenuti will use rent from Greyhound to repay his construction loan.

The city committed to paying an additional $2 million for grading roads in the area, adding sidewalks and other improvements.

The city will lease the land for 20 years to Benvenuti for a nominal fee. If the depot is moved to the railyard as planned, the city will buy out the remainder of Benvenuti's lease.

"It will be considered a cost of building the (transportation hub)" in the railyard, Dangberg said.

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