There’s a new plan to revitalize West Broadway in Sacramento. Will residents be forced out?
The Sacramento City Council on Tuesday approved a controversial plan to guide the revitalization of West Broadway, leaving the door open for a large historic public housing complex to be demolished and rebuilt, though officials say renovation is planned instead.
The West Broadway Specific Plan creates a vision for the area for the next 20 years. It does not require the demolition of Alder Grove and Marina Vista, which contain more than 750 units for low-income families. But the plan does contain language that leaves demolition as an option. That has concerned some residents, activists and preservationists, including former Mayor Heather Fargo and former NFL player Malcom Floyd, who participated in a demonstration at the site Monday.
Sacramento Mayor Darrell Steinberg said none of the roughly 2,000 residents would become homeless as a result of the plan.
“If in fact people would be displaced under any scenario and be put out to the streets ... know I would not support any part of this, period,” Steinberg said.
Marcheri Smith, who lives in the community with her young children, said she heard those assurances, but is still concerned about demolition after looking through the over 700-page staff report.
“We don’t really know if what you’re saying is true,” Smith told the council. “I hope you guys can understand the seriousness of this. This is our lives, our children, our community. We need to know more about this in order for you guys to pass this tonight.”
The Sacramento Housing and Redevelopment Agency plans to renovate the units, executive director LaShelle Dozier said, with work likely starting on Marina Vista in 2024 and Alder Grove on 2031. The agency will relocate residents to other public housing complexes in the county for about 45 days. Residents will be be able to move back in to their renovated apartments after that, Dozier said.
In response to concerns, the city added a document into the staff report that says: “Any project that would displace residents (including through rehabilitation or demolition) of one or more public housing units must provide relocation assistance to ensure provision of affordable housing to the affected residents.”
If the agency later finds the buildings are unable to be renovated, due to irreparable foundations or other issues, it could decide to demolish and rebuild them, Dozier said. That’s what happened with Twin Rivers, just north of downtown, which will soon be rebuilt as Mirasol Village, Dozier said. Tenants are staying in other housing and will be able to move back into new units when it’s rebuilt as a mixed-income community with 500 additional units, she said.
“SHRA could reposition the housing to a private ownership model which could include demolition and new development, similar to what was done for Marisol Village,” the staff report said
Any demolition would require City Council approval down the road, Dozier said.
“It is a possibility, not a probability,” Dozier said of demolition.
Relocating for 45 days would still be difficult for families with children, seniors, and for those who do not own vehicles, said Jasmine Singh, a Marina Vista resident. She walks to her job at Leataata Floyd Elementary and so do her grandchildren, who attend school there.
“Why do we have to go to a whole new area for 45 days and then pack up and come back to our place?” said Singh, 47, who grew up in Alder Grove.
The complexes were built in the 1940s and 1950s, Dozier said. Marina Vista, formerly called Seavey Circle, received a failing inspection score of 59 last year, according to U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development records. Alder Grove received a barely passing score of 63.
Despite their failing inspections, renovation work is not planned to start for several years because it will take time to come up with financing for the large projects, Dozier said.
“Really it’s looking at what’s financially feasible more than anything,” Dozier said. “It is a much heavier lift in terms of all the other resources that have to come to bear.”
Singh said she does not have issues with her apartment, which received upgrades about 15 years ago, but that some units did not receive upgrades and do not have central air conditioning.
Why is the public housing complex historic?
Nathaniel S. Colley, who died in 1992, was the first Black attorney in Sacramento and a leader in the NAACP. He played a significant role in implementing fair housing practices, including at New Helvetia, now called Alder Grove.
Because of Colley, the 62 buildings of the Alder Grove complex are on the National Register of Historic Places, which triggers certain environmental protections. It’s the only public housing complex in Sacramento on the register, Dozier said.
Steinberg said there should be a significant educational center or another appropriate contribution that honors Colley added to the site.
Councilman Allen Warren said such an amenity would not be a suitable replacement for tearing down the buildings.
“From a historical perspective, it’s a major slap in the face to a legend in the community, to one of the pioneers desegregating housing in this country,” Warren said. “It really to me demonstrates a lack of understanding of the cultural sensitivity.”
Council members Angelique Ashby, Larry Carr and Warren voted in favor of delaying the approval of the plan for 30 days to give officials time to educate all residents on the proposal. That motion failed. Warren then left the virtual meeting, and the vote to adopt the plan passed with all in favor except Warren, who was marked absent.
Councilman Steve Hansen, who represents the area until December, said he also wants the city to consider placing the site on its Register of Historic & Cultural Resources, an idea endorsed by Preservation Sacramento. Hansen said he also wants a new courthouse being built at the Railyards to be named after Colley, and for the Sacramento City Unified School District to consider allowing the students of the complexes to start attending Crocker/Riverside Elementary School.
“This community is hemmed in physically, being separated by the surrounding neighborhood by a freeway, by the cemetery and by walls,” said Hansen, who has worked on the plan for years. “(We can) really begin to start to dissemble some of this systemic racism.”
The West Broadway Specific Plan covers the area bounded by the Sacramento River on the west, Highway 50 and Broadway on the north, Muir Way and Fifth Street on the east and Fourth Avenue on the south. It also includes a potential new bridge to West Sacramento called the Broadway Bridge; zoning changes to accommodate more high-density housing in the area; and shifts the area away from industrial uses, prohibiting additional oil tanks to be added near the river, said city senior planner Elizabeth Boyd.
Those projects would likely need to go back to the City Council in the future for additional approvals.
“We’re hoping to see the phase out of the industrial feel along the riverfront and make it a place where, as you’re crossing into Sacramento, it’s part of the city,” Boyd said.
This story was originally published August 26, 2020 at 12:48 PM.
