‘Expansion or extinction.’ New location for Sacramento Zoo stuck in decision gridlock

More than three decades after the first talks of moving the Sacramento Zoo to North Natomas began, the facility remains in Land Park where it has been since 1927 — without room to grow and with fewer and fewer animals on view.

Situated on some 15 acres, the Sacramento Zoo can no longer support the wide variety of animals that could draw crowds from across the region and beyond. In recent years they’ve reduced the number to meet regulatory standards, sending critters to other zoos with more space.

With each reduction, zoo officials say the facility slips deeper into obscurity. At a meeting with the city this week, Jason Jacobs, the zoo’s executive director, warned that it’s either “expansion or extinction” for the facility.

“We have had to in the last 25 years send out our bears, gorillas, hippos and elephants. And when you dwindle that away, you limit the ability to increase your revenue or attendance,” Jacobs told the city’s investment committee Monday.

“If we continue on our path,” Jacobs added, “we are managing toward extinction.”

The solution eyed by the Sacramento City Council is relocating the city-owned asset that’s operated by the Sacramento Zoological Society, presumably to North Natomas. But green-lighting the plan has been held up as city lawmakers continue debating where is the most appropriate location.

The relocation would allow the zoo to more than double its footprint and the projected cost of the first phase is nearly $50 million, according to a city staff report. The zoo hopes to receive a public contribution between $15 million and $20 million to begin rebuilding, relying on a surcharge, new tax or municipal bonds issued by the city.

But those discussions are still far away.

“The vote in front of us now doesn’t include any money. Nobody’s saying we’re going to pay for the zoo,” said Councilwoman Angelique Ashby. “We’re just saying here’s an OK spot for you to use from a land-use standpoint.”

At least three city-funded studies have been completed since the 1990s. The most recent report from 2020 examined the viability of four sites: The current location in Land Park, the Sleep Train Arena site, Bing Maloney Golf Course near Executive Airport, and North Natomas Regional Park, which is preferred by the zoo’s board of trustees.

Seeing an opportunity to reuse the long-vacant arena site owned by the Sacramento Kings, the City Council delayed voting on the project for 90 days at a meeting last December. Now that the deadline has come and gone, zoo officials are growing more anxious about their future.

The arena is the only short-listed location not owned by the city. Ashby, who is leading the negotiations with the Kings, said the discussions will last until at least the end of the month.

Ashby said she understands why zoo officials are frustrated with the years-long process which has slowed their ability to fundraise for an expansion.

“The Zoo can’t even take their next step until the city says ‘yes, sure, we do want to do this.’ “ said Ashby, who added that only the two sites in North Natomas have been consistently identified in recent studies the city conducted. “I think they (the zoo) are fairly and justly frustrated.”

Should other neighborhoods get a shot?

Meanwhile, the City Council added a new layer to the discussion: equity — a catchall phrase that suggests the local lawmakers will try to evenly distribute resources throughout Sacramento.

During the December meeting, some city council members and Mayor Darrell Steinberg asked if they could be more intentional about where the zoo goes.

“We can afford to take more time and make a careful choice that takes into consideration all of the community concerns, including those around equity,” Steinberg told The Sacramento Bee in December. “No properties are off the table at this point.”

Disparities plague most cities and Sacramento is no different. The city created the Inclusive Economic and Community Development Investment Committee in 2019 to help identify ways to shift the pattern when making big financial decisions.

The group of business and community stakeholders are appointed by the city manager and help evaluate projects with the intent of economic inclusion. Their recommendations go to the City Manager who then reports to the City Council.

Assistant city manager Michael Jasso said the investment committee looks at projects with equity in mind but also pays close attention to the basic needs. In the case of the zoo, parking and enough space to expand are near the top of the list.

Whether that eliminates other locations, like Bing Maloney Golf Course, is still an open question. The latest report suggested the golf course would be spacious enough but is under a flight path that’s regularly used for the nearby Sacramento Executive Airport.

Jasso said the equity discussion doesn’t stop there.

“We don’t have a perfect (platform) yet,” Jasso said, who added that the city can achieve its equity goals by looking beyond the site location. “We’re trying to create opportunities for people who did not previously have them, whether that’s visitation or zoo careers.”

This story was originally published April 8, 2021 at 5:00 AM.