http://www.sacbee.com/content/news/story/10811442p-11729425c.html
Sheriff's arena plan has everyone buzzing
By Mary Lynne Vellinga -- Bee Staff Writer
Published 2:15 am PDT Monday, September 20, 2004
On Wednesday morning, Sacramento County Sheriff Lou Blanas presided over an unusual meeting in his downtown office.
The topic had nothing to do with crime fighting. Instead, the county's top cop was pitching his proposal for a ballot measure that would open 10,000 acres of North Natomas farmland to development, and use part of the profits to build an arena for the Kings. In attendance were about half a dozen developers, including Blanas' close friend and campaign contributor, Angelo Tsakopoulos, and their lawyers.
Blanas emerged from the meeting pleased. He had obtained an agreement from the owners of 6,200 acres to kick in $50 an acre - or a total of $310,000 - to fund initial work on his plan.
"That's big news," the sheriff said afterward.
In the weeks since he publicly unveiled his proposal, Blanas has been the talk of the town.
Some people hate his idea and question why the county sheriff is meddling in land-use issues.
Some oppose the development it would foster, noting that the flood-prone fields in northern Sacramento County are fertile ag land and habitat for endangered and threatened species.
Others say it is a creative idea that deserves study, and that the affable Blanas is an ideal spokesman, even if land-use planning falls outside a county sheriff's area of responsibility.
"What you see here is a very aggressive elected official who is stepping into what I suspect he views as a vacuum and trying to assert his leadership," said Grantland Johnson, a former Sacramento County supervisor and state agency head who lobbies for the Sacramento Central Labor Council.
"What one thinks about that probably depends on where one stands."
To hear Blanas tell it, he's just a devoted Kings fan who couldn't sit by while his team left town.
After the city of Sacramento fumbled the issue of replacing Arco Arena with a downtown facility, the Sacramento County sheriff says, he became convinced the Kings would leave unless something was done.
During a shared ride to the airport to embark on separate trips to Europe, Blanas said, he told Tsakopoulos about his idea to privately finance an arena through development.
"When I told him, he almost jumped out of the car," Blanas said.
Distantly related through marriage, Blanas and Tsakopoulos are close friends, and Tsakopoulos has lent Blanas at least $73,000 during his campaigns for sheriff. Tsakopoulos is one of the major landowners in the area under discussion, controlling about 1,400 acres.
Blanas said the two hammered out more details when they met a few weeks later in Greece for the Olympics. The result: A proposal the sheriff maintains is a potential victory for the Kings, sports fans, developers and the environment.
Under the scenario, county voters would be asked to approve opening about 10,000 acres of unincorporated Natomas to annexation and development by the city of Sacramento.
A roughly equal amount of land along the Sacramento River and the Sutter County line would be designated open space.
In return, property owners inside the development area would agree to contribute 20 percent of their land to a foundation, which would sell it to pay for an arena.
In today's land market, such a donation could fetch $600 million, according to real-estate experts.
For landowners, the carrot would be getting to develop sooner rather than later. Although the city and county of Sacramento have earmarked the area north of the city limits for development, the contentious process of amending the city's general plan and annexing the land could take years.
Voter approval could speed the process considerably. Based on recent sales, landowners who paid anywhere from a few thousand dollars to $50,000 an acre could sell it for $300,000 an acre in today's frenzied market once the area was approved for development, said Dave Jarrette, a partner with the Roseville commercial appraisal firm of Giannelli, Jarrette, Waters & Holland.
After the arena was built, the foundation would lease it to the Kings. Lease payments would go to charity.
Blanas' proposal does not specify a location for the arena. It could go downtown, even though the financing would come from Natomas.
In addition to Tsakopoulos, other major landholders affected include developer Enlow Ose, Richland Planned Communities, Brookfield Development Corp. and Didar Bains, a major Sutter County landowner.
Natomas landowners declined to discuss the proposal on the record, saying Blanas has been designated their spokesman. Some say they are intrigued but wonder whether such a complicated scheme could work.
A bevy of lawyers employed by the property owners is trying to provide answers. At this point, the attorneys are not even sure such a multifaceted proposal could be distilled legally into a ballot measure. "Everyone's trying to see if you can put flesh on this body," said one lawyer familiar with the proposal.
The Blanas group has yet to produce a map showing which property would be developed and which would remain open. It has yet to reach the holders of about 3,800 acres. And it has yet to obtain public encouragement from the family that owns the Kings.
"I work for Joe and Gavin Maloof, and their position is very clear: We're not engaging in any(more) discussions about a new arena," said political consultant Richie Ross. "They're discussed out."
Blanas is hopeful, nonetheless. "Did you ever hear that expression: Build it and they will come?" he asked.
His idea has attracted prominent backers, including Sacramento City Manager Bob Thomas, who has been pushing for a development plan for the Natomas Basin.
"Everybody's looking for details, and a lot of the details haven't been developed," Thomas said. "But, conceptually, I think it's a very strong proposal that deserves consideration.
"It achieves a permanent urban (growth) boundary that is consistent with the plan that both the City Council and the Board of Supervisors adopted. It achieves the idea of financing an arena, hopefully downtown, at no public expense, and it produces a revenue stream that would be a great funding source for the arts and youth sports."
Others view the plan - and the sheriff's involvement - in a darker light.
"It is appalling that the sheriff is using his position as the county's highest law-enforcement officer to lend legitimacy to this scam on behalf of Natomas land speculators," said James Pachl, lawyer for Friends of the Swainson's Hawk, a conservation group.
The Sierra Club, the Environmental Council of Sacramento and Friends of the Swainson's Hawk have opposed the city's plans to annex and develop more farmland in the Natomas Basin.
Pachl said the promise of 10,000 acres of permanently protected open space might be an exaggeration, considering much of the land not targeted for development lies within the airport's buffer zone or is protected by the Natomas Basin Conservancy.
Critics note the similarity of Blanas' plan to a proposal by Tsakopoulos to donate land for a private university in Placer County. The land is situated far west of Roseville, and local officials acknowledge it could open thousands of acres of rural land to development - much of it owned by Tsakopoulos.
For former Sacramento Mayor Anne Rudin, Blanas' idea also calls up memories of 1986, when developer Gregg Lukenbill and his partners offered to build Arco and an adjacent baseball/football stadium - but only if the city opened then-rural North Natomas to development.
The City Council approved the plan over Rudin's objections. Lukenbill built Arco but never completed the stadium. Though his development plan never panned out - flooding concerns delayed growth for more than a decade - North Natomas is now home to about 30,000 people.
Natomas has changed a lot since the mid-1980s, Rudin said, and further development might make more sense. But she wonders what developers are going to want from the city of Sacramento in return for their gift.
"It looks like it's a creative idea, but there's a lot we don't know," she said. "I don't know what sacrifices the city will have to make."
The Bee's Mary Lynne Vellinga can be reached at (916) 321-1094 or mlvellinga@sacbee.com.
Sheriff's arena plan has everyone buzzing
By Mary Lynne Vellinga -- Bee Staff Writer
Published 2:15 am PDT Monday, September 20, 2004
On Wednesday morning, Sacramento County Sheriff Lou Blanas presided over an unusual meeting in his downtown office.
The topic had nothing to do with crime fighting. Instead, the county's top cop was pitching his proposal for a ballot measure that would open 10,000 acres of North Natomas farmland to development, and use part of the profits to build an arena for the Kings. In attendance were about half a dozen developers, including Blanas' close friend and campaign contributor, Angelo Tsakopoulos, and their lawyers.
Blanas emerged from the meeting pleased. He had obtained an agreement from the owners of 6,200 acres to kick in $50 an acre - or a total of $310,000 - to fund initial work on his plan.
"That's big news," the sheriff said afterward.
In the weeks since he publicly unveiled his proposal, Blanas has been the talk of the town.
Some people hate his idea and question why the county sheriff is meddling in land-use issues.
Some oppose the development it would foster, noting that the flood-prone fields in northern Sacramento County are fertile ag land and habitat for endangered and threatened species.
Others say it is a creative idea that deserves study, and that the affable Blanas is an ideal spokesman, even if land-use planning falls outside a county sheriff's area of responsibility.
"What you see here is a very aggressive elected official who is stepping into what I suspect he views as a vacuum and trying to assert his leadership," said Grantland Johnson, a former Sacramento County supervisor and state agency head who lobbies for the Sacramento Central Labor Council.
"What one thinks about that probably depends on where one stands."
To hear Blanas tell it, he's just a devoted Kings fan who couldn't sit by while his team left town.
After the city of Sacramento fumbled the issue of replacing Arco Arena with a downtown facility, the Sacramento County sheriff says, he became convinced the Kings would leave unless something was done.
During a shared ride to the airport to embark on separate trips to Europe, Blanas said, he told Tsakopoulos about his idea to privately finance an arena through development.
"When I told him, he almost jumped out of the car," Blanas said.
Distantly related through marriage, Blanas and Tsakopoulos are close friends, and Tsakopoulos has lent Blanas at least $73,000 during his campaigns for sheriff. Tsakopoulos is one of the major landowners in the area under discussion, controlling about 1,400 acres.
Blanas said the two hammered out more details when they met a few weeks later in Greece for the Olympics. The result: A proposal the sheriff maintains is a potential victory for the Kings, sports fans, developers and the environment.
Under the scenario, county voters would be asked to approve opening about 10,000 acres of unincorporated Natomas to annexation and development by the city of Sacramento.
A roughly equal amount of land along the Sacramento River and the Sutter County line would be designated open space.
In return, property owners inside the development area would agree to contribute 20 percent of their land to a foundation, which would sell it to pay for an arena.
In today's land market, such a donation could fetch $600 million, according to real-estate experts.
For landowners, the carrot would be getting to develop sooner rather than later. Although the city and county of Sacramento have earmarked the area north of the city limits for development, the contentious process of amending the city's general plan and annexing the land could take years.
Voter approval could speed the process considerably. Based on recent sales, landowners who paid anywhere from a few thousand dollars to $50,000 an acre could sell it for $300,000 an acre in today's frenzied market once the area was approved for development, said Dave Jarrette, a partner with the Roseville commercial appraisal firm of Giannelli, Jarrette, Waters & Holland.
After the arena was built, the foundation would lease it to the Kings. Lease payments would go to charity.
Blanas' proposal does not specify a location for the arena. It could go downtown, even though the financing would come from Natomas.
In addition to Tsakopoulos, other major landholders affected include developer Enlow Ose, Richland Planned Communities, Brookfield Development Corp. and Didar Bains, a major Sutter County landowner.
Natomas landowners declined to discuss the proposal on the record, saying Blanas has been designated their spokesman. Some say they are intrigued but wonder whether such a complicated scheme could work.
A bevy of lawyers employed by the property owners is trying to provide answers. At this point, the attorneys are not even sure such a multifaceted proposal could be distilled legally into a ballot measure. "Everyone's trying to see if you can put flesh on this body," said one lawyer familiar with the proposal.
The Blanas group has yet to produce a map showing which property would be developed and which would remain open. It has yet to reach the holders of about 3,800 acres. And it has yet to obtain public encouragement from the family that owns the Kings.
"I work for Joe and Gavin Maloof, and their position is very clear: We're not engaging in any(more) discussions about a new arena," said political consultant Richie Ross. "They're discussed out."
Blanas is hopeful, nonetheless. "Did you ever hear that expression: Build it and they will come?" he asked.
His idea has attracted prominent backers, including Sacramento City Manager Bob Thomas, who has been pushing for a development plan for the Natomas Basin.
"Everybody's looking for details, and a lot of the details haven't been developed," Thomas said. "But, conceptually, I think it's a very strong proposal that deserves consideration.
"It achieves a permanent urban (growth) boundary that is consistent with the plan that both the City Council and the Board of Supervisors adopted. It achieves the idea of financing an arena, hopefully downtown, at no public expense, and it produces a revenue stream that would be a great funding source for the arts and youth sports."
Others view the plan - and the sheriff's involvement - in a darker light.
"It is appalling that the sheriff is using his position as the county's highest law-enforcement officer to lend legitimacy to this scam on behalf of Natomas land speculators," said James Pachl, lawyer for Friends of the Swainson's Hawk, a conservation group.
The Sierra Club, the Environmental Council of Sacramento and Friends of the Swainson's Hawk have opposed the city's plans to annex and develop more farmland in the Natomas Basin.
Pachl said the promise of 10,000 acres of permanently protected open space might be an exaggeration, considering much of the land not targeted for development lies within the airport's buffer zone or is protected by the Natomas Basin Conservancy.
Critics note the similarity of Blanas' plan to a proposal by Tsakopoulos to donate land for a private university in Placer County. The land is situated far west of Roseville, and local officials acknowledge it could open thousands of acres of rural land to development - much of it owned by Tsakopoulos.
For former Sacramento Mayor Anne Rudin, Blanas' idea also calls up memories of 1986, when developer Gregg Lukenbill and his partners offered to build Arco and an adjacent baseball/football stadium - but only if the city opened then-rural North Natomas to development.
The City Council approved the plan over Rudin's objections. Lukenbill built Arco but never completed the stadium. Though his development plan never panned out - flooding concerns delayed growth for more than a decade - North Natomas is now home to about 30,000 people.
Natomas has changed a lot since the mid-1980s, Rudin said, and further development might make more sense. But she wonders what developers are going to want from the city of Sacramento in return for their gift.
"It looks like it's a creative idea, but there's a lot we don't know," she said. "I don't know what sacrifices the city will have to make."
The Bee's Mary Lynne Vellinga can be reached at (916) 321-1094 or mlvellinga@sacbee.com.