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Landowners agree to pursue an arena
North Natomas group supports plan that would speed development there.
By Mary Lynne Vellinga -- Bee Staff Writer
Published 2:15 am PST Thursday, November 25, 2004
Landowners in North Natomas on Wednesday opted to continue pursuing a plan to fund a new Kings arena in return for speeded-up development on about 10,000 acres of farmland.
"Everybody said: 'This looks good. Let's keep moving,' " said political consultant David Townsend, who is working for the landowners group.
He said the idea - originally proposed by Sacramento County Sheriff Lou Blanas - gained momentum after NBA Commissioner David Stern and the Sacramento Kings owners last week said they would support it.
"I think Commissioner Stern coming out and being so enthusiastic for this thing really helped," Townsend said.
The property owners would dedicate 20 percent of the money from the sale of their land, an amount expected to total at least $350 million, to build an arena and also create a $50 million endowment for arts groups and youth sports.
Numerous details remain to be worked out. Lawyers for the landowners are still drafting an initiative that could be put before voters in November 2005.
Townsend said his goal is to start collecting voter signatures by mid-January.
Lawyers also are working on a financing plan aimed at building an arena by 2008, even if it would take much longer for all the land targeted for development to build out. Some landowners may be asked to advance money for others.
The initiative would ask voters to change the county's 1993 general plan to allow development in the northern county between the city of Sacramento and the Sutter County line. This land currently lies outside the county's urban growth boundary, and environmentalists fiercely oppose building on it.
Both the Sacramento City Council and Sacramento County Board of Supervisors have agreed the city should eventually expand onto the property, while at the same time preserving a mile-wide swath of open space along the Sacramento River. But the planning process is expected to take as long as a decade. Voter approval wouldn't mean developers could build the next day, but it could accelerate the timetable considerably.
Landowners agree to pursue an arena
North Natomas group supports plan that would speed development there.
By Mary Lynne Vellinga -- Bee Staff Writer
Published 2:15 am PST Thursday, November 25, 2004
Landowners in North Natomas on Wednesday opted to continue pursuing a plan to fund a new Kings arena in return for speeded-up development on about 10,000 acres of farmland.
"Everybody said: 'This looks good. Let's keep moving,' " said political consultant David Townsend, who is working for the landowners group.
He said the idea - originally proposed by Sacramento County Sheriff Lou Blanas - gained momentum after NBA Commissioner David Stern and the Sacramento Kings owners last week said they would support it.
"I think Commissioner Stern coming out and being so enthusiastic for this thing really helped," Townsend said.
The property owners would dedicate 20 percent of the money from the sale of their land, an amount expected to total at least $350 million, to build an arena and also create a $50 million endowment for arts groups and youth sports.
Numerous details remain to be worked out. Lawyers for the landowners are still drafting an initiative that could be put before voters in November 2005.
Townsend said his goal is to start collecting voter signatures by mid-January.
Lawyers also are working on a financing plan aimed at building an arena by 2008, even if it would take much longer for all the land targeted for development to build out. Some landowners may be asked to advance money for others.
The initiative would ask voters to change the county's 1993 general plan to allow development in the northern county between the city of Sacramento and the Sutter County line. This land currently lies outside the county's urban growth boundary, and environmentalists fiercely oppose building on it.
Both the Sacramento City Council and Sacramento County Board of Supervisors have agreed the city should eventually expand onto the property, while at the same time preserving a mile-wide swath of open space along the Sacramento River. But the planning process is expected to take as long as a decade. Voter approval wouldn't mean developers could build the next day, but it could accelerate the timetable considerably.
