Sacramento County approves West Jackson Highway master plan, certifies EIR and overrides airport noise limit

The Sacramento County Board of Supervisors on June 11 voted unanimously to certify the final environmental impact report and approve the West Jackson Highway master plan, a comprehensive entitlement package for roughly 5,913 acres in the Vineyard and Cordova communities east of Jackson Highway.

County staff described the master plan as a long-running effort to transition former mining lands into a developed community with housing, jobs, open space and infrastructure. "The plan area ... encompasses approximately 5,913 acres," Associate Planner Emma Carrico said in her presentation. At full buildout, the land-use plan would allow 16,484 residential dwelling units, about 11,500,000 square feet of commercial and employment uses, 2,000,000 square feet of industrial space and roughly 2,100 acres of parks and open space.

The project package approved by the board included certification of the final environmental impact report (FEIR), adoption of the associated findings of fact and a statement of overriding considerations, adoption of a mitigation monitoring and reporting program, amendments to the general plan and to the Cordova and Vineyard community plans, a zoning code amendment to adopt the West Jackson Highway master plan, an ordinance rezoning applicant-controlled properties to zones compatible with the master plan, adoption of a public facilities financing plan and urban services plan, approval of two affordable housing strategies, adoption of a Zone 40 water supply master plan amendment and approval of two water supply assessments for the plan area.

Staff and applicants emphasized multimodal circulation, transit connections and trail links. The plan designates major corridors as six-lane thoroughfares, four-lane arterials or two-lane collectors, and includes on-street bike lanes, off-street multiuse trails and regional trail connections. Applicants told the board they plan roughly 28 miles of class‑1 trail alignments and multiple transit routes through South Watt Avenue, Jackson Highway, Bradshaw Road, Rock Creek Parkway, Kiefer Boulevard and Excelsior Road.

Affordable-housing compliance was a focus of board discussion. In coordination with the Sacramento Housing and Redevelopment Agency, applicants submitted two strategies: the Granite strategy relies on payment of affordability fees for the small portion of residential property Granite controls, while the Stonebridge strategy proposes meeting up to 50% of Stonebridge's obligation through fees and the remainder through land dedication or construction triggered at development thresholds. Planning Director Todd Smith said staff recommends approving the applicant-proposed strategies. "Staff is recommending approval of the applicant strategy as they have proposed it," Smith said. Staff and applicants also described differences with a SHRA-proposed alternative fee calculation that would yield the equivalent of about 61 more affordable units under an older 2017 fee formula.

The FEIR identified several environmental impacts and recommended mitigation measures. Staff said the FEIR found impacts that would be less than significant or less than significant with mitigation in 12 categories, and identified six categories with significant and unavoidable impacts: aesthetics, agricultural resources, air quality, cultural resources, noise and transportation. Public comments reflected those concerns: resident Roxanne Fuentes told the board, "This undeveloped land is most of the last open space in the Eastern Sacramento County ... Prime farmland ... will be lost if this project goes forward," and listed species and habitat she said occur in the area.

A portion of the plan area falls within the 60–65 community noise equivalent level (CNL) contour for Mather Airport. County noise policy requires stricter review for residential development inside that contour and a four‑fifths vote is required to allow detached single‑family residential uses there. Board members and applicants discussed measures to reduce impacts, including navigation easements, aviation-theme signage and "enhanced acoustic treatments" for homes inside the contour; applicants and staff said future building plans must demonstrate interior noise levels meeting county criteria. The motion the board approved included the requested override of the Mather Airport land‑use compatibility plan; the board recorded a unanimous vote of the five supervisors present, satisfying the four‑fifths threshold.

During the meeting applicants described mining reclamation and reuse as a primary motivation. "It's a unique opportunity that we can convert these mine lands into a large master-plan community that will deliver much needed housing to this area," project manager Yascha Saber said. Applicant representatives from Stonebridge and Granite also told the board the project is intended to produce jobs and infrastructure over many years; applicants estimated roughly 29,000 jobs associated with the project and said large infrastructure and financing steps remain before development begins.

Board members and staff noted follow-up steps and implementation work ahead: infrastructure planning, formation of financing or special districts, potential development agreements and more detailed entitlements for subsectors of the master plan. Supervisor Hume observed the approval begins a long implementation runway and asked about measures to support nearby commercial corridors; staff and applicants said conversations about potential development agreements and infill fees will continue but that details would be resolved in subsequent negotiations and nexus studies.

The board's vote approved the full suite of staff recommendations and entitlements presented at the hearing and adopted the final EIR findings and mitigation program. Implementation will proceed through subsequent permit reviews, infrastructure planning and negotiated agreements between applicants, property owners and county agencies.

Votes at a glance

- Motion to approve staff recommendations, certify the FEIR, adopt findings and approve associated general-plan and zoning amendments, financing and water‑supply plans, affordable housing strategies and water supply assessments: moved and seconded (movers not specified in the record); vote 5–0, outcome approved. The motion explicitly included the four‑fifths override for detached single‑family residential uses within the 60–65 CNL contour; the legal threshold was met.