TERRACE PARK NEIGHBORHOOD

NEWSLETTER
May 2008
THE REALLY GOOD NEWS: After 2 ½ years our efforts to
assist the Rio Linda Union School District in acquiring the land for building
the school on the site originally designated for a school from DR Horton
have been successful. (DR Horton wanted to build from 66 to 74 homes on
that land instead.) At the January 24, 2008 – Downtown - City Planning
Commission meeting, a group of our residents (from among the 60 or 70
present that rainy evening) and 3 Rio Linda School District representatives
spoke on various issues regarding our need for the school, the history of the
area’s long range planning for a school on that site and we, also, presented
the members of the Commission with copies of the many affidavits we
collected from neighbors earlier in the year.
D R Horton (or their representatives) had prior communications with several
of the Planning Commission members before the actual meeting was held
so they could present their side of the issue in advance of our being heard
that evening during the time for Public Input. However, due to the facts
presented to the committee by various residents, the affidavits and the
backing of the school representatives, the Planning Commission voted 6 to 2
against DR Horton and suggested that they work it out with the school. DR
Horton accepted somewhere near $420,000 per acre and the escrow closed
at the end of March. The city is also ready to purchase the 1.8 acres of this
site to add that to the Park’s current acreage of 4.6, yielding (with the 1.8
joint use land) 6.5 acres of land for Magnolia Park which will be adjacent to
the school. That part of the land - sale and purchase - will close escrow by
the end of June if all goes according to plan.

A BIG CELEBRATION is being planned with a neighborhood block

party on MAY 31, 2008, from 11:00 A.M. to 3:00 P.M. Councilmember Ray
Tretheway has graciously offered to donate and BBQ Hot dogs and/or
Hamburgers for our celebration. There will also be other foods available and
various games for kids to play with prizes. We will post signs to remind you
of the celebration a couple of days prior to the event. If you will be
available to assist us in putting the celebration on by assisting with food,
tables, chairs, monitoring kids at play, and with helping at some of the
informational tables, please contact Erik or Carlene DeMarco at (916) 419-
0331. LOCATION: Papusas Way between Greg Thatch Circle and La
Cadena.
There will be various information tables for Neighborhood Watch sign ups,
Speed Bump sign ups, and other issues that are importantto our community.
We will have representatives from our local police department and fire
department. Ray Tretheway and our school officials will briefly speak to
update our residents on the progress of the school and the parks and the
projections for completion. A jump house will be available.
Thereis still a long process ahead to try to complete the necessary
paperwork before the December deadline in order that the school can break
ground by next June. We may still need to help to push this through, but we
will be monitoring this and attending school board meetings for regular
updates from the Twin Rivers Unified School District. If the required
paperwork is not complete by the December deadline, then the building of
the school will have to wait until the flood issue is resolved and the levees
are brought up to the new standards.
One of the issues that still needs to be addressed is the pressing need to get
the sound barrier along Hwy 99. We will also need to work with the city to
get better police coverage along with more proactive crime prevention. (We
will try to get a regular update on this issue starting next month.) Many
residents have expressed their concerns about the rise in crime which is
also rising in other areas, too. There is a Natomas-Based Committee looking
closely into the overall issue of Crime and Safety that meets on a
regularbasis to address these issues. If you would like to attend, please let
us know and we will give you the information and meeting times.
Code violations are also evident in the neighborhood and will be addressed
on a case by case basis. Tall weeds in un-kept, un-mowed yards, non
working vehicles sitting in driveways or on the streets, broken garage doors
or broken windows are considered code violations and are subject to fines
so, also, is parking a commercial vehicle (e.g., a long tractor trailer rig) on a
residential street for longer than just a few hours. If you are at fault in code
violations, please remedy them immediately to avoid fines. Also, it is
important to remember that as neighbors it is our right and duty to report
such code violations directly to the city. Their general number for these
neighborhood code violations is 808-6525 for our “Neighborhood Services
Area #4”. When we all take pride in our homes and property it has such a
positive impact on the entire neighborhood.
PARKS & REC. Our last contact with this important City Department
indicated that our two parks should be on schedule for completion by next
year. One (the smaller one – Golden Poppy) should be useable by next
summer while the larger one (Magnolia Park) will be finished a few months
later. Please note that I say this knowing that nearly every department in
every municipality throughout all of California is in some type of mandatory,
budgetary cut-backs and I would not be surprised if this economic crunch
had a negative impact on the completion dates of our two parks and, yes,
along with the levee work, our School as well………