Natomas Residents Hope End Of Building Moratorium Will Spark Responsible Planning
NATOMAS (CBS13) — The people of Natomas got the chance to step up and ask questions as a building ban may soon be lifted.
Concerns over flooding in the wake of Hurricane Katrina were felt thousands of miles away in Natomas. The Federal Emergency Management Agency raised standards for levees after the 2005 hurricane. This put previously OK levees classified as substandard, which halted construction in Natomas in 2008.
The impact stretched beyond new homes. The moratorium also stopped a dozen families whose homes were damaged by fire from rebuilding.
Monday's packed community meeting gave many a chance to show their excitement for building to finally begin, but others still have concerns.
The city will allow 1,500 homes and apartments to go up in the first year.
Terry Preston is a public transportation advocate who hopes the city has learned from its past mistakes.
"North Natomas in particular hit a big low-density sprawl back during the building years," he said. "Hopefully the building moratorium has given us an opportunity to kind of see how that doesn't work as well."
Preston, like many, hope to see public transportation as part of the new plan.
"We want to make sure it's done in a coherent and staged fashion so that development and transit work hand in hand. We are not building over here and building transit over there," he said.
So far, only half of the levee repair work has been done, and it could take up to seven years and $600 million to complete. That means the need for flood insurance won't change, since it's tied to levee repairs.
The Sacramento City Council is scheduled to give the official green light to build new homes on March 31.
