Sacramento City Council Rejects Neighbors’ Appeal, Violating CEQA, Sidestepping Zoning Laws, Ignoring Community Input

The behemoth project currently proposed for the Sacramento square block of Alhambra to 30^{th, to} C Street to D Street, and opposed by the quaint neighborhood’s residents, will be going forward. The City of Sacramento thumbed their noses at the residents in a vote to deny their appeal April 29th.

The project is happening because of Sen. Scott Weiner’s SB 79, signed into law by Gov. Gavin Newsom in October 2025, which will force single-family neighborhoods to accept high-rise apartment buildings. And it’s already happening.

With Wiener’s latest effort to transform residential neighborhoods into big, dense cities, the caveat justifying building apartment housing on single-family streets is if a bus stop is within half a mile of the proposed apartment building.

It is a death knell for conventional family-oriented residential living.

“CPGP and the Casa Loma Terrace Neighborhood Association appealed this project because of the project’s significant health and safety risks, its egregious size and scale, as well as the impact to the historic Casa Loma Terrace district,” Citizens for Positive Growth & Preservation said in a press statement. “Last night’s decision by the City Council to deny both appeals is deeply disappointing. The Council has given a green light to this project despite clear conflicts with adopted zoning laws, unresolved public safety and infrastructure concerns, and extensive community opposition.”

“Citizens for Positive Growth & Preservation is not opposed to responsible development. In fact, our appeal would not have halted development at the site. Our effort has always been about accountability — holding the City accountable to the laws it adopted to protect public health, neighborhood livability, and long-term infrastructure capacity.”

The Globe reported on the project in February. It is in the City of Sacramento’s records, and will occupy the former Maryann’s Bakery site, which has been abandoned and left decrepit for years, and required major remediation for soil contamination caused by leaking underground tanks, Sacramento resident Carl Seymour told the Globe in February.

“These are all apartments, market rate, with nothing for seniors, or affordable housing. And this requires the use of cars,” Seymour said describing the redevelopment project, as it isn’t near a light rail station.

“The Alhambra Corridor Special Planning District exists for a reason: to ensure that new development transitions appropriately near established residential neighborhoods and does not overwhelm historic single-story homes. When those protections are set aside, and major impacts are deferred or dismissed rather than fully evaluated, it undermines public trust, neglects community input, and sets a precedent that planning rules are optional rather than enforceable.”

Here is what the Casa Loma Terrace neighborhood in East Sacramento looks like:

The Casa Loma Terrace neighborhood is set in an historic post WWI bungalow homes, primarily one- and two-story residential neighborhood, where average density is probably 50 people per square block, Mr. Seymour said. Covered by the Alhambra Corridor Special Planning District which was created following the destruction of the historic landmark The Alhambra Theater in 1973, the area is zoned for a maximum height of 35 feet, and zoning specifies that any construction should echo architectural styles of the surrounding neighborhood.

The project applicant, the Demas family, has been seeking exceptions to be able to build a 68 foot tall, six story, high-rise, high-density apartment building, with ground floor retail space.

“The City Planning Department’s initial study states that the building will house up to 870 residents in one square block, and that the project will generate over 19,000 vehicle trips per week into this otherwise reasonably quiet East Sacramento neighborhood,” Seymour said. “The Planning Department has issued a Mitigated Negative Declaration, and tentatively recommended approval, though their final study is yet to be released. The initial study contained numerous errors and flaws, and generated significant controversy.”

“Residents repeatedly asked for a lawful, community‑benefiting process — one which evaluates the project’s impacts upon the city’s failing combined sewer system, addresses the freeway-volume traffic on narrow residential streets, and consults the surrounding neighborhood before approvals are granted. The City ignored our requests,” Citizens for Positive Growth & Preservation said.

“While the Council’s vote closes this chapter of the appeal, it does not resolve the broader concerns raised by this project or the growing pattern of approving developments that circumvent the California Environmental Quality Act (CEQA) and existing local protections.

“CPGP will continue to advocate for responsible, lawful growth and development which benefits the entire community, respects historic neighborhoods, and is guided by transparency, accountability, and good governance. Sacramento can and should grow, but it must do so by following the law and working with, not around, the people who call these long-established neighborhoods home.”

Mr. Seymour noted that with 870 people projected to live in the apartment building with only 302 parking spaces, they are short 500+ spaces.

This is forced density, not smart growth, and turns the very idea of property rights upside down.