Feb 18

Feb 18 City of Sacramento moves to join legal fight against lawsuits threatening Aggie Square

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Sacramento (Feb. 18, 2021) Moving to safeguard thousands of jobs planned for local residents, the City of Sacramento Thursday filed motions to intervene in two lawsuits challenging the University of California’s approval of the UC Davis Aggie Square knowledge and innovation district.

Sacramento City Attorney Susana Alcala-Wood seeks Sacramento Superior Court approval for the City to become a party to the lawsuits, partly on the grounds that the City and community stand to gain significant economic benefit from Aggie Square, which is expected to attract science, technology and research jobs to the UC Davis Health Campus next to Oak Park and to boost the City’s effort to revitalize Stockton Boulevard.

If the City’s motion is approved, it will become a party to the two lawsuits challenging the UC Board of Regents’ November vote to certify the environmental impact report for Aggie Square. One of the legal challenges was filed by a group called Sacramento Investment Without Displacement Inc., and the other by the American Federation of State, County and Municipal Employees Local 3299.

“We’re seeking to intervene because this is the single largest economic development opportunity in a generation in our city, and we must fight to prevent it from getting bogged down in unproductive litigation that doesn’t help anyone,” said Mayor Darrell Steinberg.

Scheduled to break ground in 2021, Aggie Square offers economic hope for Sacramento as it recovers from the pandemic shutdowns.[TS2] Centered around more than 1.2 million square feet of public and private biomedical space, research, technology and educational facilities, Aggie Square represents the largest infusion of well-paying jobs the city has seen in recent history. The billion-dollar project is being built in partnership between UC Davis and Wexford Science + Technology and[TS3] also will include housing, community space, continuing education facilities and public spaces for events.

An estimated 5,000 people will be needed to help construct new buildings and housing on the 10 acres of university-owned land along Stockton Boulevard and 2nd Avenue. Wexford’s contractor is currently finalizing an agreement with the Sacramento-Sierra Building and Construction Trades Council to ensure local residents are hired to construct the project, with a focus on those from adjacent zip codes. The development will directly create an estimated 3,500-5,000 permanent jobs, more than a quarter of which will not require a four-year college degree.

“The Aggie Square project will support our current small businesses on Stockton Boulevard that have been struggling through this pandemic and will bring employment opportunities to the surrounding neighborhoods,” said Councilmember Guerra. This project also will bring tens of millions of dollars of affordable housing resources to make sure these neighborhoods remain welcoming and accessible to everyone.”

Councilmembers Schenirer and Guerra have for months led talks and listening sessions with community groups to make sure the project benefits all residents and does not displace those in the surrounding area. The City is finalizing a community benefits agreement that will spell out the benefits the project will deliver in terms of jobs, workforce training, affordable housing and transportation improvements. The agreement is planned for public release in March.

As Vice Mayor Schenirer noted Thursday, “There will be no community benefits agreement – housing, jobs, workforce training opportunities for local residents - without a project. There will be no inclusive economic development for the neighborhoods without a project. This project is critical to the community’s success.”

To help facilitate Aggie Square, the City has initiated formation of an Enhanced Infrastructure Financing District that will capture the City’s portion of increased property taxes created by the development and use $30 million of it to pay for roads, stormwater, sewer and utility improvements. Twenty percent of the funds generated by the EIFD will be dedicated for affordable housing construction and housing assistance in the surrounding area to prevent displacement.

The City is also considering creating another EIFD in the Stockton Boulevard corridor and using new property taxes to build additional affordable housing. More than 700 housing units are already in the planning stages along Stockton Boulevard, 400 of them affordable. The City is also pursuing programs to stabilize existing residents with renter and homeowner assistance, including help with property repairs.