Sac Sewer District Extends Contract on Controversial Silverado Project

June 11, 2014 | At their regular meeting this morning, members of the Sacramento Area Sewer District agreed to extend their sales agr...

June 11, 2014 |

At their regular meeting this morning, members of the Sacramento Area Sewer District agreed to extend their sales agreement with Silverado Homes, dba Vintara Holdings, LLC. Silverado is seeking to purchase six surplus parcels from the district totaling 226-acres located on the northwest corner of Waterman and Bond roads in Elk Grove to develop a 660 house subdivision.

In 2004, the district agreed to sell the parcels to Centex Homes. As part of the sale, Centex placed a non-refundable deposit of $800,000 and was given two years to obtain a tentative map. Following a series of extensions, the housing collapse and environmental litigation, Centex assigned its rights under the agreement to Silverado.

At today's meeting, at issue was whether or not the district should extend the sales agreement by two, one-year terms. The escrow agreements that were negotiated in 2007, expired on May 1, 2014.

One of the speakers during the public comment section period expressed concern that the $800,000 forfeited by Centex would be credited back to Silverado. Elk Grove resident Steve Lee noted that Centex's forfeiture of the funds was the cost of doing business and to refund the money was effectively a gift to Silverado of public money.   

In a 2007 letter to the district, attorney Donald Mooney argued that the refund of $800,000 money to Centex was a gifting of public funds, which is specifically banned in the California State Constitution. Mooney wrote the letter on behalf of the Quail Ranch Estates Association, which is directly adjacent to the proposed project.    

Among district board members voting for an extension of the agreements were Elk Grove Vice Mayor Jim Cooper and Sacramento City Council Member Darrell Fong. There were two votes in opposition casted by Sacramento County supervisors Don Nottoli and Phil Serna.   

The Silverado project was approved last week by the Elk Grove Planning Commission. The project will next be heard by the Elk Grove City Council, but no hearing date has been set.  


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8 comments

Mary P said...

What! The district recently increased my bill(likely yours too), but they give a developer $800,000? For what?

That seems to be illegal and certainly against public policy.

Someone needs to look into this further. If true, the sanitation district should be sued so we can get the money back to the ratepayers, where it belongs.

This whole Bond Rd project stinks to the high heavens with every new detail.

Steve L said...

Let's not forget that the San Dist. has also agreed to sell that land to the buyer for only 80% of it's actual fair market value - another gift of public funds to rate payer detriment.
- Truly incredible!

Anonymous said...

.


Just another step as the blob oozes east into the countryside.

Show me the MONEY!


"a home that is built on vernal pools & wetlands"

Is the City for real on this one?

Remember that huge sinkhole that ate up a home in Florida?

Elk Grove could become "Home of the world's largest Sinkhole".

Destination City!


.

Anonymous said...

A slight correction to the story. This site project is made up of three villages. Village 1 and 2 combined will contain 660 homes. Village 3, which is a gated, Eskaton village, will have another 125 "patio" homes. Total homes for the site is 785. In addition, Eskaton will have a clubhouse and memory care unit. So, essentially, this project will be larger than the defeated Vintara project from 2006.
If residents feel this project is too hefty; too environmentally concerning; does not blend well with its rural neighborhoods to the north/east, then you need to speak up. You need to let the council know of your displeasure. Silverado does not yet own this land, so essentially, they don't have any "rights" to date. Silverado does not want to own the land until they get a project approved. As this may be common place for developers, it makes a good point that the project does not need to be approved based on ownership rights. The Sanitation board continues to own this piece of surplus land..they would have the property rights. Silverado is just here to make money on the project..and to add hundreds and hundreds of cars to Bond Road and surrounding streets each day.

Anonymous said...

HOLY CRAP!! 800 more homes on Bond Road? At least two cars per home; not to mention more school buses, more cop cars, more fire personnel (for the elder care place)...We're probably taking an average of 1800 cars per day. WHO THINKS THIS IS A GOOD IDEA? There is something wrong here...our council members need to consider the residents standpoint and stand up to this developer. Does anyone know if this developer has "donated" to any of the council members campaign funds? That would be an interesting angle...DAN?

Mrs. Olsen said...

Siverado HAS donated LOTS of money to Councilmembers, and was even photographed with the Mayor helping to pitch his new coffee business.

Anonymous said...

Show me the MONEY!!!!

Anonymous said...

This will get passed 5-0 solely due to the money being transferred from Silverado to the mayor and his munchkins. Doesn't matter about the traffic, the calls for service, poor planning, flooding, or any other factor.

These guys just care about keeping developers happy. It's precedent not new, but it's taking over our city and it's very ugly.

- I think I need a puppy!

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