The Rio Linda Visions Task Force held their monthly meeting yesterday, May 11th, to discuss the continuing progress of the Downtown Rio Linda Special Planning Area and other important issues surrounding the business climate and quality of life in our community.
We were joined by four representatives from Sacramento County;
- Ted Wolter, Chief of Staff, Supervisor Roberta MacGlashan’s office
- Lori Moss, Director, Sacramento County Department of Community Development
- Leighann Moffitt, Planning Director, Sacramento County Department of Community Development, Planning and Environmental Review Division
- Barbara Fairbanks, Supervising Code Enforcement Officer (North Team), Sacramento County Department of Community Development, Code Enforcement
The group received a presentation from Lori Moss on 311 and Code Enforcement.
- The number one and number two issues submitted to Sacramento County’s 311 service are animals. Loose or stray animals, and dead animals. Number three is illegal dumping.
- Complaints called into 311 are usually handled by the appropriate department in two business days.
- Abandoned vehicles: There is an inspection within 72 hours from an officer. If the officer confirms the vehicle appears abandoned, it is tagged with a 72 hour notice to remove the vehicle. Once a vehicle has been tagged it is rechecked within five days. If the vehicle remains after the 72 hours have expired, it will be towed. However, if the vehicle cannot be located or is not considered to be in violation, the complaint is closed.
- Code enforcement zoning complaints are given a 15 day warning letter to property owners or the responsible party. Contact is made with the reporting party to see if the issue has been resolved or if the problem still exists. If the issue is not resolved, then the appropriate department is contacted to make an inspection of the issue. Once an officer is dispatched to the location, the determination will be made whether there is a valid issue or not. If it is determined that there is a code violation, a Notice of Violation will be given with a timeline of when the violation needs to be fixed. If the officer goes out to inspect the issue 15 days later, and finds the issue has not been resolved, there will be a service fee of $490 charged to the property owner or other responsible party. While onsite the officer will do an additional inspection of the area and open up other potential code violation cases.
At this point the conversation turned to MarVal Plaza. Anthony Bivins, a business owner who is interested in locating a boxing and martial arts gym in Rio Linda was present to find out more information on the status and future of Rio Linda properties, particularly MarVal Plaza.
- He has been in contact with the owner of MarVal Plaza. According to the County Assessor’s office, the owner is St. Mena & St. Markorious, LLC., whose registered agent is Mr. Aiad Samuel, and whose business address is a house on a man-made lake next to Valley-Hi Golf Course, 5921 Whalers Cove Ct. in Elk Grove.
- Mr. Bivins has tried to meet with Mr. Samuels on several occasions to discuss renting the property, and has been declined each time. He has also tried to contact the owner of the Johnson Electric building (Buttonworks) and has been refused as well.
- Mr. Samuel stated that portions of the ceiling inside the property have collapsed, and possibly the roof. It was unclear which.
- Lori Moss will be asking for an immediate building inspection at MarVal Plaza.
The road map to resolving the problems at MarVal looks like this; There will be an inspection. If violations are found, there will be citations issued. The property owner then has 180 to correct the issues. If he fails to do that, the case will be referred to a community prosecutor and a compliance plan will be developed.
Lori Moss asked for a list of vacant properties that have become a problem for the community. MarVal, Archway Hardware and Buttonworks were named. A list will be compiled and sent by Mike Huiras.
Other issues discussed:
- Sacramento County has gotten money from SMUD to install new LED lights in our streetlights. The LED lights will be brighter and will illuminate a larger area with a more natural color of light than the yellowish sodium lights we currently have on M Street. The historical-styled acorn-top lights are on hold until after the LED lamps are installed.
- The Special Planning Area project will go back to the CPAC in June, could go to Planning in September, and could be adopted before the end of December.
- A community clean-up day is being planned with the assistance of the County, probably sometime right before the Country Faire in September. It will be a community event, with local organizations working with the County who will provide bins, trucks and clean-up crews to help us put our best foot forward during the Country Faire.
- The Arch Lighting project is moving forward. Visions has permission to replace/update the lighting on the arch, and will move forward coordinating with The Rio Linda Grange and the Chamber of Commerce.
- The next Business mixer is in the planning stages. Expect more information soon on time, date and location.
- The Rio Linda Farmers Market and Peddlers Fair opened on Thursday, May 7th. Unfortunately we had some rain in the morning and it was windy and chilly the rest of the day. That being said, it was the best opening day turnout we’ve ever had. The Squeeze Inn Food Truck and Rio Sweets ice cream were there, along with the Morning Dew band (who were REALLY good). There was only one produce vendor, but it was still very early in the year for produce around our community. We are working every week to bring more produce vendors to Rio Linda. The weekly event will continue May 14th, rain or shine.
The next Rio Linda Visions Task Force meeting will be held on Monday June 8th, 7pm, at Sac Metro Fire Station #111 on Rio Linda Boulevard.
