The City of Redding will have a presentation Monday, August 14 on the proposed Riverfront Specific
Plan which will decide development of the Sacramento Riverfront from the Cypress Street bridge to the
boat ramp near Turtle Bay. The consultants MIG will present an overview of the potential future
development of this area and will be seeking input from the public and various stakeholders from the
Redding Rodeo Association to environmental groups such as SEA and Wintu Audubon Society. This
will include public-owned land at Turtle Bay. It will take about a year for the consultants to come up with
a final plan.
Initially, the City Council considered selling the land outright to a consortium of Populous, K-2
Development, McConnell Foundation, and Turtle Bay Exploration who approached the City with a
proposal to buy much of the City-owned land at Turtle Bay. And extensively develop plans for
restaurants, retail stores, apartments, a large stadium and a new Civic Center, ziplines, a dog park, and
beer gardens among other aspirational plans. After an outcry from residents, the city council voted to
develop a Riverfront Specific Plan for the entire area with broad community input.
SEA is concerned with the effects that this type of large-scale development will have on the existing
habitat and wildlife including migrating birds and salmon. We are encouraging any member of the public
to speak up to help protect the area’s riparian habitat; asking the planning commission to not
over-develop the riverfront so as to preserve the environmentally fragile area.
If you’d like to have your voice heard and speak up for our environment, please attend the City’s
Riverfront Specific Plan open house on Monday, August 14th from 1 pm to 7 pm at the Redding
Civic Auditorium. Presentations by city officials will be at 2 pm and at 5:30 pm and will cover the
basics of the Riverfront Specific Plan. The public will be able to comment on this project through
comment cards provided at the open house or verbally/live during the Q&A section of each
presentation.
If you can’t attend the open house or would like to comment on this project additionally, you can email
Jeremy Pagan, Director of Development Services for the City of Redding, at jpagan@cityofredding.org
or go to this website and submit a comment (this will be included by the City of Redding on this website
soon). The above website will also include a recording of the presentation if you’d like to learn more.
You can use our template below for emailed comments if you’d like, but we highly encourage you to use
your own words as that is more effective!
TEMPLATE FOR EMAILED COMMENT (use your own words if you can)
Dear City Officials,
As a resident in the area and as someone who cares about our environment, I would like to encourage you to
ensure that the River Front Specific Plan preserves and prioritizes the very fragile, existing riparian habitat and the wildlife in the area.
From previous plans created by Populous, an auditorium, shopping, and apartments were proposed. I would
encourage that if the development of a stadium, shops, and apartments (among other things) is desired in the City of Redding, it be developed elsewhere so as not to disturb the native wildlife and habitat but also disturb the people who enjoy using the riverfront as a place to find peace and quiet.
Thank you for considering my comments on this matter and I hope you will ensure that our environment is of top priority not just for the wildlife but for the humans that use this space as well.
Sincerely,