Releases

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE  Thursday, October 2, 2003

Contact:  Phyllis Miller   (916) 340-6224

Yolo County to Host Inaugural Countywide ‘Blueprint’ Workshop

By 2050, Yolo County is projected to grow from an estimated population of 180,000 in 2002 to as much as over 400,000. How that growth could affect the people of Yolo County now and in the future will be the subject of an innovative exercise in community planning on Monday, October 27, from 5:15 p.m. to 9 p.m. in the City of Davis. People who live or work in Yolo County are invited to attend.

The workshop will address how Yolo County will meet the challenge of planning for population growth during the next 50 years, and is open to everyone who either lives or does business in Yolo County. Should growth occur on the urban fringes? Or should it fill in already developed areas? Should there be a new town, with an ultimate population of 45,000 people north of Woodland?

The Yolo County Blueprint workshop is only the first of seven countywide Blueprint workshops being held throughout the Sacramento Region by the Sacramento Area Council of Governments (SACOG) and Valley Vision (a schedule is attached). It will be held at the Veterans Memorial Center, 203 E. 14^th St., in Davis. Ample parking is available, and a light dinner will be served. Free bus transportation to the event will also be available from the West Sacramento, Winters and Woodland city halls (see attached schedule).

The Blueprint study was commissioned by the directors of SACOG in 2002 to examine the relationship between land use and transportation patterns as part of its long-range planning. SACOG funds transportation projects throughout the region.

The event is being held in Davis because of the availability of the right-sized venue on the right day with the appropriate Internet connectivity, which will allow workshop participants to use SACOG’s Web-based, state-of-the-art computer software to examine the challenges that confront the county and propose meaningful solutions.

“The Blueprint project is of critical importance to Yolo County and to the people of Davis,” said Davis Mayor Susie Boyd, a member of the SACOG Board of Directors. “We have to plan now to ensure that we protect the quality of life in Yolo County for ourselves and our children for decades to come.”

Questions to be discussed during the event include how should Yolo County grow into the future, while protecting its treasured agricultural and natural resources? Where should growth occur – on the edges of urban areas or filling in cities and towns? Should there be a "New Town" with an ultimate population of 45,000 people north of Woodland?

The Blueprint project uses state-of-the-art, public domain, Geographic Information Systems (GIS) and Web-based planning software program called PLACE³S (‘places three’), which stands for Planning for Community Energy, Economic and Environmental Sustainability (the ‘3’ refers to the three Es of Energy, Economic and Environment). The software will allow participants in the workshop to see how changes in land use affect traffic, employment, and housing availability, among other indicators, and give planners data about county residents’ growth preferences.

“Woodland is facing significant challenges and opportunities in the coming decades,” said Woodland Mayor David Flory, also member of the SACOG Board of Directors. “How we face those challenges will determine the legacy we leave for generations to come. The PLACE3S technology is an invaluable tool in helping us determine what our future should become.”

The workshops will build upon information developed during six months of neighborhood workshops in ever county in the Sacramento Region. More than 31 workshops were held, with a total of more than 16,000 acres examined using quality growth principals. The workshops included broad representation from throughout the region, including community residents, businesses, and social equity interests.

“The range and scope of people participating in our workshop in West Sacramento was phenomenal,” said Christopher Cabaldon, Vice Chair of the SACOG Board of Directors and Mayor of the City of West Sacramento. “The Blueprint Project is absolutely the right effort at the right time for this community and for the county as a whole. Growth is coming and we have to face and plan for it now as a community and as a county.”

The workshops will essentially be ‘scenario-planning’ exercises, where participants will be able to discuss three different potential growth scenarios and a ‘base case’ scenario, that looks at what would happen if growth proceeded as it is doing today. The alternative scenarios will offer differing and escalating degrees of growth in each county.

Regional estimates call for an increase of 190,00 to 235,000 people in Yolo County by 2050. Yolo County’s current population is approximately 180,000. Adding another 235,000 people would give the county a maximum future population of as much as 435,000.

“It is important for the people of Winters to be involved in this discussion of the region’s future, because what happens in Davis and Woodland affects what happens in Winters,” said Winters’ City Council member and SACOG Director Robert Chapman.

People who live or work in Yolo County who would like to attend the workshops may do so by contacting Valley Vision, at 916-925-0130, or by e-mail at mail@valleyvision.org. The RSVP form is also available at the Blueprint Web site: http://www.sacregionblueprint.org.

The Blueprint project is made possible by funding and support from the Sacramento Area Council of Governments (SACOG), Valley Vision, the Sacramento Metropolitan Chamber of Commerce, California State Treasurer Phil Angelides’ Office, the state Department of Housing and Community Development (HCD), Caltrans, Bringing Regional Issues for Discussion and Group Effort (BRIDGE), the Urban Land Institute (ULI), the Great Valley Center, the James Irvine Foundation and KVIE6, among others.

For further information, please contact Phyllis Miller, Communication Manager, Sacramento Area Council of Governments (SACOG), at 916-340-6224 or pmiller@sacog.org. More information on Blueprint also can be found at www.sacregionblueprint.org.