By Sara Beth Williams–
A prominent regional developer’s proposed amendment to the Sunrise Tomorrow Specific Plan is scheduled to be discussed later this month.
The city’s current 147-page Specific Plan was drafted after the city held several well-attended community workshops, and includes guidelines for future redevelopment of the nearly 100-acre mall property.
The proposed amendment was first scheduled to be heard in November, but the discussion item was withdrawn from the City Council agenda by the developer to be heard at a then-undetermined later date.
The amendment request, submitted by Ethan Conrad Properties, proposes the allowance of eight quick-service restaurants and drive-thru businesses, building and landscape materials sales, light industrial and storage uses, and automotive uses, as well as the removal of requirements for open space, according to the city’s Oct. 1 announcement.
The city is planning to hold a public meeting on Jan. 22, at 6 p.m. “to review and provide direction” regarding the amendment proposal. The meeting will be held at the Citrus Heights Council Chambers inside City Hall, located at 6360 Fountain Square Drive.
A site plan included in the developer’s proposal shows spots for six quick-serve national restaurants taking up largely vacant parking lot areas along Sunrise Boulevard, along with a seventh restaurant in the former Elephant Bar location. An eighth, quick-serve national restaurant is also shown being added along Greenback Lane. The site plan shows In-N-Out Burger listed as one of the future proposed tenants near the southern end of the property, while other restaurant tenants are not named.
The former Sears building is listed as “national tenant bowling/entertainment use,” and a Home Depot is shown in the southeastern corner of the property. The existing mall building appears to remain unchanged in the site plan. Conrad Properties reportedly controls around 71 acres of the mall property, which does not include the bulk of the existing mall building.
The proposal cites multiple sections of the city’s General Plan as justification for allowing the proposal, including the city’s goal to “Create an inviting and distinctive identity for Sunrise MarketPlace to promote its image as the City’s premier destination to shop, work, live, and play.”
In an email to The Sentinel, City Councilman Tim Schaefer noted the city’s existing plan for Sunrise Mall includes “a menu of concepts and projects that developers could choose from to stay within the scope of the EIR,” referencing a million-dollar Environmental Impact Report the city paid for in hopes of incentivizing and streamlining development.
Schaefer also noted that the EIR “does not mean that any particular concept or project is required.”
“It just means that if a developer wants to build something that is out of the scope of the EIR, the developer must pay for a new environmental study,” Schaefer added.
For information on the Sunrise Tomorrow Specific Plan and proposed redevelopment plans, visit sunrisetomorrow.net. City Hall is located at 6360 Fountain Square Drive.
Ethan Conrad Properties’ full proposal can be viewed online here.
Want to share your thoughts on the proposed development at Sunrise Mall? Click here to submit a letter to the editor.
A prominent regional developer's proposed amendment to the Sunrise Tomorrow Specific Plan is scheduled to be discussed later this month...
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