By Sara Beth Williams–
With almost 100 acres of property to potentially redevelop with housing, retail, entertainment, and office space, the Sunrise Tomorrow Specific Plan has envisioned a variety of ways in which developers can incorporate open and green space throughout the aging Sunrise Mall property.
Several detailed propositions exist within the development guide regarding open spaces, incorporating both hardscape and greenery, with the goal of providing spaces that facilitate community gathering opportunities such as concerts, farmer’s markets, special events, and more.
“This is what the community wants, one of the five big ideas, which are the guiding principles,” Citrus Heights Community Development Director Casey Kempenaar said in an interview with The Sentinel regarding the Sunrise Tomorrow plan’s focus on open and green space. “If you look at successful developments that are similar in nature, they have green spaces that have multiple uses,” Kempenaar added.
The Sunrise Tomorrow plan breaks down various types of possible green and open spaces to incorporate into multiple categories, along with guidance for square footage — which city officials have clarified are not fixed requirements.
“Target sizes listed allow for flexibility as different development comes in,” Kempenaar said, referring to square footage numbers. “What you see in the plan is a concept and loose guidance. They are targets but could be less or more.”
Sunrise Commons: With a suggested size of roughly two acres, or around 80,000 square feet, Sunrise Commons is designed to be the main gathering hub, located in the lower western portion of the property, facing Sunrise Boulevard. The vision of this commons area is a space that is open and inviting and that is “highly activated” by residents who are shopping and dining in areas directly adjacent to the commons.
The Specific Plan suggests the addition of a central water feature, such as a splash pad, to attract families and create cooler temperatures. The plan also advises the addition of ADA-compliant walkways along the edges and through the center, a mix of softscape and hardscape to provide both grassy picnic areas and plaza space for performances and event setups, along with a green lawn area located centrally in the space, with some shade trees.
Community greens: The next largest greenspace envisioned in the Specific Plan is the southwest community green, located in the southwestern corner of the property, adjacent to existing residential neighborhoods.
The plan includes at least 70,000 square feet for the southwest community green space and is envisioned to be a space that is accessible by both residents from future residential housing and existing residential housing neighborhoods beyond Macy Plaza Drive.
Though the Specific Plan is designed to be a guide for development, the plan suggests adding an indoor recreation facility, a children’s play area structure, shade trees, a central open lawn, movable café chairs and tables, and walkways throughout, along with built-in power outlets. Another central community green is also listed in the plan, with a minimum size of 20,000 square feet described.
“I think the community is hungry to have places to gather, mingle, get together, and enjoy the things around them,” Kempenaar said. “It’s important to give that to the community.”
Entertainment Plazas: Other open spaces described in the plan include an entertainment plaza of at least 36,000 square feet, a smaller event plaza called Sunrise Terrace, with a suggested size of 24,000 square feet, and an employment hub open space of a minimum of 34,000 square feet.
Trails: Additionally, a 1.5-mile green loop is featured in the plan, which would be constructed as a 14-foot-wide trail that circles the perimeter of the property, landscaped similarly to the current Arcade-Cripple Creek multi-use trail, with appropriate native flora planted along the trail.
Another optional trail could also be constructed along an existing creek that currently runs beneath the mall property, Kempenaar said. The creek is a tributary creek located in the southwest corner of the property that once fed into Arcade Cripple Creek prior to the development of Sunrise Mall.
Restoring the creek would serve to “reintroduce the site’s historical topography back to the site and passively manage stormwater runoff in this corner of the site,” the plan states. If the creek was ever restored by future developers, the Specific Plan also suggests adding a pathway that would run adjacent to the creek and connect to the main green loop. The plan advises adding educational signage that would inform visitors of the history of the region’s creeks and waterways.
Aside from specifically designed walking trails and the signature “21st Century Main Street” concept, the Specific Plan calls for interconnecting walkways between development parcels, designed to foster connectivity between housing, entertainment, shopping, and employment hubs.
The purpose and goal of including walking paths throughout the property is to encourage developers to establish a cohesive “continuous sequence” of inviting spaces for pedestrians, with shaded pathways, active and flexible plazas, and “peaceful green park spaces,” the plan states.
Read the city’s full 200-page Sunrise Tomorrow Specific Plan: click here.
Share your thoughts on plans for Sunrise Mall in a letter to the editor or opinion column: Click here.
