By Sara Beth Williams–
The Citrus Heights City Council has listed Sunrise Tomorrow, annexation reexamination, fiscal prudence, revenue diversification, and beautification as some of their top priorities to discuss during an annual special city council strategic planning meeting, scheduled for this Wednesday, March 18.
The all-day annual meeting typically involves icebreakers, a year in review of accomplishments, and discussion of top priorities and draft objectives of both the city and the city council. The strategic planning meeting helps to shape objectives and policies for the rest of the year.
City Council members each listed their top three priorities in an agenda packet released last week. Below is a summary of each council member’s priorities.
Mayor MariJane Lopez-Taff: The mayor outlined three priorities, two of which focused on economic development. Lopez-Taff wants to work in partnership with Tallen Group on business attraction efforts for Sunrise Tomorrow and the future sports complex and support current businesses and new business creation on Auburn Boulevard and at Sunrise Boulevard and Greenback Lane.
Lopez-Taff also wants to revisit the conversation of annexation, examining three specific locations, including the corner of Fair Oaks Boulevard and Madison Avenue, the Roseville Pointe residential area, and the commercial center on Antelope Road, including Home Depot.
Vice Mayor Porsche Middleton: The vice mayor’s listed priorities focused on revenue diversification and long-term fiscal strategy.
“Citrus Heights remains heavily dependent on sales tax revenue. In a changing retail economy, this creates long-term fiscal risk,” Middleton said, adding that she would like to discuss strategies to diversify the city’s revenue base by attracting higher-value land uses, professional services, innovation-based businesses, and mixed-use developments.
Middleton also wants to focus on Sunrise Mall redevelopment, emphasizing that redeveloping the property as a mixed-use district could create a regional destination that integrates housing, employment space, local retail, and civic gathering areas, which further supports her goal of diversifying revenues.
Middleton also wants to focus on post-K-12 workforce development by exploring stronger partnerships with regional community colleges and workforce training programs to build local talent pipelines aligned with target industries that help residents connect to stable careers and potentially make Citrus Heights more attractive to prospective employers.
Councilmember Jayna Karpinski-Costa: Dr. Karpinski-Costa listed two priorities, the first involving the examination of the feasibility of annexing portions of the Sunrise Recreation and Park District. Karpinski-Costa explains that the city already invests city funds into local parks and that the parks district receives 4 percent of property taxes. which is spent outside the city.
Karpinski-Costa’s second priority is to discuss the potential for changing the status of Citrus Heights from a general law city to a charter city. She would like to form a committee to evaluate the feasibility of the idea.
“This develops “home rule” for municipal affairs and potential for increased funding sources,” Karpinski-Costa said.
Councilmember Tim Schaefer: Like fellow councilmembers, Schaefer would like to focus on the redevelopment of the Sunrise Mall, specifically continuing to advance the vision of the Sunrise Tomorrow Specific Plan.
“We will ensure that any city participation is tied to a clear, step-by-step return on investment within a specific, documented timeframe,” Schaefer said. He also wants to leverage the highly visible Sunrise Tomorrow district and Sunrise Sports Center to attract and further enhance the Auburn Boulevard business district.
Schaefer also wants to prioritize fiscal responsibility. “I believe that protecting the city’s financial future requires more than standard oversight; it demands heightened vigilance,” he says.
Councilmember Kelsey Nelson: Nelson’s core priorities center around boosting quality of life through beautification and safety measures, developing a more accessible government for young people, and revisiting the annexation conversation.
Nelson wants to focus on beautification and safety measures by introducing native plant life to barren stretches of the city and removing invasive species. Nelson also wants to continue to advance artwork projects throughout the city, including murals on freeway walls, painted sidewalks, brightly colored benches, street light poles, and more.
Nelson would also like to see improvement in the visibility of signs, such as street signs, speed limit signs, and stop signs, and the continued focus on enforcing current laws in place, such as public intoxication, commercial property upkeep, and more.
Lastly, Nelson would like the city to increase its engagement with young people both online and on its website by engaging with the community through replying to comments, direct messaging, providing more resources for first-time homebuyers and young families, and developing fashionable, high-quality, and affordable city-branded merchandise.
Nelson would also like to see more participation of council members at local school events and the encouragement of students to attend city council meetings and other events by the city.
Like Lopez-Taff, Nelson would like to revisit the discussion of the annexation of the commercial centers and residential areas at Antelope Road and Roseville Road, as well as explore annexation further west toward the I-80 and Greenback Lane overpass and further south along Roseville Road to Elkhorn Boulevard.
See the full strategic planning meeting agenda here.
The special city council strategic planning meeting will be held Wednesday, March 18, at Citrus Heights City Hall in the Large Conference Room and Community Room from 8:30 am to 5 pm with various breaks in between. Public comment is scheduled to take place at 9 a.m. but is subject to change.
The meeting is open to the public. Anyone wishing to make comments can do so by attending the strategic planning meeting or by submitting comments online by emailing the city clerk at [email protected]. Speakers will be limited to three minutes each, and the mayor has the discretion to lengthen or shorten the allotted times.
Citrus Heights City Hall is located at 6360 Fountain Square Drive.
