By admin 
Dale Claypoole joined in applause at a Sacramento City Council meeting Tuesday following an 8-0 vote that could help clear the way for the Sacramento Zoo to expand in William Land Park.
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He was being polite, he explained shortly thereafter.
The council voted in a precursor for expansion to amend the 1997 operating agreement the city has with the Sacramento Zoological Society. The zoo’s leaders want to expand its 14-acre site about 5.8 acres into the park.
No council members raised serious concerns during Tuesday’s meeting. The vote will, among other things, allow the zoo to proceed with environmental review as it plans to expand into two areas of the park: the former pony ride area along Land Park Drive and an area immediately adjacent to the Swanston Gardens just north of the zoo.
But even with a celebratory spirit among the council during Tuesday’s meeting, public concern over the project and how it might impact the park doesn’t appear fully resolved. Claypoole was one of several people who spoke critically of the project during public comment.
“We pretty much understood it was going forward anyway,” Claypoole said after the vote.
Next steps for expansion project
Tuesday’s vote didn’t provide an immediate greenlight for expansion into William Land Park, which the city owns. The park is a single 236-acre parcel with various recreational uses including William Land Park Golf Course, Funderland, Fairytale Town and the zoo.
“It’s important to note that this agreement does not commit the city to a project,” Dustin Hollingsworth, the city’s assistant director of convention and cultural services, told the council during a presentation at the meeting.
The amendment requires the zoo to follow California Environmental Quality Act, and the improvements must be consistent with the operating agreement with the city. The city can also withdraw park land if the zoo isn’t moving quickly enough on improvements and can force the zoo to restore park land should the project go unfinished.
Public comment includes traffic concerns
Art Scotland, a zoo board member who has lived much of his life nearby, was supportive of the project. “As a member of the zoo’s board of trustees, I know it is absolutely important to expand the footprint of the zoo,” Scotland said during public comment. He was one of roughly 15 speakers.
Michael Sweet, a biology professor at American River College, said he’d brought students for years to the zoo. He was also in strong support of expansion. “They’ve done an amazing job, but the plot of land is too small,” Sweet said.
Kristina Rogers, president of the Land Park Community Association, expressed concern about adding traffic to the park.
“Our park is meant to be a peaceful green space for everyone to enjoy,” Rogers told the council. “Adding concrete and squeezing more cars in is the opposite of that. Ask yourself if you ignore this issue, what will William Land Park look like 100 years from now? Please support the park’s long-term integrity with a contract including viable solutions for parking and traffic.”
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Another member of the association, Roman Ambroselli echoed Rogers’ concerns.
“Changing the park’s usage without addressing traffic will severely compound hazards,” Ambroselli said. “We cannot simply drop a multi-parcel footprint across an active roadway and expect existing traffic patterns to absorb it safely.”
The zoo and the city have spent the past several months in a public outreach and study process set forth in a memorandum of understanding earlier this year. Claypoole voiced dissatisfaction during public comment with this process.
“We were hopeful that by participating in the work group process laid out in the MOU, we could resolve most potential problems,” Claypoole told the council. “Unfortunately, that did not happen.”
City Council support for zoo project
After public comment ended, Sacramento Mayor Kevin McCarty and council members voiced support for the project.
“I know there are still some unanswered questions and some of the residents raised some issues that we’re not going to incorporate them in our action item today,” McCarty said from the dais. “But noted, and we will certainly take those into consideration as this process proceeds.”
Councilmember Rick Jennings, whose district includes the zoo, spoke about the zoo’s history in park.
“The key message for me is what we do today lays the foundation for what will happen over the next 100 years,” Jennings said. “This is a critical juncture in where we are today, right now and so I really appreciate all of you being here at this moment in time because you will help us create history.”
Jennings also indicated that public feedback wasn’t in vain.
“We are listening. I promise you, we are listening,” Jennings said.
Asked about the critical comments following the meeting, Sacramento Zoo CEO Dan Simon said that the outreach process for the project had “worked as intended.”
“They were given the opportunity to give their input, the zoo’s heard that input, the city’s heard that input, and now as we move forward with the city, we’ll keep that input in mind as we work with our designers,” Simon said. “We’ll keep that input in mind as we drill down to that next layer of planning.”
Simon admitted he didn’t know when asked if there was a way to expand the zoo without having it be too detrimental to the park or surrounding area.
“It’s really a more city, urban planner type question,” Simon said. “We operate the zoo. We’re not traffic or pedestrian safety experts.”
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