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The Sacramento Zoo’s plans to expand into William Land Park by roughly 5.8 acres are moving closer to becoming reality.
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At its 2 p.m. meeting Tuesday, the Sacramento City Council is scheduled to review an amendment to the city’s 1997 agreement with the Sacramento Zoological Society to operate the zoo. The amendment lays out a number of things related to the expansion, including the environmental review process the zoo must follow.
While it could still be at least a year, if not longer, before construction gets underway on the expansion, the potential amendment was welcomed Monday by zoo officials.
“It is the step toward expansion happening,” said Elizabeth Stallard, the board president of the Sacramento Zoological Society. “It’s the city indicating that we can potentially operate on those additional almost 6 acres.”
The City Council had voted unanimously on April 28 to approve a memorandum of understanding allowing the zoo to study expansion in Land Park. The MOU’s expiration is Tuesday, Sept. 1.
The zoo’s expansion plan
The zoo has been seeking since last year to expand in Land Park after abandoning plans to relocate to Elk Grove. At about 14 acres, Sacramento Zoo is one of the smallest zoos accredited by the Association of Zoos and Aquariums in the United States.
“If we don’t get more space in Land Park, we’re going to have to go back to looking elsewhere,” Stallard said during a Land Park Community Association Meeting in March.
In recent months, the plan has become for the zoo to use two plots of land in the 236-acre, city-owned park: a 4.4-acre piece across Land Park Drive from the zoo where pony rides had formerly operated; and a 1.4-acre piece adjacent to a statue of area pioneer Charles Swanston.
The zoo sought for a time to use land that included the Swanston statue before dropping those plans in May, following outcry from some members of the public.
According to the staff report for Tuesday’s meeting, under the amendment the zoo will be able to use the two expansion areas if it fulfills all California Environmental Quality Act requirements.
The city will retain supervisory power over the environmental review process and can halt the project or make changes. The city can also withdraw the land if the zoo isn’t making improvements with a sufficient amount of diligence.
In addition, the zoo will be forced to restore park land if the expansion work goes unfinished.
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Dustin Hollingsworth, the city’s assistant director of convention and cultural services, who also serves on the board of the zoo as the city’s representative, didn’t immediately respond to a request for comment Monday afternoon.
What happens next
Should the City Council approve the amendment, a next step could be the beginning of the environmental review process.
Sacramento Zoo Executive Director Dan Simon said Monday that the zoo is planning to cover the cost of the environmental review without a contribution from the city.
“We’re prepared to do that as long as we know we have a viable path forward,” Simon said.
He wasn’t sure if the review would be a full environmental impact report or who would handle the review, though he anticipated an outside firm would be hired.
“If the amendment is approved on Sept. 1, then we’ll get into that process,” Simon said.
Stallard was hopeful about Tuesday’s meeting. The staff report notes that the zoo opened at 4 acres in 1927, was expanded to 8 acres in 1958, 10 acres around 1961 and 14 acres in 1968.
“This will be the largest expansion of the zoo since the ’60s,” Stallard said. “We want to grow the zoo by 40% That’s great, right? And it’s something that hasn’t been possible before in Land Park. And so we’re really excited about it.”
Simon was hopeful, too, saying the public had been largely supportive the potential expansion.
“I think overwhelmingly, the public can see the benefits of that and I hope we’ve explained well the reasons why this gives us the space we need,” Simon said.
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