American River Parkway Notice
Our Mission
We are a group of community members who love the American River and who wish to preserve this wild and scenic resource. We view the river, and the parkway, as a place that should be preserved as a place of peace, calm, and untrammeled nature in the midst of our growing city and community. Our goals, working with other groups such as SARA, include preserving the parkway with sufficient ecological diversity and balance, and to maintain and improve access for recreation, species diversity, and to preserve historically relevant sites.
Our current focus is to preserve a floodplain and popular nature area along the lower American River that is threatened by a proposal to fill in and develop. The floodplain, part of the former Kassis property located just downstream from Riverbend Park, protects neighborhoods in the event of a flood. The area is also an important component to maintaining the ecological balance along the lower river which compliments the William Pond nature preserve located directly across river. There are many species of plants and wildlife that depend on this larger, unfragmented area to thrive. The area is also a popular recreation site for birders, fisherman, and hikers, and is also home to several sites of historical and archeological interests.
The PAR (Preserve the American River) team feels that this area has much more to offer surrounding communities as a nature and educational area. A much better option than just another housing development.
June 2023 Update:
On December 21, 2022, Trumark withdrew its original development proposal. On June 12, 2023 they applied to the City of Rancho Cordova under SB330, the Housing Affordability Act to build even more homes. The City of Rancho Cordova has 30 days from June 12, 2023 to respond to this application. SB330 limits City discretion to deny a proposed development.
The proposed project will abandon your rights to public easements linking our neighborhoods to the Parkway system (the subject of the second video). A recorded public easement hearing was taken off calendar by the City without immediately opening the blocked public easements. These are currently existing public property rights, and a private proposed development may take them away and impact the access to fishing, birding, hiking, biking and riding assets of our Parkway.
This proposed housing development site on the former Kassis Property was (in 1844) the Leidesdorff Ranch of William Alexander Leidesdorff, named the "African Founding Father of California" by the California State Legislature. The City of Rancho Cordova and County of Sacramento should fully open the recorded public 30-foot hiking and riding easement and name it "Leidesdorff Trail" in celebration of our vibrant history.
LEARN MORE ABOUT THE PLAN TO DEVELOP THE FORMER KASSIS PROPERTY ON THE AMERICAN RIVER AND VISIT THE SARA PRESERVE THE KASSIS PROPERTY FLOODWAY PAGE THAT INCLUDES:
To Parkway advocates, this proposed development plan is an egregious breach of public trust. The plan:
Abandons the existing easements providing hikers, bikers, equestrians, and fishermen with safe and convenient access to the River and Parkway.
Eliminates 20 acres of scarce floodway preserved to protect neighborhoods from catastrophic flooding.
Destroys critical habitat the diversity of wildlife living in and on the River and Parkway need to survive.
While the upper 21 acres of the former Kassis property adjacent to Folsom Boulevard are ideal for development, the lower 20 acres adjacent to the lower American River, a State and Federal designated Wild and Scenic River, must be protected.
Please help!
Please watch and share these videos:
Overview of the former Kassis Property
Please watch this short video describing the property, its history, and with views of how this area sits across from the William B. Pond area of the Parkway.
Video: Carl Salmonsen
Riverview of this Proposal at 1:57 minute.
Video: Stephanie Taylor
Recorded Public Easements
Please watch this second video of our Recorded Public Easements being blocked now.
Video: Carl Salmonsen
Articles
Help Prevent Bicycle and Hiking Easements Abandoned - Grapevine Independent
Rancho Cordova Family Fall Fest Attendees Celebrate the Area's Natural Habitat - FOX40 News, October 1, 2023
"Attendees of the Rancho Cordova Family Fall Fest speak out about new developments in the area and advocate for the natural environment."
Celebrating the American River - Grapevine Independent, October 29. 2021
"Nature walks showcased public easements that traverse the adjacent Kassis property."
Cooley Focuses on Rancho Cordova - The Independent, June 25, 2021
"I think that is just an absolutely unique piece of ground that is a part of our community,” Cooley said. “It’s something that the City Council will need to struggle with, what is the right way to balance development with access for something that serves the interests of the entire community. That, of course, is the true mark of serving in public life, this balancing act, of reconciling public values with private values.”
E-mail from ECOS, Sierra Club Sacramento Group, and SARA to Central Valley Flood Protection Board:
Request to schedule a future public workshop to discuss the need for either regulation changes or new policies relating to the appropriateness of development within the floodway of rivers, August 13, 2021
As vote looms over Rancho Cordova’s last open space, city’s mayor and vice mayor took money from the developer aiming to build over it - Sacramento News & Review article, March 24, 2021
Rancho Cordova residents rally to save one of the city’s last pieces of open space - Sacramento News & Review article, January 27, 2021
Letter from Rosemont Community Association to City of Rancho Cordova - January 1, 2021
Planning Underway for Housing on 42 Acres of Open Space East of BRECA Area - By Jim Morgan, Dece
If you don’t show up, you will have no one to blame but yourself.