FOLSOM, Calif — The Folsom Plan Area south of Highway 50 is slated to welcome a new fire station and elementary school later this year.
Plan area residents can expect firefighters to occupy Fire Station 34 on Westwood Drive starting in late summer or early fall 2024, according to a presentation given Tuesday to Folsom City Council by city staff.
Alder Creek Elementary School is opening for the 2024-25 school year, according to Folsom Cordova Unified School District spokeswoman Angela Griffin Ankhelyi. Enrollment is currently at 530 students, she said.
Prospector Park, a roughly 12-acre space offering tennis, volleyball, basketball and a dog park, is also slated for a fall 2024.
“We have a little bit of a race going on between the park and Fire Station 34,” said Folsom City Engineer Rebecca Neves during her presentation. “We’re excited to see both of these community amenities open up for Folsom Plan Area.”
Neves said about 3,048 homes are occupied in the plan area, and estimating 2.7 persons per household, this means roughly 8,230 people live there.
People can already enjoy the area’s first commercial site: The Shops at Folsom Ranch. Neves said the site houses businesses like Capriotti’s Sandwich Shop, which opened in December 2023, and soon a Starbucks.
Three traffic signals have been installed at the following intersections:
- Savannah Parkway and Mangini Parkway.
- Savannah Parkway and East Bidwell Street.
- East Bidwell Street and Southpointe Drive/Regency Parkway.
In July, there will be a public bid to see what company will construct the proposed 24-inch transmission pipeline connecting the plan area to the water treatment plant north of Highway 50, Neves said. According to the city’s tentative schedule, construction should start fall 2024.
Land use
The following plans were also approved in the last six months, according to Folsom Community Development Director Pam Johns:
- A parcel map pertaining to the remaining land around UC Davis’ proposed medical campus (approved Nov. 15, 2023).
- Design review for Woodside Homes’ Broadstone Estates (Dec. 20, 2023).
- Design review for Shawood Homes’ Broadstone Estates (Feb. 21).
- A parcel map and permit for Alder Creek Marketplace (March 20).
In the last six months, four new development applications were submitted and are expected to come before the Folsom Planning Commission or city council soon. Submissions include maps and more design reviews for homes, a Habit Burger and a cell tower.
“While the specific plan for this master-planned community was adopted in 2011, we actually had LAFCO (Sacramento Local Agency Formation Commission) approve the annexation, or sphere of influence, for this area in 2001,” Johns said during her presentation to council. “I think in the context of the recent discussion about growth, it’s important to note that it was almost 20 years from the time that we started that discussion until the first home was actually developed and occupied within the plan area.”
Separate from the Folsom Plan Area, Angelo K. Tsakopoulos (AKT) Investments and UC Davis Health pitched to the city last month a 2,800-acre and 8,000-housing unit all-ages community emphasizing service to elderly adults and people with disabilities, earning support and concern from local government.
The west plan area of this project is not in Folsom but Sacramento County. However, developers propose land could be annexed by Folsom and receive land use designations determined by the city. The east plan area is in El Dorado County.
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