The Citrus Heights City Council issued a proclamation recognizing January as Neighborhood Area Awareness Month, highlighting the Neighborhood Areas’ work to improve community engagement and enhance the quality of life within the city. Members of various Neighborhood Areas accepted the proclamation. Photo courtesy of the City of Citrus Heights

CITRUS HEIGHTS, CA (MPG) - The Citrus Heights City Council at its Jan. 8 meeting declared January as Neighborhood Area Awareness Month.

Councilmember Kelsey Nelson read the proclamation, recognizing “strong, engaged, and vibrant neighborhoods as the foundation of a thriving and connected community.” The Neighborhood Area network provides opportunities for residents to collaborate on projects that enhance community pride, improve safety and increase neighborhood communication. 

The Neighborhood Area Awareness Month goal is to “bring to light the great work that they’re doing” so other residents are encouraged to join, according to Citrus Heights communications officer Marisa Brown. A campaign is underway through mailers, yard signs and social media to highlight the various Neighborhood Areas and how to become involved. 

“The work is being done; the foundation is set,” Brown said. “All you need to do is participate.”   

General Services Director Regina Cave presented a proposed addendum to the Multi-Modal Impact Fees, which are assessed on new developments to help mitigate the impact on city infrastructure relating to roadways. The city adopted various updates to the impact fees in 2022 but a Supreme Court decision last year (Sheetz versus County of El Dorado) clarified that the fees charged by local governments must be roughly proportional to the impact a development can create.  

The city’s impact fees were levied based on broad land-use categories that will not always comply with the Supreme Court decision. To ensure compliance, the city needs to approve an amendment allowing for site-specific analysis of developments that do not fit into the existing categories. That analysis would look at land-use growth assumptions and capital improvement plans to determine the necessary cost to support new growth. 

City Council voted unanimously to approve the Multi-Modal Impact Fees amendments. 

The council then considered appointments to open seats on the Planning Commission and the Construction Board of Appeals. Before considering the applications, however, Mayor Jayna Karpinski-Costa asked whether the city needs a Construction Board of Appeals. She said that a Construction Board of Appeals meeting had never been convened.

“Is there something we can do to get rid of it?” Karpinski-Costa asked.

City Manager Ashley Feeney agreed that it is not an active board but is referenced in the City Code. Feeney said that City Council could table the item for now and consider an amendment to dissolve that board. If it was needed in the future, City Council could assemble an ad hoc appeal board of local experts in the field. 

City Council agreed to table the appointments to the Construction Board of Appeals. 

For the Planning Commission, the city received 17 applications for four open seats. Two seats were district specific, and Councilmember Tim Schaefer appointed Oleg Shishko and Councilmember Kelsey Nelson appointed Al Hakam Al Rawi. Each will serve four-year terms. For the two at-large seats, City Council appointed Scott Kinderwater and Thomas Scheeler, who will each serve two-year terms.

The Citrus Heights Police Department Animal Services Unit provided an update about recent service enhancements. Police Services supervisor Debra Miller said the recent contract with Bradshaw Animal Shelter provides access to a shelter with a 24-hour call center, two dedicated veterinarians, an onsite hospital and more. 

Accomplishments in the last 12 months include a free microchipping program that was donated by Mayor Karpinski-Costa and a local kennel that allows staff to keep animals in the city for reunification with their owners. The unit partnered with a nonprofit organization on a Trap, Neuter, Release (TNR) program for 40 feral cats. And a new intake system and online reporting have improved response times and efficiency.

Residents can also complete pet licensing online. Police Services Manager Tiffany Campbell said licensing and microchipping are the best ways to ensure your pet is quickly returned, while also reducing operational costs and the number of animals that end up in the shelter. 

Plans for 2025 include drive-thru microchipping clinics, low-cost or free vaccination clinics, mobile spay/neuter clinics, and mobile clinic services for pets of unhoused residents. 

The Animal Services Unit is working “to ensure that our services are readily available to our citizens,” Campbell said.

Councilmember Schaefer said, “It sounds like we’re making some real progress.”

Citrus Heights Police Department Chief Alex Turcotte presented a report on the enforcement against illegal fireworks, which he said are “a serious concern to the community” and throughout the region, causing structure fires, injuries and noise pollution. 

Citrus Heights Police Department has been working to reduce illegal firework usage as well as increase enforcement. An online reporting system in the city now allows residents to quickly report illegal firework activity. A social host ordinance imposes fines against homeowners for illegal fireworks on their property but that still requires an officer close enough to the site to see where it came from and issue the citation, which Turcotte said can be very difficult. So the city implemented a Citizen Attestation test program, which allows residents who see illegal firework usage to sign a citizen’s arrest form and act as a legal witness. The report can be completed online, so it doesn’t require officers to leave their patrol. 

Chief Turcotte said the city had a significant increase in firework complaints this year compared to last New Year’s Eve: a total of 62, up from 37 last year. However, Turcotte said, it seemed like there was less illegal firework activity and an increase in reports due to the ease of reporting and increased public awareness of how to report. 

 “It was significantly quieter in my neighborhood,” said Vice-Mayor MariJane Lopez-Taff, agreeing that the increase in complaints reflects the improved ease of reporting.  

Councilmember Schaefer clarified that the city did not make these fireworks illegal but established methods of reporting and enforcement. He said those types of fireworks are illegal under state law because they are explosives being handled by unlicensed people.

“That makes it really dangerous,” so the enforcement measures are “about safety and it’s about the quality of life,” Schaefer said.

Councilmember Porsche Middleton said to the Citrus Heights Police Department, “I appreciate all the hard work you guys are doing to make a difference here.”  

The next Citrus Heights City Council meeting is scheduled for 6 p.m. Jan. 22 at Citrus Heights City Hall, 6360 Fountain Square.