COMMUNICATIONS
IN RELATION TO THE
CITY OF ELK GROVE
JANUARY 10, 2024
REGULAR MEETING
Agenda Item No. 8.2
January 10, 2024
M
emorandum
J
anuary 9, 2024
..............................................................................................
Date
Mayor, Vice Mayor and Council Members
..............................................................................................
To
Antonio Ablog, Planning Manager
..............................................................................................
From
Agenda Item 8.2, Oak Rose Apartments Project (PLNG22-015) .............................................................................
Subject
The City has reached a settlement in principle with the applicant for the Oak Rose project, which would involve relocation of the project to an alternative site in the City outside of the Old Town Special Planning Area. The settlement is not final. The details and formal settlement documents still need to be prepared and finalized. In order to provide time for the finalization of the settlement and settlement documents, staff requests that the City Council take no substantive action on the project scheduled for City Council consideration on January 10, 2024, but rather continue the matter to the regular City Council meeting of January 24, 2024.
You don't often get email from Learn why this is important From: Kyra Killingsworth
To: Jason Lindgren
Subject: FW: Vote NO on Oak Rose Apartments
Date: Monday, January 8, 2024 9:51:27 AM
Attachments: image005.png
Written Comment for item 8.2
Thank you,
Kyra
Kyra Killingsworth
Senior Planner / Planning
Development Services
From:
Bill Coffee
Sent: Friday, January 5, 2024 1:46 PM
To:
Antonio Ablog <[email protected]>
Subject: Vote NO on Oak Rose Apartments
[EXTERNAL EMAIL]
Dear Antonio ,
I’m writing to voice my disapproval of the Oak Rose housing project being approved for Old Town.
The idea of 67 units and no parking crammed into a huge building on a small lot in the historic district is unbelievable. I don’t think it should be allowed and am shocked/disappointed and angry that our city staff would consider approving it.
I heard the City made good effort to relocate the project to another site that can hold that many units. Why not continue that effort?
I have written city council members demanding they vote this down. I’m passing out flyers and supporting a protest.
You know this is not a fit for Old Town Elk Grove. Find a way and place for Oak Rose tenants to have a proper space and location.
Signed,
William Coffee
California Native and EG Citizen since 1987
Sent from for Windows
GENERAL PUBLIC
COMMENT
CITY OF ELK GROVE
JANUARY 10, 2024
REGULAR MEETING
From:
To: Bobbie Singh-Allen; Darren Suen; Rod Brewer; Kevin Spease; Sergio Robles Cc: Jason Lindgren
Subject: The City should publish a guide on how to buy a new car! (for City Council meeting January 10 and thereafter) Date: Tuesday, January 9, 2024 4:41:43 PM
Some people who received this message don't often get email from Learn why this is important
[EXTERNAL EMAIL]
January 9, 2024
Dear Mayor Singh-Allen, Council Members and staff,
Happy new year!
Happy 2024 to you and yours.
Has the City ever published a guide on how to buy a new car?
Obviously theapplication would be to shoppers at the Elk Grove auto mall.
Recommendation: Council to provide direction to staff to prepare a guideon how to buy a new car.
Discussion
What a wonderful opportunity Elk Grove is for new car buyers. All in oneplace, spread out over many acres but all nearby, one can shop for new carsfrom twenty (20) car dealerships.
Red cars, blue cars, all brand new cars.
Shiny, pretty, with all the bells and whistles one might want in a car.
Powereverything, sun roofs, 4 wheel drive, turbo.
You can get a sports car, apickup truck, an SUV, a sedan - whatever suits you.
You can get a car loan, acar warranty, a car maintenance plan, and more.
You can walk in therecarless and drive out in a shiny new 2024 car of your choice.
Sounds great, doesn't it?
It can be.
For the well prepared and knowledgeable and savvy buyer, it canbe.
But there are pitfalls to buying a new car.
There is a lot of grey in theprocess; many aspects of the car buying process are negotiable; everythingfrom price to interest rates and so on.
You might not even know the processor the steps in the process.
The dealerships know.
They are used to seeing20 people walk through their door every day; some well informed and some green and clueless.
They know exactly what is in store for you.
Thepurchase and sale of a new car is an adversarial relationship.
Knowledge isalways power.
Knowledge with preparation are power and every new carbuyer deserves to be well informed and prepared for the entire car buying process.
The City earns millions of dollars of revenue annually from the Elk Grove auto mall - tax revenue.
Taxes on a new car are about 8%. It is a significantportion of the City's budget.
In order to better prepare car buyers at the Elk Grove auto mall and increasetheir chances of having a successful car buying experience from A to Z, by educating them about the entire process, the buyer's options, and giving
specific and general recommendations on how to buy a new car the Cityshould prepare for all shoppers a guide on how to buy a new car. The Cityshould publish this guide on its website and publicize it widely, as the City would publicize any other item or event it wanted residents (in this case allbuyers) to know about. Has the City ever published such a guide? If it haswhen was the last time it was revised? A well prepared and informed buyer will do many things differently fromone who is unprepared and uninformed.
Examples of what the City could put in a new car buyer guide (remember tosolicit input on this from Elk Grove residents):
#1 AAA Motor Club publishes an annual car guide
. It contains valuableinformation including car reviews. AAA also publishes a step by step guideto buying a car. As you probably know AAA has an office in Elk Grove at 8225 Laguna Blvd.,Ste. 120, Elk Grove, CA 95758 and two auto repair centers:
9156 Bruceville Road, Elk Grove, CA 95758
and
8106 Orchard Loop Lane, Elk Grove, CA 95624
These are valuable resources. AAA Motor Club has millions of members andmany Elk Grove residents are members. They may not know about these car buying publications from AAA.
#2 There are many useful web pages and videos on line about how to buy a car. One can also look up the value of a certain car on line from Kelly Blue Book, Edmunds, Carvana and other sources. Knowing the car's value can enable the buyer to buy the car for a good price and avoid overpaying. #3 In general one should not sign anything one has not read andunderstood and had a chance to ask questions about. (Mr. Hobbs will attest to this.) Yet car dealerships often show the car buyer 50 plus pages ofagreements on a tablet and give about a 10 second explanation of eachdocument and ask the buyer to sign here electronically. They only offer a paper copy once the buyer has signed everything. Without reading it. This opens the door to the buyer agreeing to things he or she is not ever aware of, but by signing electronically an unread document the buyer has made acontract which is legally binding.
The City can simply recommend, without giving legal advice or taking onany liability, reading everything and asking questions about it before signingit. #4 You can comparison shop for better prices, etc. at different cardealerships in the region. There is an auto mall in Roseville and there are new car dealerships all over northern California. A smart shopper can causedifferent dealerships to compete with each other on price and terms for theirbusiness. #5 Expect the finance office to try and sell you many extras. You do nothave to purchase any of them. Despite the pressure these are all optional. #6 Never tell a car dealership you are planning to pay all cash for your car,if you are, until the very end. This gives away your leverage on price. Car dealerships all want to lend you money at interest. Tell them you are payingcash only at the last moment, after getting their agreement on price. #7 A new car becomes a used car, with significant depreciation, the momentyou drive it off the lot. #8
Although it is not in any dealer's pre-printed sales contract the buyer canask for or demand a 3 day right of rescission; in other words a right to returnthe car within 3 days (or other agreed upon amount of time) for a certain named fee.
Dealers may agree to this on used cars; less likely on new cars.
There is no cooling off period in California for a new car sale but the sale of a car and all its terms and conditions are negotiable.
#9
Manufacturer's suggested retail price (MSRP) is only a starting point.
Many cars are sold for this price or under it.
#10
Haste makes waste.
Any decision made under pressure or in a hurry ismore likely to be a bad deal than one made without pressure or hurry.
#11
You can increase your leverage by NOT buying the car on the day you test drive it.
#12
Cars are made with many toxic components that offgas toxic chemicalsinto the air inside the car.
This process continues for months to years afterthe car is made and gradually diminishes.
Car buyers who are sensitive toindoor air pollution may find that breathing toxic chemicals inside a new car causes headaches, affects their health and even affects the driver's alertness, a safety hazard.
You cannot feel good when driving a car that is making yousick.
There are many specific and general recommendations which can be usefulto a prospective new car buyer, especially inexperienced ones.
I am not suggesting the City should give legal advice.
This would beshopping advice.
The purpose would be to ensure that every car buyer at theElk Grove auto mall has a good car buying experience.
Attorneys are verygood at avoiding giving legal advice other than to clients and at avoidingtaking on liability for their clients.
The City Attorney could produce a guidefor car buyers which would neither constitute legal advice nor give the City any liability.
The City does not have a duty, any legal obligation, to publish a car buyingguide.
But neither does it have an obligation to build District 56, remodelold town, have a recreation center, or build a zoo.
This is about quality oflife for Elk Grove residents.
As I said the City benefits greatly from millionsof dollars of sales tax.
The car buying experience can range from really goodto a living nightmare, mostly depending on one's knowledge and preparedness.
What do you think?
Any ideas?
Will the Council provide direction to staff to prepare a car buying guide for car buyers at the Elk Grove auto mall?
Also, solicit input on this new car buying guide from Elk Grove residents.
Many Elk Grove residents who have been through the car buying process have learned some valuable things they would share.
Please tell me your thoughts.
Please reply to
There is time to bring this up at the next Council meeting tomorrow.
Thank you.
Sincerely,
Mark Graham
Sent from my hard wired computer with no EMF