Located at the southern end of the City, the Southeast Policy Area is the last large-scale development area within the urbanized portion of Elk Grove. It lies directly south of the Laguna Ridge Specific Plan area and west of Lent Ranch/Elk Grove Promenade and the approved Sterling Meadows development. It is approximately 1,200 acres in size.

Recognizing the importance of this area, in 2003 as part of the adoption of the General Plan, the City Council declared this area a special Policy Area. With this designation, special policies were adopted for how the area would be developed. Specifically, the policies required the preparation of a comprehensive master plan and prohibited the approvals of any specific development prior to completion of the master plan. In 2007, a group of land owners and developer interest initiated the process for master planning, submitting an application for the Southeast Area Specific Plan. However, as the economy cooled, the plan was never finalized.

On July 25, 2012, the City Council directed staff to initiate master planning (in the form of a strategic plan) for the SEPA. The Council direction specifies the preparation of a Community Plan along with high-level supportive infrastructure analysis (including traffic/transportation planning, drainage, water, and wastewater), community design guidelines and standards, and programmatic environmental review. This plan was adopted on July 9, 2014 after two years of public outreach, research, and plan development.

 

Employment-Oriented Development

At its core, the SEPA is anemployment-oriented development-that is to say, it is a community that supports and encourages the development of employment uses. It does this by:

  • Creating opportunities for a range of employment prospects without predisposing any one use.
  • Providing nearby places for employees to live at a variety of price points.
  • Providing services for employees, including daily shopping and education.
  • Providing recreational opportunities for employees within employment areas and the larger community.
  • Providing a feasible range of choices for employees on how to get to work (e.g., car, bus, walking, biking).
  • Engaging corporate attention and applying the power of public/private partnerships.
  • Creating a total community, not individual, unrelated projects.

Information For Businesses

Are you interested in locating your business in the Southeast Policy Area? The City of Elk Grove is here to facilitate and assist with locating, relocating, or expanding your business.

A good first stop is with the City's Economic Development Department, where you can learn about the City's various incentive programs, available sites in the city, and other information about Elk Grove. The City's Economic Development staff is here to assist with any questions you may have.

The Special Planning Area (SPA) for the Southeast Policy Area identifies the various allowed uses and permit requirements for businesses in SEPA. Specifically, see Chapter 3 of the SPA. If you have specific questions about allowed uses, timelines to process applications, and other permitting question, please contact the Planning Department.

Development Fee Programs

In 2019, the City Council adopted three fee programs that facilitate fair-share financing for some of the public facilities in SEPA - drainage facilities; park facilities; and trail facilities. The nexus studies for these programs is available as the links below. For current rates based upon the annual updates prescribed in the nexus studies, please see the information on the Finance Department webpage.

The City's Roadway Fee Program will cover backbone roadway facilities in and around the Plan area.

SEPA is also subject to other fee programs and special assessments. 

Environmental Review / CEQA

Part of the Southeast Policy Area Strategic Plan included the preparation of an Environmental Impact Report (EIR) as required under the California Environmental Quality Act (CEQA). These documents are provided below.

Subsequent projects in the Southeast Policy Area that are consistent with the Community Plan and SPA will likely qualify for streamlined CEQA review under the prepared EIR. Please consolidate with the Planning Department to determine if your project qualifies.

Environmental Documents

Environmental Impact Report

Draft Environmental Impact Report

Implementation

On July 9, 2014, with the adoption of the Southeast Policy Area Strategic Plan, the City Council directed staff to prepare a plan for delivery of infrastructure to the employment areas (the EOD, or Employment-Oriented-Development) of the Plan.

While work on this plan is underway, it is important to note the following:

  • The triangle parcel located south of Whitelock Parkway and adjacent to Hwy 99 (the North-East Park) has adequate infrastructure in the vicinity and off-site facility improvements are not needed.
  • The balance of the EOD is programmed along Kammerer Road between Lotz Parkway and extending west past Big Horn Boulevard (South and West Parks). These roads need to be widened and/or extended and are eligible facilities in the City Roadway Fee Program. While the fee program anticipates reimbursing developers for the improvements, the City may reevaluate the Five-Year Capital Improvement Program (CIP) to advance this City-delivered infrastructure. In addition to roads, sewer facility improvements are necessary. While the County fee program will reimburse whoever installs the improvements, it will not advance the delivery. Therefore, the City may consider options for advancing the delivery of the various infrastructure elements.

Information For Developers

The City Council's adoption of the SEPA Strategic Plan establishes the framework for future development in the plan area. This includes the following:

  • A Community Plan policy document that provides policy guidance for future land use, circulation, parks and recreation, infrastructure, and community character;
  • Communitydesign guidelines, streetscape plan, public realm elements, and architectural development standards to guide the look and feel of future development;
  • Backbone roadway sizing and intersection studies to identify future right-of-way needs for major roadways in the community, as well as connectivity of multimodal transportation routes, including access for pedestrians and bicyclists;
  • Preliminarydrainage plan, identifying design requirements, facility needs, and alignment of the backbone drainage system, including alignment of Shed C and location of detention facilities;
  • Preliminarywater and sewer plans, identifying backbone infrastructure needed to serve the planned development; and
  • Preparation of a programmatic Environmental Impact Report as required by the California Environmental Quality Act.

Information in this section is organized into the following components. Click on the links on the left to view the information.

Infrastructure Master Plans

Development within the Southeast Policy Area shall conform to the infrastructure plans prepared as part of the Strategic Plan. These include the following:

  • Backbone roadway sizing and intersection study to identify future right-of-way needs for major roadways in the community, as well as connectivity of multimodal transportation routes, including access for pedestrians and bicyclists.
  • A drainage plan, identifying design requirements, facility needs, and alignment of the backbone drainage system, including alignment of Shed C and location of detention facilities.
  • Water and sewer plans, identifying backbone infrastructure needed to serve the planned development.

Infrastructure Plans (Accepted July 2014)

Development Projects

The following table provides a summary of development projects within the Southeast Policy Area. For the status of "in process" applications, please contact the Planning Department.

Contact the Planning Department for the latest information.

Project # Project Name Project Overview Applicant Status Project Materials
EG-13-030 Souza Dairy Tentative subdivision map to divide 375± acres into village center/mixed use and residential development Souza Elk Grove, LLC Approved August 2015
EG-15-029 Bruceville Meadows Tentative subdivision map to divide 113.9± acres into ~320 single family residential lots, one multifamily lot, a detention basin, drainage channel, two pocket parks, and various landscape lots. The Project also includes an amendment to the SEPA Strategic Plan to reduce the single family residential density. Hackberry II, LLC In Review