WEST SACRAMENTO, Calif. — A West Sacramento home will remain in the family, after concerns late last year that it could be destroyed as part of the I Street Bridge redevelopment plans.
ABC10 first spoke with Mike Sanchez and his family in October.
Back then, he told us, “it is perplexing that I have to beg my community, my government, for a home that has been ours for 80+ years.”
At the time, redevelopment plans for the I Street Bridge between Sacramento and West Sacramento called for the removal of his multi-generational family home.
ABC10 reported on that and—a month later—when the city decided to go with a different plan that doesn’t involve his home.
At this week’s meeting of the West Sacramento City Council, members sealed the deal on that newer plan. They voted to approve some environmental documentation and engineering plans that—while mostly procedural—do allow the plan to move forward.
Sanchez spoke at Wednesday’s meeting, telling councilmembers, “My home was one of the homes that were going to be affected by the previous plan, so we’re very excited to see a new plan…We’re going in a good direction, and I want to commend the staff on all the work contributed to this, and my family is really grateful and we’re really excited to see it in our backyard and to see what comes next.”
News that his house was in the way of the original plan came as a shock to Sanchez back in the fall of 2022, and he told ABC10 he didn’t think the city did enough outreach to affected neighbors.
“When I first spoke to someone on the phone – when I first learned of this project – someone told me that ‘this ship had sailed,’ that ship being my home. That was really devastating to hear, and I felt a little left out,” he told councilmembers this week, adding that he has seen big improvements in communication since then. “I’ve got to say that what I’m seeing now – like, when I see things on Facebook or I see things shared or community members reaching out or staff or I bump into someone at the store and they say, ‘Hey, there’s a meeting going on. Are you going?’ I feel like we’re going in a good direction.”
