Seven months of review and countless hours of debate and negotiation came down to a 20-second vote Tuesday night as Sacramento City Council voted 7-2 in support of redesigning a single-family home proposed for an alley site in Boulevard Park. The action prevents the infill project from moving forward without changes to either the height or design style. The builders of the proposed home, Nathan and Erica Cunningham, said they are done and cannot take on redesigning the home. The council listened to two hours of discussion about the project, including testimony from neighbors, city Design Director William Crouch, the builder and the architect. More than 20 area residents showed up to opp

By Debra Belt It is a small, unkempt patch of land on a dirt alley in Sacramento’s Boulevard Park neighborhood. Yet, the modest site at 2207 C St. is the subject of an intense debate that is expected to heat up as a proposed residential project for the alley lot heads to City Council Feb. 1. At issue is a single-family home, a modern infill project that has neighbors, preservationists, politicians, architects, the city and the builders deadlocked over the design of the residence and its alley location in one of Sacramento’s oldest neighborhoods. As Midtown’s alley development movement advances, interest in the project is high, and followers say it could set a precedent in residential nei

Developers looking for ways to reduce crime in Sacramento's alleys have grabbed onto an idea that will draw mounted police. That idea is to provide places where horses can get water and hitch up securely for short periods. While that conjures up Old West visions of water troughs and hitching posts for many, — including developers who described them as such — the reality may be much more 21st century. An ideal way to provide water would be a small fountain or water feature such as the small Native American drum fountain at City Hall, said Sacramento police Sgt. Chris Taylor. The idea is to make alleys more charming and useful, he said. "Right now, our alleys — they're kind of no-man's l

A group interested in transforming alleys will present three prototypes to the Sacramento City Council Tuesday. A restaurant row concept is proposed to hold a mix of outdoor cafés just steps from Memorial Auditorium. Another could contain an alley-front condo sales model. The third would demonstrate the vision for alley hardscapeimprovements. The Alley Activation Committee is proposing three pilot alleys in Midtown. Two would stretch from 17th to 19th streets between L Street and Capitol Avenue in the Handle District, and a third is proposed for the alley from I to J streets between 16th and 17th streets. "It's thinking about the whole piece of how do people live and work in the city,"