Citrus Heights Real Estate

A substantial influx of newcomers following the end of World War II put a severe strain on Citrus Heights' limited water supply.  New subdivisions of one, two, and five-acre lots were creating increasing needs for the provision of public facilities to new families seeking a rural town. In 1947, Citrus Heights obtained its own post office. New businesses continued to appear along Auburn Boulevard, Mariposa Avenue, and Greenback Lane to accommodate the growing population.  The San Juan Unified School District saw phenomenal growth and completed the decade with eight elementary schools and one high school.  Around this time, Mrs. Eugene Desimone organized the Citrus Heights Ladies in White as an emergency rescue unit of 50 members, each holding advanced first-aid cards and required to respond 24 hours a day.  The advent of professional ambulance service in 1983 led to the group's disbandment.

By 1960, the population of rural Citrus Heights had reached 22,600.  Auburn Boulevard continued to serve as the community's main street, spurred by the construction of the Grand Oaks Plaza (1960), one of the first enclosed malls in the country.  Later, significant commercial development, including Sunrise Mall, Birdcage Walk, Fountain Square, and Sunrise Village, shifted the commercial focus eastward toward Greenback Lane.  During this time, the rocket motor manufacturing plant Aerojet General was booming; employing more than 19,000 people at its peak during the early 1960s, after which it saw a steady decline to less than 4,000 in 1977.  The plant attracted new residents to Citrus Heights, developing a more professional and scientific demographic.  

In 1970, ground was broken for the giant Sunrise Mall, spurring a great deal of new growth in the Sunrise Boulevard-Greenback Lane area.  By 1975, 101 shops, anchored by four department stores, employed  2,500 people within Sunrise Mall.  Then in 1976, across Sunrise Boulevard from the Mall, rose Birdcage Walk, a collection of shops and businesses laid out along a park-like walkway.  The two shopping centers spurred the construction of hundreds of businesses in the surrounding area. Sunrise Village, the third of the city's big three retail centers, began construction around 1976.  The Village, located at the intersection of Sunrise Boulevard and Madison Avenue, added approximately 40,000 square feet of retail space in the 1980s.  Radiating outward from the Sunrise and Greenback commercial corridors were large office buildings and row upon row of new apartment house complexes and housing tracts, the bulk of which were built during the 1970s and 1980s.

In 1974, a Community Planning Advisory Council was formed to update the Community Plan and provide for orderly growth of the area.  The objective of the updated Community Plan was to provide a balance of land uses that were mutually compatible, functional, healthful, and aesthetically pleasing.  The community then decided the solution to achieving orderly and efficient development, circulation and public facilities was incorporation, rather than annexation into the city of Sacramento.  That same year, voters affirmed their position with an overwhelming defeat to consolidate with the capital city.  

The incorporation movement experienced a number of defeats throughout the 1970s and 1980s, attributable primarily to opposition by the County Board of Supervisors.  During this time, the Citrus Heights Community Council, an advisory body to the County Board of Supervisors, fought for increased land use controls and public services. The community's population was spiraling upward, and quickly developing the last of the area's rural properties. The county seemed unable to resolve growing problems resulting from increased urban growth, particularly the number of county Sheriff officers needed to combat the community's car thefts, residential burglaries, and vandalism.

In November of 1984, the leadership of the Chamber of Commerce led the final effort to bring Cityhood to Citrus Heights. A handful of citizen-members of the Chamber of Commerce circulated petitions and received the necessary signatures to start the incorporation process, forming the Citrus Heights Incorporation Project (CHIP).

During the next several years, CHIP fought an uphill battle with the County of Sacramento to place the incorporation on the ballot. The County Board of Supervisors sued the County Local Agency Formation Commission and CHIP, arguing that all County residents, rather than Citrus Heights residents alone, should be allowed to vote on incorporation. Opponents argued that all residents of the County would be affected by possible tax revenue losses from a Citrus Heights incorporation. In 1993, the matter was appealed to the U.S. Supreme Court, who declined to hear the case. The U.S. Supreme Court upheld the State Supreme Court ruling that only residents of the proposed City should vote on incorporation.

In 1994, after agreement with the County was reached, the effort gained momentum and took on the challenge to raise funds to pay for the mandated Environmental Impact report. Once accomplished, the County Board of Supervisors approved the measure for the November 1996 ballot and a full campaign was initiated.

Finally, after a 12-year battle with the County of Sacramento, the Citrus Heights residents voted on the issue. The voters approved the measure to incorporate the City on November 5, 1996, effective January 1, 1997. The measure won handily, with 62.5% of the votes.

City of Citrus Heights Citrus Heights Police Department Citrus Heights Chamber of Commerce

Sunrise Mall

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