Capitol View Protection

Sacramento, CA - Capitol View Protection

Sometimes it’s good to review a little Sacramento history so as to better understand why the skyline seems to be mediocre at best. Although many proposed towers were never built because of economic conditions, many other high-rise proposals were limited in scale and canceled due to elected officials imposing height restrictions more than a year after developers started getting entitlements for their projects.

Back in 1991, both Mayor Anne Rudin and Sacramento Assemblyman Lloyd Connelly pursued an ordinance to limit height and protect the Capitol. At the time the City imposed the restrictions known as the Capitol View Protection, it ended up wiping out a total of three high-rise proposals, one by developer Giannoni at 14th & L Street at 19 stories and another by Benvenuti at 15th and K Street to be 14 stories, and the Hallmark Tower at 502’. The new law at the time limited all building to ten stories or 135’. All three buildings would have been too tall and blocked the Capitol view. At the time, councilmember’s said “they were committed to smaller buildings around the perimeter of the entire park” which discouraged the developers who started getting entitlements for their projects a year prior to the new law. All three towers were canceled out of frustration and uncertainty as to what the City might do to further scale down their projects.

The R Street Corridor also suffered a similar fate in the late 1980’s killing six high-rise proposals.