As part of an effort to spruce up Galt's C Street corridor, the city will purchase and display decorative banners in both the downtown and Old Town areas. Directional signs will also be installed along the commercial strip. Larger improvements, like landscaped medians and new streetlights, could come in future years. (Jennifer M. Howell/News-Sentinel)

Galt looks to revitalize C Street corridor

Litigation blocks funds for big improvements

If it were up to Richard Zita, Galt's C Street corridor would sprout with "plant islands," "greenways" and "energy points," all to wake up the sleepy commercial strip.

It would include textured pavement, water fountains, wayfinding signs, brightly colored banners and new streetlights, to create a sense of place and vitality in the heart of Galt.

Zita was hired by the city in June to brainstorm and design plans for C Street. He's the owner of Portland, Ore.-based Bramare Landscape Architecture.

He spoke enthusiastically at Tuesday night's City Council meeting about what Galt could become — with a few improvements and a lot of cash.

"Galt can be a destination," Zita told the council, during his detailed presentation.

Building costs for Zita's designs ranged from $40,000 to nearly $700,000. While the council favored several of them — and did approve the purchase of banners and directional signs — it said very clearly it can't tap funds for any of the larger projects right now.

That's because of an ongoing lawsuit with the Cosumnes Community Services District.

CCSD sued Galt last year claiming the city's expanded redevelopment district will channel too much revenue from it.

Galt Assistant City Manager Jason Behrmann said Wednesday the city is essentially blocked, as a result, from issuing new redevelopment bonds. The lawsuit presents too much uncertainty for potential investors, he explained.

(Marc Lutz/News-Sentinel)

"It'd be very difficult to do," he said. "In fact, I don't think you could do it."

No settlement is imminent, Behrmann added. He said a motion for summary judgment in the lawsuit, however, will be heard Sept. 30. That means a judge could make a ruling early without the case going to a full trial.

The city has spent $102,000 to-date defending the lawsuit, the assistant city manager said.

While conceptual plans for C Street's landscaped medians and perhaps even an archway on the corridor are on hold, the city expects to install 37 the colorful street banners shortly.

They'll cost $150 each and go up in two to three weeks, Behrmann said. Several council members asked banner designers MC2 Design Group, Inc. to approach Galt's gold medal winner Stephanie Brown-Trafton about appearing in a future banner photograph.

Eight wayfinding signs should go up by the end of September, he added.

Creating a "landmark intersection" at C Street and Lincoln Way, improving parking in Old Town and adding features like pavilions or even an ornamental garden at "Palm Park" were listed as priorities by the council.

Palm Park, a name dubbed by Zita, consists of Union Pacific's easement along its railroad tracks parallel to 4th Street.

The city added improvements to the Old Town section of C Street more than a decade ago.

Gary Tuttle, owner of Gary's Country Deli on Market Street, closer to C Street's central business district, said he's ready for some excitement on his side of the corridor.

Tuttle sat on a loose-knit business district committee that helped review some of Zita's designs.

"(The city) did the Old Town and that's where they stopped," Tuttle said. "We're just trying to get them to finish up where they left off."

Contact reporter Chris Nichols at chrisn@lodinews.com.