The San Juan Unified School District's (SJUSD) Draft Environmental Impact Report (DEIR) for the Rio Americano Sports and Events Stadium has been released. The publication of the DEIR starts a 45-day public review period, challenging everyone to review the document and submit written comments by October 16, 2026.
This is our time to speak up about the impacts that increasing the current 288-seat bleacher capacity to 2,575 seats (an almost 800% increase) will have on the American River and Parkway.
READ THE SAMPLE COMMENT LETTER
The project further proposes an unspecified increase in nighttime and daytime events, practices, etc., four 80-foot LED light standards, six 15-foot pedestrian lights, an elevated press box, a new amplified public address system, and a 90-foot cell tower - all immediately adjacent to the only federally and state-designated Wild & Scenic River running through an urban area.
Review the Draft Environmental Impact Report and Appendices under Important Documents.
THE DEIR FALLS SHORT
- The project description is incomplete. An accurate project description is essential because it defines the impacts that must be analyzed and the mitigation measures that could eliminate or reduce them. The DEIR should identify the Night Event Management Standards, facility-use rules, staffing commitments, security arrangements, parking controls, and public-address specifications as project components that will, conceivably, constrain sports and events, both regular and those that are larger and later. The District’s project must comply with the Urban American River Parkway Preservation Act.
- Event noise is identified as significant and unavoidable and cannot be mitigated. The American River Parkway, as a nature preserve and perfect refuge for everybody from the chaotic lives we are living in this century, is dying a death by a thousand cuts.
- No guarantee that the installed lighting system will match the modeling values and DarkSky-oriented design intent. The existing-conditions baseline relies heavily on the current use, since 2022, of eight portable diesel-powered light towers to characterize existing nighttime light and generator noise, but does not provide a clear history or quantified schedule for that use. The DEIR does not disclose dates and hours of the use of the eight portable diesel-powered lights since 2022, so the "before" conditions against which new lighting is measured are unsupported.
- Biological resources such as bats, nesting birds, northwestern pond turtles, and elderberry longhorn beetles are addressed largely through construction-phase measures, with cursory analysis on impacts from the unspecified numbers of nighttime sports and events on the diversity of and heavy use by wildlife in this area of the River and Parkway.
- Cumulative impacts from the District's improperly approved 90-foot cell tower, the other nearby sports stadium at Jesuit High School, proposed construction of new tennis courts immediately adjacent to the Parkway, a new aquatic center, etc., to name some, are not analyzed together with the District’s intended sports and events stadium and its operations.
- Parking and traffic management for high-capacity sports and other school/public events relies on parking at Jesuit High School and an Event Transportation Management Plan that is neither secured nor enforceable, leaving neighborhood spillover unaddressed.
HOW YOU CAN HELP
1) Submit comments on the DEIR. You are best qualified to inform the San Juan Unified School District Board of Education about what the impacts of this project mean for the people and wildlife who rely on this gift of nature for their health and well-being.
We've prepared a suggested comment letter for you to make it easy to take action. You may send the letter as written, personalize it, or add your own concerns before sending. Please be sure to sign your name.
READ THE SAMPLE COMMENT LETTER
Email your comments by October 16, 2026 to:
- [email protected]
- Melissa Bassanelli, Superintendent, [email protected]
- Nicholas Arps, Director, Facilities Construction, [email protected]
2) Attend the November 17 San Juan Unified School District Board of Education Hearing.
The Final Environmental Impact Report (FEIR) is scheduled for approval by the Board on November 17, 2026. Given the pressure coming from the District's staff and Rio Americano High School to get this sports and events stadium built, it is only our presence, filling the hearing room to overflowing with our raised voices, that will once again save the Lower American River and Parkway.
3) Sign the petition. Numbers count in proving the importance of the Parkway to countless residents of the region and beyond.
Add your name to the petition.
4) Spread the word.
Visit the Rio Americano Community Alliance website and share it with friends, neighbors, and others who want to be fully informed.
5) Make sure our campaign has the resources to prevail. As Alan Wade so plainly reminded us, it is not the Tooth Fairy or Santa Claus who will save the American River Parkway for our children and theirs.