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Placer Vineyards, the huge development west of Roseville that’s been on the drawing board since 1993, has finally been approved.
The go-ahead for the largest such project in unincorporated Placer County was given by the board of supervisors this week after a three-hour hearing before a packed house in the county administrative center in Auburn. The board’s vote on District 1 Supervisor Rocky Rockholm’s motion was unanimous.
Michael Johnson, right, Placer County’s planning director, presented the Placer Vineyards plan to county supervisors this week. He’s shown with John Marin, director of the county’s community development resource agency that includes Johnson’s department.
The eight square-mile project site is bounded by Baseline Road, Dry
Creek, Walerga Road and the Sutter and Sacramento county lines. It is
larger than the City of Auburn in land size (not including the
non-contiguous Auburn Airport) and about one-sixth the size of the City
and County of San Francisco. From east to west, it is six miles in
length.
The adopted plan calls for 14,132 residential units capable of housing
36,000 persons to be built on 65 percent of the area’s 5,230 acres over
the next 30 years.
It also earmarks 273 acres for commercial use and 1,560 acres for what
county officials call “public/quasi-public land uses” like open space,
parks, major roadways, churches, libraries, government services, a
cemetery, and schools (six elementary, two middle schools and one high
school).
The project’s $842 million in infrastructure/public facilities costs
will be borne by various developers through assessments and fees.
While opting for the blueprint recommended by Planning Chief Michael
Johnson and his staff, the supervisors declined to act on a plan
suggested by the Sacramento Area Council of Governments that called for
up to 21,500 housing units for more than 50,000 residents. The SACOG
proposal was made in the hope of extending public transit such as light
rail to the project area.
The Sierra Club’s Terry Davis indicated dissatisfaction with aspects of
the project’s wetlands mitigation and hinted that a lawsuit might be
forthcoming. No construction activity will take place until such
mitigation is approved by federal authorities. The Army Corps of
Engineers recently recommended denial of the project over the wetlands
issue.
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