Gold Rush Ranch
Controversial Lode project to go before voters
June referendum would overturn city's approval of Gold Rush Ranch
The Record
By Dana M. Nichols
March 09, 2010
SUTTER CREEK - Voters in June will decide whether to overturn the City Council's approval of Gold Rush Ranch, a 1,334-home project that could double the town's size.
The referendum is the work of Preserve Historic Sutter Creek, a group that opposes the project and wants "the size and scale of this development reduced to better fit our rural lifestyle."
The City Council on Jan. 4 approved a subdivision map, a development agreement and other key documents for the 945-acre project along Highway 204 southwest of the historic downtown.
The council majority said that years of negotiations with developers had resulted in agreements that Gold Rush Ranch will bring many benefits to the city, including an upgraded sewage treatment plan, property assessments to pay for services to the homes, and creation of a golf course and golf resort vacation rentals to bring tourists and their dollars to the town.
"Everything that everybody asked for is being provided in this development," said Mayor Gary Wooten. "If you want the city to develop in a normal process and to prosper, then vote for it. It's good for Sutter Creek. There's a few people who don't want any change."
Opponents say the suburban-style housing development is the wrong kind of change.
"Preserve Historic Sutter Creek is being painted with the no-growth brush," said Bart Weatherly, a spokesman for Preserve Historic Sutter Creek. "And we are not a no-growth organization. We just don't see the validity of doubling our town. We want to go back to the original project."
By the original project, Weatherly means a golf resort project with 300 vacation time share rentals that was proposed nine years ago.
Wooten said that a new developer has since purchased the property and concluded that the golf resort alone was not viable without building homes as well.
"Bart saying 'I like the original plan' is just a smokescreen," Wooten said.
Preserve Historic Sutter Creek members in January gathered more than 300 signatures to qualify the referendum for the ballot, and the city council in February approved the vote for the June 8 election.
A committee Wooten appointed is crafting a ballot argument in favor of approving the project. Preserve Historic Sutter Creek will provide the ballot argument against the project. The city's attorney will write an impartial analysis of the measure.
Bill Bunce, managing partner for Gold Rush Ranch, said the referendum is not delaying the project. "We have additional planning steps, including items such as wastewater treatment plant design and the preparation of tentative maps, to complete with the city prior to the commencement of construction," Bunce wrote in an e-mailed response to questions.
Bunce also wrote that the project was designed in collaboration with Sutter Creek officials and would not be able to provide desired benefits, such as a sewage treatment plant and community parks, if it were reduced in size.
Contact reporter Dana M. Nichols at (209) 607-1361 or dnichols@recordnet.com.
Growth and Development
General plan workshops in Calaveras
Calaveras County has released three alternatives for land use in its general plan update. Workshops to get public response will be held this week and next week. If you live, work, play or own land in Calaveras, please attend and speak up for the alternatives that protect agricultural land, scenic beauty, forests and more.
Calaveras seeking input on land use, development
The Record
March 07, 2010
SAN ANDREAS - Calaveras County officials are seeing public input on proposals for how to zone land and where new development should be directed over the next 25 years. The county is revising its General Plan for land use and has scheduled a series of public workshops over the next two weeks.
The three proposed land-use alternatives for the new General Plan are available online at www.co.calaveras.ca.us/cc/Departments/PlanningDepartment/GeneralPlanUpda... ; at the county Planning Department, 891 Mountain Ranch Road, San Andreas; and at Calaveras County Public Library branches.
Workshops will be held:
» 6:30 to 8:30 p.m. Monday, Native Sons Hall, 386 Main Street, Murphys
» 6:30 to 8:30 p.m. Friday, San Andreas Town Hall, 24 Church Hill Road, San Andreas
» 11 a.m. to 1 p.m. Saturday, Rail Road Flat Community Hall, 215 N. Rail Road Flat Road, Rail Road Flat
» 6:30 to 8:30 p.m. March 15, Town Hall, 8283 Main St., Mokelumne Hill
» 10 a.m. to noon March 17, Independence Hall, 1445 Blagen Road, Arnold
» 6:30 to 8:30 p.m. March 17, Armory, 695 O'Byrnes Ferry Road, Copperopolis
» 6:30 to 8:30 p.m. March 18, auditorium of Valley Springs School, 240 Pine St., Valley Springs
In addition, after all the community meetings, the Calaveras County Board of Supervisors and the county Planning Commission will hold a joint study session on the land-use alternatives at 9 a.m. March 20 in San Andreas Town Hall, 24 Church Hill Road, San Andreas. At that time, the board and the commission are expected to give staff direction on how they want to shape land use within the General Plan.
Climate Change
Texas oil companies behind effort to suspend AB 32
California's landmark climate change law is under attack from oil companies. LA Times, March 3, http://www.latimes.com/news/local/la-me-climate-ballot4-2010mar04,0,7939...
Northwest forests store huge amounts of carbon
But logging releases it into the atmosphere. LA Times, March 4, http://latimesblogs.latimes.com/greenspace/2010/03/carbon-storage-pacifi...
Sustainability
Energy program weighed in Lode
Home upgrades would be paid for through tax bills
The Record
March 6, 2010
By Dana M. Nichols
Record Staff Writer
SAN ANDREAS - A year from now, Calaveras County homeowners will likely be able to finance energy- and money-saving home improvements such as new windows, increased insulation and solar-electric panels through up-to-20-year loans they can repay through their tax bills.
The Calaveras County Board of Supervisors this week studied the idea, and a board majority said they'd like to proceed later this year when a consortium of California cities and counties that administers the program opens its doors to new members.
"It gives people an option that is not available to them any other way," Supervisor Russ Thomas said of the financing program known as AB 811 after the 2008 California law that authorized it.
Thomas joined a four-person board majority that said it would like to launch such a program locally later this year. Only Supervisor Tom Tryon was opposed.
Tryon said he opposed creating a new government program intended to finance private projects. "If this were a good idea, it should remain in the private sector," Tryon said.
The board majority said that it is individual private property owners who pay for the loans they get through the program and who benefit from the energy improvements, and that the program is entirely voluntary.
"Nobody's twisting their arm in any way to participate," said Board of Supervisors Chairwoman Merita Callaway.
The goal of AB 811 is to allow property owners to invest in improvements that will save them money. In many cases, say proponents, the reduction in utility bills is greater than the cost of repaying the loan.
California Communities, a joint powers authority founded by the California State Association of Counties and the League of California Cities, is already piloting the program with a small group of counties.
Terrence Murphy of California Communities said homeowners apply for the program online. Then a home-energy expert evaluates the property to see whether a particular project - whether sealing heating and air conditioning ducts, replacing an old furnace, or installing insulation or other system - will save enough energy to pay off.
If a project meets all the standards, then the homeowner can hire a contractor. Once the project is complete, California Communities can sell a bond backed by a lien on the property and pay the contractor.
Some large California counties such as Sonoma have already created such programs on their own and have found strong demand, funding tens of millions of dollars in energy upgrades. Most smaller counties and cities have decided to wait until they can join the California Communities consortium to achieve administrative efficiencies and economies of scale when selling bonds.
A number of local contractors in the audience cheered when a board majority voiced support for AB 811.
"This is a revenue source for the county," said Bill Soest of Evergreen Technologies in Angels Camp. Soest said the county government would receive additional building permit fees while property owners would slash utility bills. "The money that can be saved is huge."
Michelle Plotnik, an architect in Murphys, said those savings for property owners are why she wants the board to approve the program. "I think it's a terrific opportunity."
Contact reporter Dana M. Nichols at (209) 607-1361 or dnichols@recordnet.com.
Second story, same subject: Union Democrat, March 4, http://www.uniondemocrat.com/2010030499332/News/Local-News/County-courts...
Public Lands
Neighbors save special place in their community
Community action, along with local government funding mechanism, preseve Butters Canyon. SF Chronicle, March 2, http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/c/a/2010/03/05/BAV51CAVA1.DTL
Wildlife
Scientists breeding frogs in captivity to help save them
Mountain yellow-legged frogs, found in our nearby high country, are the subject of breding and reintroduction experiments. LA Times, March 6, http://www.latimes.com/news/local/la-me-frogs6-2010mar06,0,2192473.story
Solo wolverine baffles scientist
Lone male wolverine in the Tahoe National Forest and surroundings remains a mystery. SF Chronicle, March 9, http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?file=/c/a/2010/03/09/MNPJ1CATH...
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