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Who will attend county development talks?
Opponents want more representation; CSD, RMA weigh involvement

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Published Monday, January 17, 2005

The county has sent out the invitations, but it's anybody's guess who's going to be part of a series of upcoming talks about Rancho Murieta development issues.

Or even whether the talks will happen. Development opponents say they won't attend unless they get more representation than has been proposed.

"Nothing is firm … we don't know exactly who is going to participate," county Senior Planner Rob Burness said last week. The series of five public meetings, each running four hours, is scheduled to begin in two weeks at the Country Club. The county Board of Supervisors last fall proposed holding the sessions instead of acting on a request made by development opponents for a moratorium on development until a new master plan is created.

An independent facilitator hired by the county is slated to lead the sessions.

According to their meeting agendas, both the Rancho Murieta Association and the Community Services District boards will decide this week whether they will send representatives to the meetings. (The CSD agenda is here; the RMA agenda is here.)

At the time the talks were proposed, the Rancho Murieta Development Concerned Citizens Committee called the sessions a victory for the group and a validation of their concerns about open space, annexation, production homes and other issues. The RMDCCC is opposed to current development plans and presented the county with a 2,000-signature petition asking for the moratorium and new master plan.

Now the group is threatening to pull out of the talks unless the county will allow them greater presence -- six representatives at the table instead of the two the county proposes.

RMDCCC member Ted Hart acknowledged that, "Collectively, that's what we've said" to the county. He said each of the group's six representatives would bring "a different expertise" to the table and the larger contingent would help to address the RMDCCC's concern that the meeting's structure is going to cause the group to be outnumbered by developer interests by as much as 12 participants to two.

"There are a lot of land owners (on the North) and technically they all have the right to speak. … There're going to be so many people at the table who are pro-growth we felt outnumbered, very outnumbered," said Candy Chand of the RMDCCC. "We said to (the county), ‘I don't care if you bring on 300 developers, we just want six people on our side.' … Otherwise, it's just a waste of tax money."

Burness said the RMDCCC's request for additional representatives "is something of an issue. … Whether they participate or not is still up in the air. If they do not, then it is quite possible we won't even have these discussions."

An outline for the meetings prepared by County Executive Terry Schutten lists nine groups that are invited to participate. Four are local organizations -- the RMDCCC, the Community Services District, the Rancho Murieta Association and the Country Club. Three are development entities on the North and South. Supervisors Don Nottoli and Illa Collin are listed as the county representatives. The Cosumnes Community Planning Advisory Council is also included, as are some individuals.

Although the county has represented the meetings from the start as a dialogue among the county, the community and the developers, the RMDCCC doesn't see a place at the table for the RMA, CSD or Country Club.

"I don't think it was a wise move," Chand said about the county including the other groups. She believes the goal should be "to work out a problem that's between us and the developers. … We thought what the county was trying to do was try to resolve the conflict before we all ended up with our butts in court. … It was my hope that it would be between the RMDCCC, the developer and the county. … I think the Planning Department is stacking the deck."

Since the meetings are public and will offer opportunities for the public to speak, "They can be there in the audience," she said.

RMA President Paul Gumbinger said at a recent RMA meeting that Hart had asked the association not to participate in the talks. When asked about this, Hart said, from his point of view, he and Gumbinger "came to a mutual agreement" that the RMA "was better off not being there. … With the (Mutual Benefit Agreement), their hands are tied. … You can't say anything against the developer."

He described the CSD as "a service organization" that isn't involved in development issues. "Their business is furnishing water and wastewater and really doesn't have anything to do with the rest of us," he said.