From the archives of

::: COMMUNITY NEWS

County planning group hears three hours of comments, will be continued next month

• Pop-up window: Click for a six-year archive of development coverage -- news, maps, photos and more

Published Thursday, August 24, 2006

The public hearing on three development projects proposed for Murieta North has been continued to Sept. 26 after members of the Sacramento County Policy Planning Commission decided they need more time to learn about the projects before making a recommendation to the county Board of Supervisors.

Commissioner Katherine Maestas pushed for at least a one-month continuance at the end of Tuesday’s three-hour session, saying, "I feel terribly, terribly lacking in information at this point."

Maestas said she hadn’t received the environmental impact report on the projects until that day and Commissioner William G. Miller displayed a stack of planning documents he said he’d only received on Friday. The other members of the five-member commission expressed similar concerns about the lack of preparation.

The commissioners are volunteers appointed by the Board of Supervisors, explained chair Lyla Ferris Hanson during the course of the hearing.

About 50 attended Tuesday’s meeting, and 18 testified before the commission, including members of the Rancho Murieta Development Concerned Citizens Committee, the group that has marshaled opposition to development plans since they were first proposed six years ago. Virtually all the speakers opposed the projects, and a few showed photos to illustrate their concerns about lake levels, fencing or expansive soil.

The public will have another opportunity to address the commission in September.

Law-use attorney John Taylor represented applicants Murieta Holdings for the Retreat properties and Warmington Homes and the Woodside Group for the Residences of Murieta Hills East and The Residences of Murieta Hills West. He made a detailed presentation on the Residences projects, addressing grading, traffic and lake levels and other hot-button issues.

The developers are requesting approval for rezoning the properties and an amendment to the planned development ordinance for Rancho Murieta.

The Residences projects are located on 68 acres bounded by Guadalupe, Escuela and Puerto drives. Plans for the property call for a total of 198 single-family homes, with almost half the land preserved as open space, as well as 95 percent of the oak trees.

The planning staff report recommends approval of the project.

The Retreat project is planned for 84 single-family homes on three parcels located near the Country Club. Although the plan was revised to preserve more open space and trees and to reduce grading, the planning staff report recommends denial of the project because it doesn’t include higher-density, multi-family housing. Consideration of the project was delayed until September due to time considerations.

The Subdivision Review Committee approved both the Residences and Retreat projects at its July 21 meeting.