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Document unearthed by development foes apparently won't halt building plans

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Published Monday, September 1, 2003

A document from 1972 that development opponents thought might help scuttle development plans for Murieta North probably isn't what they'd hoped.

Now it appears that plans for the community changed in June 1984, when the Sacramento County board of supervisors adopted an updated master plan to replace the 1974 master plan.

The one-page 1972 document outlines plans for a community of clustered homes, apartments and townhouses that would leave close to one-third of Rancho Murieta's 3,500 acres as open space.

When resident Candy Chand presented the document to the Rancho Murieta Association board at its August meeting, she said this 1972 commitment to open space had not been met. If the document remained in effect, the obligation would have to be met using the remaining undeveloped property owned by the Pension Trust Fund of the Operating Engineers. Chand is a long-time foe of the development proposed by Murieta Holdings, developers for the property.

The 1984 ordinance came to light within days of the RMA meeting. "The (1984) document shows it was amended -- we weren't thrilled to find that out," said Chand. "However, unless they have a full EIR (environmental impact report) to back it up, then there really is no change to the open space."

The 1984 ordinance reads, in part, "(The 1974) master plan has, through the years, become outdated as to its practical application to the development."

According to Sabrina Okamura-Johnson, associate environmental analyst with the county's Department of Environmental Review and Assessment, an EIR released in 1983 was part of the approval process for the 1984 ordinance.

Okamura-Johnson said the supervisors would have considered the information contained in the EIR and what was said at public hearings in making their decision to approve the ordinance. "When they adopt it, that's the new plan for that community," she said.

There are also questions about what exactly the 1972 document is. "Rancho Murieta Environmental Impact Statement November 22, 1972" is hand-lettered across the top of the copy Chand distributed at the RMA board meeting. The page number, 58, appears at the bottom.

In an e-mail to RanchoMurieta.com, Okamura-Johnson wrote, "It's my understanding that the 1972 page 58 info is taken from the 1972 planning application/materials entitled 'Study for Rancho Murieta Environmental Impact Statement' prepared for the applicant (PTF) by Raymond Vail & Associates. Please note there is no page 58 in the actual environmental impact report that was prepared for the 1972/73 Master Plan update."

The 1973 master plan was itself a revision of a 1969 plan for the community. The 1973 plan reduced the density of the community from 7,000 to 5,000 dwelling units and added reservoirs and the equestrian center.

A 1995 planning department chronology lists more than two dozen ordinances that have been passed since 1969 as the community developed. Each ordinance involved environmental review.

"There's an incredible amount of review that has gone forward, probably more so than any other of the communities in the county," said Murieta Holdings developer Gerry Kamilos. "And that's important. It's part of the process. Our process that we're going through for Murieta Hills and the Retreats is subject to the same standards, which is pretty intense. … These are not applications that fly through in a three- or four-month period."

Kamilos described the planning process the community has undergone through the years as "cumulative." He rejected the idea that the '72 document could have been overlooked in the numerous reviews. "That document has no relevance at all," he said flatly.

Rob Burness, county senior planner, didn't dismiss it out of hand, although he described it as "an isolated document" and said it would require research on the part of the planning staff. He said the open space issue will be discussed during the public hearing process for Murieta Holdings' first two projects, the Residences of Murieta Hills and the Retreats. Kamilos said he expects the public hearing process to begin by late October.

Candy Chand still feels there is value in the 1972 document.

"By finding the '72 document, it shows that we do have a history of open space," she said. "And that gives us an argument with the county to go back and ask them to revise it again, because if they've done it once, they can do it again. At least that gives us some validity and some history. I still think it's a good thing."