The Placer County Planning Commission will continue its review of the Placer Vineyards project on Thurs., Jan. 25. Commissioners will consider:
- providing a recommendation to the Placer County Board of Supervisors for approval of a Specific Plan; and Land Use and Development Standards; and
- incorporating amendments to the Placer County General Plan, Dry Creek West Placer Community Plan, Rezoning and Development Agreements.
The public is encouraged to attend the meeting, which will be held in the Community Development Resource Centerin north Auburn, at 10 a.m.
Placer Vineyards is a mixed-use community including residential, retail commercial and other uses, as well as public facilities such as parks, schools, and open space. At project build out, in 20 to 30 years, population of Placer Vineyards will be approximately 32,800 persons. As proposed by the applicant, Placer Vineyards will include a maximum of:
- 14,132 residential units, including;
- 3,734 units low-density residential lots (two to six units per acre)
- 6,277 medium-density lots (four to eight units per acre);
- 3,074 units high-density lots (seven to 21 units per acre); and
- 411 rural residential units.
- 274 acres of commercial area;
- 641 acres of public/quasi-public uses (i.e. public service facilities, religious facilities, schools, and major roadways);
- 210 acres of parks;
- 709 acres of open space; and
- more than 46 miles of off-street trails to provide connections throughout the community.
If approved, the Placer Vineyards project would be built at the southwest corner of Placer County, generally bounded by Baseline Roadon the north, the Sacramento Countyborder on the south, the Sutter Countyborder on the west and Walerga Roadand Dry Creek on the east. The proposed project includes approximately 5,230 acres (about eight square miles) and stretches about six miles from east to west.
In 1994, the Board of Supervisors adopted the Placer County General Plan, including the establishment of a specific plan area for West Placer (now known as the Placer Vineyards Specific Plan area) which allowed for the development of up to 14, 132 residential units and a variety of commercial and industrial land uses.
A revised draft environmental impact report on the proposed project examines a number of alternatives in addition to the proposal. The Planning Commission can consider any of these alternatives as well as the applicant’s proposal.
One of the four alternatives, called the “blueprint plan,” would increase the number of allowable residential dwelling units to 21,631 with more intensive commercial and mixed-use areas. This alternative is built on “smart growth principles” as recommended by the Sacramento Area Council of Governments. This concept assumes that more compact development enables greater use of transit, puts more services within walking distance and improves the jobs/housing balance in the region. The alternative will have an anticipated build out population of 49,300 residents.
Three other alternatives are also available:
- A no-project alternative where no additional development will occur on the project site;
- A reduced density alternative allowing a maximum of 7,500 dwelling units; and
- A rural density alternative allowing about 500 new single family residential lots on 10-acre minimum parcels. Because of the 150 existing residences, this alternative would allow a total of 650 dwelling units.
Additional information, including maps is available on the Placer CountyPlanning Commission web site.
The new Community Development Resource Centerwhere the meeting will be held is located at 3091 County Center Drive, located near the intersection of Bell Roadand Richardson Drivein north Auburn. The building is in the Placer County Government Center, formerly called DeWitt.