Creekside Plaza OK’d by county panel
After a lengthy and, at times, contentious hearing, the Creekside Plaza plan was approved by the El Dorado County Planning Commission on a 4-0 vote, with Commissioner Lou Rain absent. The plan now goes to the Board of Supervisors for final approval.
Opposition from the public and frustration on the part of the developers was in evidence throughout the hearing. Local residents asked the Planning Commission to deny the project because of environmental, safety, visual, and traffic concerns as well as its potential effect on the nearby school.
The developers and their staff countered that they have earned a mitigated negative impact report after working on the project for two and a half years. In the end, the commission decided to move the project forward as long as certain modifications are made to the project.
The most important modification comes as a result of the of a state appellant court ruling Jan. 20 regarding the county's Oak Woodland Protection Plan.
Originally the Creekside Plaza developers planned on paying a mitigation fee for the right to remove a portion of the site's oaks. The recent ruling disallows that option and the recommendation going to the Board of Supervisors includes the requirement that the developers modify their project to retain 90 percent of the site's healthy canopy of oaks.
The Creekside Plaza project, if approved by the Board of Supervisors, would rezone the northwest corner of the intersection of Forni and Missouri Flat roads from residential to commercial use. When complete, the 4.1-acre site will have two office buildings and one fast food restaurant.
While the court's ruling on the county's Oak Woodland Protection Plan does not go into effect for 30 days, the Planning Department is already contemplating the effect it will have on other projects.
According to deputy county counsel Paula Frantz, projects already in the pipeline need to be evaluated in terms of the requirements in place before the Oak Woodland Protection Plan went into effect. And those projects that relied on the plan's paid mitigation approach may be subject to litigation later on, she said.
The Planning Commission also approved the Treviso II subdivision project in El Dorado Hills. The hearing on the Wilson Estates project was continued to another date.
Dawn Hodson
Dawn Hodson lives in Placerville. She loves the foothills and the interesting history of this region which is captured in its historic sites.Discussion | 5 comments
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hangtownJanuary 29, 2012 - 10:57 am
Missouri Flat is already a wasteland. Who cares if they build more scholck there. If the locals don't want more development, stop patronizing all the franchise and big box stores over there. The same people complaining about this development are probably in Wally World everyday. Traffic congestion in the area is caused by parents dropping off and picking up their useless honor students.
Dan V.January 30, 2012 - 7:43 am
As long as that fast food restaurant is a Pizza Hut Restaurant, they can do whatever they want with the rest of it.
Latest News From Placerville & the Surrounding Area « Grizzly Flats OnlineJanuary 30, 2012 - 8:09 am
[...] use. When complete, the 4.1-acre site will have two office buildings and one fast food restaurant http://www.mtdemocrat.com/news/creekside-plaza-okd-by-county-panel/ [...]
Sue TaylorFebruary 01, 2012 - 10:12 am
This was one the strangest meeting I have attended. While the public was commenting at the mic to the Planning Commission the developer and his entourage were negotiating in the back of the room with county representatives. I don’t think the Planners even understood the final motion. It was pretty obvious that the main goal was to push this project through and onto the Board of Supervisors. There did not appear to be any consideration regarding the impact to the school students, neighbors or traffic. Common sense was left outside the door. A few of the project highlights include dumping 28 acre feet of dirt on the existing creek, installing a 27 foot high retaining wall up against the remaining creek, bringing traffic off of the freeway onto Forni Road for the drive-thru, and the County donating the road right of way on Forni to the developer.
Leslie DavisFebruary 03, 2012 - 2:36 pm
This is another example the county calls "Smart Growth".......any logical-thinking person would call it "Stupid Growth". I can only hope that the residents and homeowners will challenge the county in court and expose this project for what it is.......a boondoggle. It is the same boondoggle that is now proposed in Shingle Springs and is called Tilden Park. Please come to the next Thursday, 2/9, Planning Comm. meeting and be heard. Tell the county the back-room deals with the developers and the laws that they will and continue to break will now stop. This is our county and does not belong to the big-money developers.