CAP Accomplishments

April 2011 through April 2012:

April 2011:

• CPC volunteers reviewed the Amador County Draft General Plan. They identified policies and programs that could be jointly implemented across both counties to increase the likelihood of securing state and federal funding, and to reduce government overhead costs. This was one of the activities done to promote collaboration among the land use groups in the two counties. The comments were submitted to Amador County on 6/29/12. (See Testimony, Comments & Opinions)

May 2011:

• CPC staff and volunteers had a booth at Green Days in Murphys. We told people of the success of their general plan map efforts the previous year, and encouraged them to sign letters of support for the development of sound policies in the coming year. We collected over 60 letters of support, while dozens of people posed for photos with their favorite policy reforms. CPC staff also gave a presentation on why we do planning. (See Testimony, Comments & Opinions)

June 2011:

• The CPC assisted MVS.com and Valley Springs area neighbors in commenting on the Coe Shooting Center proposal to develop an outdoor shooting range adjacent to a residential area. The proposal sought to allow shooting ranges on any industrial lands in the county without a conditional use permit to protect public health, public safety, and the environment. We provided a workshop to concerned citizens on how to make comments. We also submitted written comments to the Planning Commission, alerted the local media, testified at the Planning Commission, and provided a briefing packet to the supervisors. (See Testimony, Comments & Opinions) Ultimately the Board of Supervisors agreed with the concerned neighbors, and suggested that the shooting Center seek a site-specific use permit with enforceable conditions.

• The CPC sent comments on the CCWD Urban Water Management Plan, and presented its concerns to the CCWD Board. (See Testimony, Comments & Opinions) Our newsletter helped local activists to review CCWD’s Draft UWMP. Our action alert announced the later release of the weak agricultural water study that was the basis of the plan. We met with CCWD management to discuss these concerns. We identified both areas of common ground and areas where we continued to have concerns regarding CCWD’s water planning. (See Testimony, Comments & Opinions) These CAP efforts had two spin-offs. First, our comments on the CCWD UWMP were then used as the basis for review and comment on the EBMUD UWMP by the Foothill Conservancy. Their follow up conversations with DWR and EBMUD resulted in agreement on some ways to improve EBMUD’s next UWMP. Second, our comments became the basis for follow up conversations with interest groups to discuss the Mokelumne River Water for Wildlife proposal to help fish and to secure Calaveras County’s area of origin water rights.

July 2011:

• CAP launched an updated website to provide easier access to important planning information. We made corrections to the site suggested by foundations who reviewed the site as part of the Sierra Nevada Alliance’s 2010 annual meeting grant workshop.

• CPC staff and volunteers attended and testified at the CCWD Board meeting, and got CCWD to remove explicit references to support for Pardee Expansion from its scoping letter to EBMUD.

• CPC sent out an alert to people who might want to testify at the EBMUD scoping hearing. CPC staff and many people in attendance presented scoping comments to EBMUD encouraging them to drop Pardee Expansion from their revised 2040 WSMP. (See Testimony, Comments & Opinions) These comments were widely reference in the press, and were included in the scoping report produced by EBMUD staff in September. In December, the revised EIR included a staff recommendation to remove Pardee Expansion from the 2040 WSMP.

August 2011:

• In another step in our efforts to promote collaboration among land use groups in Amador and Calaveras, we provided a scoping comment training for residents in Ione who are concerned about a proposal to construct a mineral processing facility nearby. They submitted written and oral scoping comments, and began a constructive dialogue with the project proponent and the Planning Department. Ultimately, Amador County and the project proponent agreed to include in the EIR a full and equal analysis of development of the facility on another site with fewer impacts on the community. A follow up workshop we provided in September provided the group with a list of tasks to complete while the County is working on the EIR.

September 2011:

• In another effort to promote collaboration among grass roots groups in Amador and Calaveras counties, activists from both counties met to discuss water issues. This included a discussion of issues regarding the Mokelumne River Watershed, which is shared by both counties.

October 2011:

CPC staff and members spoke at the Planning Commission in support of the Planning Department’s proposal to implement the Housing Element. (See Planning Commission Video 10/6/11.)

• CPC staff attended MAC IRWMP workshop, and received an appointment to Regional Participants Committee in charge of drafting the IRWMP update.

• As part of our continuing effort to promote the effectiveness of the Planning Commission, we sent information packets to the two new Planning Commissioners with information on the Commission’s role in CEQA, specific plans, public notice, variances, Native American consultation, and public hearings.

• We provided an update to the public on the progress of the General Plan, and rallied support for the work to come at a gathering in Mokelumne Hill

November 2011:

• CPC staff met with the latest Planning Director, Rebecca Willis, to provide her with the history of the General Plan Update over the five years prior to her arrival.

• We sent out an action alert regarding the Board of Supervisors’ Study Session on the General Plan Update. CPC Staff and volunteers testified at the Board of Supervisors in support of the Planning Department’s recommendations to draft a general plan map that reduces the build-out capacity of the General Plan, that integrates the community plan maps, that promotes clustering of the residual development capacity on agricultural lands, and that embraces citizen input. (See Testimony, Comments & Opinions; see also 11/22/11 BOS Video) The Board of Supervisors approved all of these recommendations.

December 2011:

• We secured release of the Draft Economic Development Element. We wrote to BOS, and spoke at BOS General Plan Study Session on the Water Element and the Economic Development Element. The BOS retained water element. Useful parts of Economic Development Element may be added to other elements.

January 2012:

• CPC staff testified at the EBMUD hearing on the Draft EIR for the revised 2040 WSMP, and gave a thank you card to staff for their recommendation to remove Pardee Expansion from the plan. (See Testimony, Comments & Opinions)

• CPC staff sent in a critique of EBMUD’s EIR, to insure against any EBMUD backsliding on the proposal to remove Pardee Expansion from the 2040 WSMP.

February 2012:

• After the court decision issued a scathing rebuke of the Trinitas project (see NEWS “Trinitas Bankruptcy Court…”, November 2011), the Board of Supervisors met to consider settlement of the related cases. CPC staff and member groups testified prior to the Board of Supervisor’s closed session, to encourage any such settlement to include protection for the environment and enforcement of the County’s zoning code.

• CPC participant and KIRC member Lew Mayhew submitted a briefing to the County on the age of groundwater in parts of the west county, and its limited potential for recharge. This technical information supports the efforts by the County to limit future residential reliance on limited groundwater.

• CPC staff got UMRWA to make the MAC IRWMP water project proposals public, and sent out emails to concerned citizens who may want to review them.

• CPC participants and MyValleySprings.com members sent information to the Planning Department regarding the availability of grant funding to help with general plan and community planning efforts.

• CPC staff worked with MyValleySprings.com members to craft a proposal to modify the Preferred Alternative Map for Valley Springs, to try to incorporate more of the planning principles expressed by the diverse interest groups in the area.

• CPC staff and members testified at the BOS Study Session and sent in preliminary written comments regarding the Draft 1 General Plan Maps. We also spoke in opposition to a proposal for an anti-planning Agenda 21 Resolution. Our comments included a sample of a more balanced and accurate statement for the general plan text regarding real estate property rights, the public interest, and government authority. (See BOS videotape for 2/14/12.)

• As part of his activity on the IRWMP RPC, CPC staff contacted water quality agencies regarding current activities, annually reportable outcomes, and future funding availability for inclusion in the IRWMP Update.

• CPC staff made written suggestions to the Mokelumne Forum IRCUP Grant Subcommittee for incorporation into the draft “Mokelumne WISE” grant request. These suggestions promoted integrating environmental protection and public participation into the water planning process.

March 2012:

• As part of our continuing effort to promote the effectiveness of the Planning Commission, we sent information packets to the new Planning Commissioner with information on the Commission’s role in CEQA, specific plans, public notice, variances, Native American consultation, and public hearings.

• CPC staff expressed conditional support for the County applying for a grant to implement the Copperopolis Community Plan. After one supervisor’s airing of objections, the BOS gave unanimous support for the funding effort. (See Testimony, Comments & Opinions; see also BOS Video for 3/13/12) CPC staff also sent out emails to encourage people to sign up for the new Copperopolis Community Plan Committee.

• CPC and Foothill Conservancy staff developed water conservation handouts (paper and DVD) for distribution at events and posting on our websites. We handed them out at EPFW’s Wild & Scenic Film Festival in Murphys, and later at the Earth Day celebrations in Angels.

• CPC staff prepared for and attended the MAC IRWMP Update meeting. Some of our language was adopted to retain and to strengthen the water quality policies. We helped staff by identifying easy data collection opportunities for monitoring and reporting. We sent out the IRWMP project proposal form to Calaveras County Environmental Management and encouraged them to collaborate with CCWD in proposals for the Barney Way sewer project, to prevent flawed septic systems from polluting the Mokelumne River.

April 2012:

• The CPC and MyValleySprings.com sent in detailed, parcel specific, comments on the Draft 1 General Plan Map. These comments expressed concerns regarding fragmentation of natural resource lands and the need to reduce the impacts of future development on riparian corridors. They also identified other low impact development principles that would need to be included in the general plan text. CPC community groups in Supervisor District 2 sent in concerns regarding the incorporation of their community plan maps into the general plan map.

• The CPC sent in comments to EBMUD regarding the final EIR, and encouraging the EBMUD Board not to include Pardee Expansion in the revised 2040 WSMP. The EBMUD Board unanimously approved a revised 2040 WSMP that does not include Pardee Expansion.

Past Accomplishments:

Sept. 2009 through December 2010

September 2009:

• CAP/CPC members attended the Central Sierra Convening of Land Use Groups.

• Members made a presentation to LAFCO on new community plans.

October 2009:

• CAP/CPC facilitator testified before the Board of Supervisors on behalf of the Housing Element in the General Plan and indicated the importance of housing for the county’s economic future.

November 2009:

• CPC member group The Foothill Conservancy gave notice that they will be filing a lawsuit over the decision to raise the level of the Pardee Reservoir.

December 2009:

• Members promoted a Dark Sky Ordinance at the Planning Commission.

January 2010:

• CPC water activists had their first meeting with Amador County water activists to discuss future efforts regarding regional water projects.

• CPC staff sent in a letter to the Calaveras County Board of Supervisors in support of proposals to implement AB811 to help finance residential energy conservation and generation projects.

• In response to inaccurate and heated anti-planning rhetoric in recent weeks, CPC staff and members testified before the Board of Supervisors in support of the community planning process in Valley Springs.

February 2010:

• A CPC delegation met with Planning Director White and GPU Coordinator Gillarde to give them the background on the GPU process that preceded their employment with the County.

March 2010:

• CPC member organizations organized people to participate in the GPU Alternative Workshops. Many CPC participants attended GPU Alternatives Community Workshops and supported reasonably paced and community-centered growth (Alternative B). Over half the tables at the workshops supported this alternative.

• The BOS supported AB811 implementation.

• Progress was made at the Economic Summit II implementation team meeting where the CPC works cooperatively with the Chamber of Commerce and other local business organizations.

• Over 70 people signed letters, and many had their pictures taken, in support of GPU Alternative B at our booth at Green Days in Murphys. These were turned into the Planning Department, the Planning Commission, and the BOS.

• The CPC submitted detailed written comments on the GPU Alternatives Report to the Planning Department, the Planning Commission, and the Board of Supervisors.

April 2010:

• The Community Workshops Report reflected our input and involvement in the GPU Alternatives Workshops.

• We had a good display, good speakers, and good press coverage at the BOS hearing on the GPU Alternatives.

• A unanimous vote of the BOS supported the general plan preferred alternative which will support community-centered growth, and would change over 130,000 acres (200 square miles) of land from Residential -Agriculture (5-acre minimum parcel size) to Agricultural Lands (40-80 acre minimum parcel size)

May 2010:

• Members of the CPC supported CCOG and Valley Springs Community Planning efforts at the May 4, 2010 Board of Supervisor’s meeting.

• Following up on the April 20 BOS decision on the GPU Alternatives, the CPC discouraged Planning from applying the Alternative C Growth Rate to District 2, San Andreas, and Valley Springs.

June 2010:

• On June 1, the Calaveras County Board of Supervisors agreed to include the Valley Springs Community Plan, developed through a year of public stakeholder meetings, as an alternative for analysis in the EIR for the General Plan Update.

July 2010:

• CAP organized a “Passions and Priorities” workshop for CAP/CPC members.

August 2010:

• Members submitted comments on an alternative community plan for Valley Springs.

September 2010:

• CAP/CPC facilitator’s General Plan update opinion piece was printed in the Calaveras Enterprise.

• CAP/CPC facilitator submitted an Alternatives Analysis memo to the Planning Department and Board of Supervisors.

October 2010:

• CAP/CPC facilitator made a General Plan presentation to the Mokelumne Hill Town Hall meeting.

• The transcript of CPC/CAP members testimony against EBMUD’s dam proposal was included in the administrative record for the case.

November 2010:

• The brief for the Save the Mokelumne case against the proposal to raise the level of the Pardee Reservoir was filed.

December 2010:

• CAP/CPC facilitator asked the Planning Department for a General Plan Policy Outline and Scoping meeting. A scoping is mandatory for a planning process with regional implications.

• CAP/CPC facilitator drafted the general CEQA guidance section of the General Plan Update scoping comments.

• CAP/CPC commented before the Board of Supervisors concerning the Water Issues Study Session.

January – March, 2011

• Emblematic of how far the community has come in respectfully and collaboratively addressing threats to resource conservation is the reaction to a recent County Planning Staff recommendation that the Planning Commission approve an amendment to the zoning code to open up over 100,000 acres in the General Agriculture Zone to golf-course centered development under a generic conditional use permit.  This urban invasion threatened to abort the agricultural land protections of the proposed General Plan Update.  Staff also recommended approval of a negative declaration for the zoning code amendment, rather than completing an EIR.

• CAP/CPC, and its member group Keep it Rural Calaveras, activated their citizens’ network.  Dozens of people sent letters to the Planning Commission in opposition to the proposal.  Piles of evidence on the significant impacts of golf courses poured into the Planning Department, including useful reports from the state Department of Conservation and CalFire.  Legal opinions on the invalidity of the proposed actions were sent to County officials.  Conditions on golf course developments from other counties demonstrated the inadequacy of the County’s draft proposal.

• CAP/CPC staff was integral in gathering, organizing, presenting, and distributing this information to the public for their use.  Action alerts went out by email.  Both useful information and video of the Planning Commission hearing were posted on the CAP/CPC website.  Information shared with the media inspired thorough newspaper coverage of the issue.  Over 20 people, from across the political spectrum, and from every corner of the County, spoke in opposition to the proposal at both the Planning Commission and the Board of Supervisors hearings.  Ultimately, a majority of the Planning Commission and the Board of Supervisors rejected the zoning code amendment.  Both the Chair of the Planning Commission and the Chair of the Board of Supervisors commended those who testified on their respectful behavior and fine testimony.  In addition to the victory for resource conservation, people re-learned that they did not have to scream to be heard, and people were comforted by the notion that their government shared their concerns.  These days, a little comfort goes a long way.

June 2007 through June 2009