Amador General Plan Slogs Along

Page 5 / Foothill Focus / Fall 2011 / www.foothillconservancy.org

Amador County has been working on the update of the county general plan, the “Constitution” of local planning, since 2006. Most recently, the county supervisors and planning commissioners spent several days in public hearings wordsmithing the text and incorporating edits from the pro-development lobbying group, the Amador County Business Council. The ACBC’s members each pay from $1,000 to $2,500 a year to lobbyist Jim Conklin, who represents their interests to the county and cities.

Members of the ACBC also joined forces on the planning front with members of the Motherlode Tea Party. The latter is raging against the “town centers” in the proposed general plan, claiming them to be part of a vast U.N. conspiracy to push people from rural land and round them up into densely packed urban areas. The town centers are Pine Grove, Buckhorn and River Pines, town-like communities that already have a mix of commercial and residential development, where denser, mixed-use, town-like development makes sense.

Foothill Conservancy has participated in the plan update since the process began. But we are discouraged by the path the update has taken, especially since the election of Supervisors Brian Oneto and John Plasse. For example, even though protecting scenic beauty is considered very important by nearly all local residents, there’s very little mention of it in the general plan text and nothing in the plan will actually accomplish that goal. The term “sustainable” has been nearly purged from the text.

The county’s consultants are preparing the environmental impact report now. When it is released to the public, we will submit extensive written comments and provide you with a more detailed picture of what the plan will do.

We will continue to do everything in our power to ensure that Amador County plans for a future in a way that will protect and sustain our local environment and quality of life. Along those lines, we have established a legal defense fund to help us pursue litigation when necessary to achieve our goals. If you care about good local land use planning, please consider making a special donation to that fund.