Calaveras leaders eye Saddle Creek

The Calaveras County Board of Supervisors on Tuesday will vote on whether to extend Saddle Creek’s development agreement for another five years.

The original 15-year agreement was approved in 1994 to last until 2009. In November 2008, the Board of Supervisors extended the agreement until June 2014, with the ability for an additional five-year extension.

The project — originally called the Calaveras Country Club, and later renamed Saddle Creek — is a Copperopolis subdivision and 18-hole golf course with clubhouse. A community services district has been established to serve the project.

Currently, seven subdivision units have been recorded, totaling 505 lots, on which 310 residential units have been constructed, according to a memo from Calaveras County Planning Director Peter Maurer.

“Development of the project has slowed in the last several years due to the housing slump and economic slowdown, but in the past year activity has picked up with 15 new single family homes built or under construction,” he wrote.

The county’s Planning Commission is recommending the Board of Supervisors find the project exempt from the California Environmental Quality Act, and approve the extension until June 13, 2019.

Dave Haley, vice president of developer Castle & Cooke, wrote in a letter to Maurer that Castle & Cooke has satisfied all requirements so far for the development of Saddle Creek. Those include the construction of the Little John Road extension to Highway 4, funding for the Copperopolis Fire Department, wetland mitigation and construction of a left-turn lane from Copper Cove Drive onto Little John Road.

“At the present time, Castle & Cooke anticipates developing up to 875 additional detached single family residences, as permitted by the specific plan,” Haley wrote.