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

Gregory Gustafson Named to Calaveras County Planning Commission

SAN ANDREAS – (8/23/11) La Contenta resident Gregory Gustafson has been named to the Calaveras County Planning Commission for District 5 with approval from the county Board of Supervisors. He was nominated for the position by District 5 Supervisor Darren Spellman. The appointment is for one year and can be renewed annually. In talking with TLSN, Gustafson said more jobs are needed in the county through development “by allowing business to... Read More

Calaveras Planners Pass on Home Lots Decision

By Dana M. Nichols August 19, 2011 Record Staff Writer August 19, 2011 12:00 AM SAN ANDREAS – The Calaveras County Planning Commission decided Thursday not to decide whether it would be wise to allow more home lots in Forest Meadows, an upscale Murphys subdivision that is prone to major wildfires but has only one public road in and out to nearby Highway 4. Instead, they punted the job to the Calaveras County Board of Supervisors.... Read More

EPA Reconsiders Stormwater Discharge Limits

The Environmental Protection Agency last Wednesday decided to reconsider the imposition of a nationwide cap on how much sediment can be part of the stormwater draining from a construction site, according to the National Association of Home Builders. The agency’s announcement comes more than 18 months after NAHB sued EPA over its first proposal to develop a numeric limit for the turbidity, or cloudiness, of stormwater discharges, which the... Read More

Elderberry Beetle News

The US Fish and Wildlife Service is requesting more scientific and biological information from the public and species experts about the valley elderberry longhorn beetle to determine whether the beetle, currently a threatened species under the Endangered Species Act (ESA), should be proposed for delisting. Based on a review of the petition to delist the species and information available in our files, it was determined there is substantial scientific... Read More

General Plan Update Should Come Under Grand Jury Scrutiny

By Nick Baptista / The Valley Springs News/ July 27, 2011 The 2010-11 Calaveras County grand jury report released a month ago cited “publicity in (T)he Valley Springs News” as helping prompt the oversight panel composed of ordinary county citizens to investigate what was happening with the Jenny Lind Fire Protection District. We have another suggestion for the newly impaneled 2011-2012 grand jury: Take a look at what’s going on,... Read More

Rebecca Willis Is New Planning Director for Calaveras County

The Board of Supervisors has announced the appointment of Rebecca Willis as the new Director of Planning effective August 1, 2010. Ms. Willis has over twenty (20) years of experience. She served as the community development director for the city of Oakley for the last six years, and prior to that, the city of Dixon. Earlier in her career, she was a planner for the cities of West Sacramento, Rancho Cucamonga, and San Dimas. Rebecca’s experience... Read More