Comment on the Flint Trail Access Road Mitigated Negative Declaration by March 23, 2023

Why do we care about this road project?

This project is a wolf in sheep’s clothing. The stated purpose of the road is to link Oak Creek Drive with Little John Road for secondary and emergency access for the existing community of Copper Valley Golf Club (formerly Saddle Creek Resort). However, the proposed road also extends south from Oak Creek Drive to the property line for the Tuscany Hills future development.  That development was tentatively approved over 15 years ago for 335 residences and an 18-hole golf course. To date the site remains undeveloped. 

Things to mention in your comment. 

1) I have no objection to a secondary access road from Oak Creek Drive to Little John Road to serve the emergency evacuation needs of current residents and recreational users at the existing, developed Golf Club at Copper Valley. I encourage the County to work with the applicant to revise the project accordingly. 

2) I cannot support extending the Flint Trail Access from Oak Creek Drive to the property line for the Tuscany Hills future development site. 

3) A thorough environmental analysis of the potential impacts from extending the Flint Trail Access from Oak Creek Drive to the Tuscany Hills future development site is needed.  The end of Little John Road is primary access for Tuscany Hills; significant and unmitigated traffic impacts of the development were identified in the 2007 Tuscany Hills Final Environmental Impact Report.  No traffic impact study has ever been done for a secondary access road to Tuscany Hills, or other developments this secondary road access would facilitate. 

4) A road study is needed to evaluate the cumulative impacts of the road being used by traffic from Copper Valley Golf Club (formerly Saddle Creek), future traffic from Tuscany Hills, and traffic from reasonably foreseeable development south and west of Tuscany Hills. 

5) It is essential that the environmental review for this road project evaluate the potentially significant impacts of the road, and the development that may occur along it in the future, on habitat for special status species in accord with US Fish and Wildlife and California Fish and Wildlife protocols. 

6) It is essential that the environmental review evaluate and mitigate any significant growth inducing impacts of extending the road to the Tuscany Hills future development, and undeveloped lands to the south and west of Tuscany Hills.   

7) Providing safety to the people of Copper Valley Golf Club by extending a road from Oak Creek Drive to Little John Road is a good project with a useful public purpose and logical end points. Don’t corrupt this good project by attaching to Flint Trail Access Road an unstudied road segment that may compromise it’s the road’s effectiveness as an evacuation route for residents of Copper Valley Golf Club.  

Send your comment:  

Please personalize your comments; put them in your own words. If you are a local resident, explain how this could impact you personally. Send comments by email to GElliott@co.calaveras.ca.us (please indicate “Flint Trail Access Road Project”) in the subject. Submit your email no later than 5:00 PM on March 23, 2023.

By postal mail to: Gabriel Elliot, Director of Planning, 891 Mountain Ranch Road, San Andreas, CA 95249. Written comments on the Draft IS/MND should be submitted no later than 5:00 PM on March 23, 2023. Due to possible mail delays, comments via email are preferred. 

For more information:

Click here to view the Mitigated Negative Declaration document