New general plan pushed back a year

By Kristine Williams | Posted: Friday, May 17, 2013 8:16 am

Calaveras County should have a completely updated general plan by November of 2014 – probably. In a new timeline unveiled at Tuesday’s Board of Supervisors meeting, Planning Director Rebecca Willis announced the new deadline. It provides nearly an additional year tacked onto the original December 2013 deadline approved by the former board last fall.

The first deadline, deemed to have largely been a political move passed by then-supervisors, was provided under the terms that the Planning Department would develop both the general plan policy document and its accompanying environmental review concurrently.

In April, the Calaveras Planning Coalition – a group of community organizations and individuals – sent a letter to the Planning Department notifying it of the liability potential the county was assuming by preparing both documents at the same time.

After sending the letter to County Counsel for review, it was confirmed that the documents would have to be developed in succession – general plan policy document first, then the environmental impact report and analyzing the policy impacts.

“This is still an aggressive timeline and there are still things that could throw it off,” Willis said Tuesday.

A whole host of “things” still threaten the timely delivery of the plan, including countywide buildout numbers provided by the Department of Finance. The DOF projected that Calaveras County would only add another 10,000 individuals to its population over the next 20 years.

Willis said that if the county prepares an EIR following DOF projections and the county then exceeds the 10,000-person growth rate, the document will be rendered indefensible and again open the county up to liability.

According to Willis, Copperopolis alone has 20,000 existing entitlements, most in the yet to be developed communities of Oak Canyon Ranch and Tuscany Hills. It is unlikely that all 20,000 entitlements will result in real construction – though Copperopolis developer Castle and Cooke’s Dave Haley, present during the meeting, said it was “reasonable” to expect another 35,000 residents in Copperopolis over the next 20 years – but if the potential is there, simply following DOF’s projections may prove harmful to the county.

“We’ve been doing the crystal ball so far in Copper,” said Willis.

Another issue threatening to delay the plan is the need to release a third draft of the county’s land use map. After releasing Draft 2 earlier this year, both the communities of Valley Springs and Copperopolis expressed an interest in accommodating more growth than was symbolized in the map’s second draft. Such changes will need to be reflected in a new version.

Yet another large issue looming over the general plan update is the decision on whether to include an additional water element to the core elements already required by the state. Willis stated that the addition of a “standalone element will affect delivery” of the plan update.

There were many who expressed support for a water element, including all three supervisors with the exception of District 3 Supervisor Merita Callaway – District 5 Supervisor Darren Spellman was absent during the evening’s presentation.

According to Calaveras County Water District board member Bob Dean, “water is the most important resource in the county but also for economic development.”

For both Willis and Callaway, concern stemmed around the fact that the county would ultimately be held accountable for many of the policies adopted within the element, policies that are not necessarily deemed to be within the county’s jurisdiction.

“I don’t want to spend all our time on drafting a single element as opposed to the general plan,” said Callaway. “I’m not dying on the sword for that one (general plan delay) because there aren’t any other options.”

Supervisors ultimately directed Willis to continue developing only the required general plan elements – some of which address water issues – and then review policies when the draft is released in September with water agencies and stakeholders. A draft of the general plan policy document is tentatively scheduled for release in September.