A new day dawns in Calaveras
County
From the
Editor’s Desk by Buzz Eggleston
Published
Kudos to the Calaveras
It took guts.
The teeth gnashing among a few in the real
estate and development industries is understandable. But it shouldn’t be
overstated. Building won’t come to a stop. Builders will continue projects
consistent with the existing General Plan on land zoned for development. There
are literally thousands of such parcels in the county.
It’s only if developers want to change the
rules that they will face a delay, and there’s nothing wrong with
that.
The real credit for the supervisors’ decision,
though, belongs to the people. The board was stuck in a rut, had been for a long
time. The people stood up, spoke out.
In large numbers at intervals over the course
of 2006, they went to the supervisors and said the status quo isn’t good enough.
They demanded change. They will have to continue doing that for many months to
come as the county forges a new general plan.
For too long now, the county has allowed
development a free run without knowing the true costs. Developers have expected,
and gotten, approvals for virtually any project they proposed. Some didn’t even
seek permits. Others simply drew up elaborate plans. One announced on a
billboard placed on Highway 26 that a new shopping center was coming. He hadn’t filed a single document with
county planners.
The burdens associated with development
decisions – strained fire protection, beleaguered law enforcement and justice
systems, traffic and deteriorating roads, school deficits, and the loss of
natural resources – are often poorly understood. They are passed on to future
taxpayers, to future residents and to all who will come after us to this place
we so cherish.
One example alone ought to suffice: the goofy
intersection of Highways 12 and 26 in Valley Springs, where something better
should be built before any major new development takes place. And wherever you
look in this county there are other neglected needs, such as a dilapidated
county jail that routinely spews miscreants back onto our streets before they
have served their sentences.
The fact that there are a reported 150 zoning
change applications in the pipeline right now tells us that, despite
lamentations of a cold winter in the development trade, there’s still an awful
lot going on up here that wasn’t foreseen by earlier
planners.
It also illuminates what a consultant told the
county this past fall, that the existing General Plan is a blank sheet: It “does
not meet statutory requirements and is of limited usefulness as a guide for
day-to-day decision making concerning land use, development, and public
protection.”
That one line acknowledged that the county was
operating on piecemeal, seat-of-the-pants policies. It served to warn public
officials that staying on that course could have legal implications, in the
worse case a complete court-ordered shutdown of development, something no one
wants.
Last week the board did the right thing. Supervisors decided to limit General Plan and zoning changes for a brief time, just enough so that the air will clear and planners can map a strategy for building a new general plan and commence work on that document. The policy of limiting zoning amendments shouldn’t be in place a day longer than is necessary, but not a day less, either. It’s a reasonable step with the least imposition on the real estate and development trades.
Even many of the zoning applications that are now in the pipeline may yet be approved. The board granted a grace period for those that can be processed by Dec. 28. And the board’s action itself has a sunset of just 45 days, after which supervisors will make any needed adjustments and consider whether they want to extend the policy of limiting applications for another 10 months.
The county has achieved a noteworthy milestone in this
decision. It has come about largely to the credit of its new community
development director, Stephanie Moreno, and to the wisdom of other county
leaders. But more than that, it’s you, the people of
The most important decisions still lie
ahead, however, so don’t rest on your laurels. Please continue to be
outspoken participants in the process of determining the future of
Contact Buzz Eggleston at gm@calaverasenterprise.com.