COMMUNITY PLANNING FOR A GREATER VALLEY
SPRINGS
**Please Come to an
Organizational Meeting to provide
Broad-based Public Input for the
Valley Springs Area Community Plan Update**
Community United
Press Release:
Valley Springs. On February 19, MyValleySprings.com (MVS)
will host a meeting to gauge community interest in forming a group to provide
broad-based public input for the Valley Springs Community Plan update. The meeting will be held at the
The Valley Springs Community Plan was last updated in 1974 and does not reflect current conditions. Its narrow boundaries do not contain what is presently considered to be Valley Springs. Though the existing plan’s development policy sought to “encourage development in a compact area economically served by utilities and services” and “discourage strip development along the roads and highways leading from the town,” it lacked the definition required to accomplish its objectives. The existing plan proposed “expansion of single-family homes to the north and east” and just the opposite has happened.
The current Calaveras County General Plan update process is an opportunity for the public to make their voices heard regarding their vision for the community and to suggest the ways and means to realize that vision. While MVS is hosting the meeting, the local non-profit that advocates preservation of rural character through the implementation of smart growth principles does not want to control the process of community planning. MVS board president, Joyce Techel said, “We are providing the time, the place, the cookies, and some suggestions, but we want a representative group of citizens to step up and take charge. We definitely want to be part of the process, but we don’t want to be the process.”
MVS sent out over 100 personal invitations to the meeting in an effort to ensure wide-ranging representation from the community. The list of invitees included business people, realtors, landowners, developers, community activists, professionals, local government officials, and just plain folks. “We really want to unite the community in a spirit of cooperation,” Techel added. “There’s no way we will all agree on everything, but I know we’re all agreed that we want a healthy, sustainable community.” For additional information about the meeting contact Joyce at 772-1463 or jaytee@caltel.com.
MyValleySprings.com,
website: www.MyValleySprings.com
email: info@myvalleysprings.com