Board of Supervisors votes 'no' on Sawmill Lake

According to Supervisor Spellman the Board of Supervisors at the 2-26-12 Board meeting voted 5-0
All in favor of a "Denial, without prejudice" on the Sawmill Lake project in Copperopolis.

This will allow Castle & Cooke the ability to rework the plan and "bring it back."

"Without prejudice means the county is not demanding any certain issues, but that we would like to be able to approve it if the proper mitigation measures are included."
 

Planning Dept Powerpoint on Sawmill Lake Project 2-26-13

To view the Calaveras County Planning Department Sawmill Lake Powerpoint delivered at the Board of Supervisor's meeting 2-26-13 please email the Copper Gazette with a request and we will email you the power point during office hours. ( coppergazette@gmail.com )

We apologize for this circuitous  route but a power point cannot be posted on this site.

Sawmill Lake Agenda Submittal

Agenda submittal CLICK HERE

Updated 2-24-13

Sawmill Project makes headlines once again

Unfinished general plan stalls housing project - Calaveras Enterprise reporter James DeHaven
Advocates and opponents of Copperopolis’ long-in-the-works Sawmill Lake housing development will square-off for a second planning commission hearing this week, renewing a raucous four-hour back-and-forth between developers and county staff at Sawmill’s first commission hearing in September.

That meeting saw Sawmill developers win a 90-day continuance for further deliberation on the project, one commissioners issued while hoping to broker a compromise between county planners and project developer Castle and Cooke Calaveras.
Three months on, the yawning gap between the two sides has only widened, according to area Sierra Club representative Steve Elias.
Elias, one of several Sawmill opponents organized under the Calaveras Planning Coalition, has joined county Planning Director Rebecca Willis in asking commissioners to deny the proposal “without prejudice,” a decision that would leave the door open to future development once planners complete an overhaul of the county’s decades-old general plan.
He, like Willis, fears the general plan amendment currently sought by developers to finish the 800-home subdivision could slow already creaky progress on the county land use map.
To read the full Calaveras Enterprise story by reporter James DeHaven CLICK HERE

Sawmill Lake Project at the forefront of Planning Commission meeting

The following video is of the September 13, 2012 Planning Commission meeting which weighed heavily on the Sawmill Lake Project.

According to Planning Commissioner Rebecca Willis "11 issues are identified in the staff report.  At the applicant’s request, the Planning Commission continued the hearing until Dec 13^th.  Staff is willing to meet with the applicant to look at project modifications that Castle and Cooke may be willing to do and where that may go.  However, the nature of some of the items do not lend themselves to being “resolved” in 90 days."

At the 9-13-12 meeting planning submitted a staff report that was prepared August 24, 2012. The report stated that the Sawmill Lake Project was not consistent with the Current General Plan and precludes option in the conservation element, land use element and water element of the General Plan. The report further stated that the Planning Commission direct 'staff to prepare a resolution recommending that the Board of Supervisors deny without prejudice the General Plan Amendment, Specific Plan, Vesting Tentative Map, and Development Agreement for the Sawmill Lake Project based upon the findings contained and found there in to be brought back to the Planning Commission for action.'

The questions surrounding the approval of the project include, but are not limited to, habitat of the Western Pond Turtle, six Tuolumne Button Celery plants, residential water runoff that could potentially have detrimental effects on Chinese Camp Brodiaea plants downstream, thinning of Oak trees, and more. (Read full staff report for list of ‘findings.’)

Planning Commission 9-13-12 meeting VIDEO

Sawmill Lake project on Sept 13 Planning Commission

The Sawmill Lake Project will be on the Agenda for the Planning Commission Meeting  on September 13, 2012.

For specific Sawmill Lake plan CLICK HERE  (it is a large file and takes a moment to load)