Save Granite Bay

Below please find the Community Plan history and SGB's concern with the Update:

(Note: In response to pressure and corrections from residents, Uhler and the County Staff have recently begun calling the "Update" a "Review." However, the process (asking for re-zone requests from developers as the first step) has not changed.)

Granite Bay may soon change. Last year our County Supervisor convinced the Placer County Board of Supervisors that the Granite Bay Community Plan needs to be updated. The first step in that process began in January with an invitation to all landowners in Granite Bay to submit requests for zoning changes. Due to a huge outcry from the residents complaining that the cart was placed before the horse, there is now a second request asking for opinions on revisions to the Community Plan policies (more details below).

The "process" is deemed to be "open" because all residents are able to provide input directly to the County Planning Department staff. It is SGB's feeling that asking 8500 residents to independently study the existing Community Plan and develop sufficient expertise to recommend changes is unfair and inefficient and likely to leave the process and results largely up to the Planning Deptartment. It is also SGB's feeling that those residents with the experience, time, or interest to pursue the science of Community Planning should be allowed to meet, trade ideas, educate each other and be educated by County Planners for the purpose of representing the community in the Update. No one with any ideas or wishing to participate should be left out. Our Supervisor and the County Planners have so far refused to allow the involvement of any residents beyond allowing them to fill out the two forms available on the County web site.

The current community plan was developed by a committee of the residents over a period of two years starting in 1987. The result was an award winning Community Plan that has been upheld time after time as developers have tried to violate it. In 2005 the aging plan was updated to "extend the life of the Plan." That effort too was conducted by a committee of the residents with guidance from a professional planner from the County Planning Dept. That effort, with insignficant changes by the Planning Department, was approved by the Placer Board of Supervisors. It focused on the road, trail, and park network that had not kept up with Community growth.

So, why is the Granite Bay Community Plan being updated at this time? We do not know. Our Supervisor has tried to explain his reasoning. The Planning Staff has done the same. One claim is that the State requires it. In reality the State only recommends a review every 15 years and plan was updated in 2005. Other reasons have been presented but have fallen by the wayside. In our opinion, no plausible reasons for the Update have been presented. Here you will find a paraphrase of what we have been told and our reaction.

We do know that our supervisor is a politcian and has long depended on developers to fund his campaigns for County Supervisor (starting in 1991) and for the California Legislature. He has admitted to collecting $48,000 in campaign contributions from developers in 2008. The old adage "Follow the Money" may apply. We also know that the County Planning Staff was likely to be hit hard by the massive layoffs due to the County budget shortfall and this project has given them an excuse to avoid that.

On February 11th, the County Planning staff hosted a community meeting to explain the Update process. Over 400 residents attended and nearly all spoke against the update or voted to stop it. Others explained ways in which the process was flawed. The overall consensus was DO NOT CHANGE THE PLAN. Supervisor Uhler and the County Staff ignored the message from this large group, saying the meeting was simply for them to provide information. The Update is moving forward.

SGB is working to change the process by insisting that the Community have an effective role in the process. Normally the Municipal Advisory Council would form a subcommittee for this purpose as was done for the 2005 Update. However, our Supervisor controls the MAC agenda and has refused to allow a MAC agenda item to discuss this possibility. Instead the community will be advised of the results of the information gathering and the County Planning Staff's interpretation of that information in July.

While our Supervisor and the County Planning Staff have stated that there will be time for community input after the June 30 deadline for zoning change requests, we are concerned that any such activity will be hampered by vacations. We also do not know who will be allowed to participate or what the process will be. We also do not believe that we need to see zoning requests that have already been filed or that will be filed to know what is good for the community. It is simply inappropriate to let developers have the first say in the process. That is tentamount to writing the game rules after the players are on the field. The cart is before the horse. The Community Plan assumptions, policies, and Update criteria should be prepared before the zoning changes are on the table.

We are particularly concerned about this process because just last year, the MAC, Planning Commission, and Board of Supervisors voted to remove the 300 foot setback from 700 feet of Douglas Blvd frontage and rezone the land from residential to commercial over a very large and vocal objection from the community. Included is a car wash and office buildings adjacent to Granite Bay quality residential areas. There is much more Douglas Blvd frontage that could become strip malls or gas stations or commercial buildings as a result of this Community Plan update. While we do not know that will be the outcome, the recent Douglas Blvd zoning change suggests that it will. We hope to avoid such an outcome. While our efforts may be ignored as happened with the car wash project, we are going to try. Hopefully with your help.