Rezoning moratorium extended

Published: January 17, 2007

 

 

By ABBE SMITH

Sonora Union Democrat

 

Calaveras County supervisors gave the county's Community Development Agency more breathing room Tuesday by extending a rezoning moratorium until this fall.

Also at Tuesday's Board of Supervisors meeting, two dozen builders showed up to complain about how the agency's Building Department enforces building codes.

The moratorium on rezoning requests and General Plan amendments was meant to give county planners more time to review a backlog of 150 existing applications. The temporary moratorium was first issued last month and would have expired today had the supervisors not extended it.

"The whole point is to stop and take a deep breath and take a look around," District 1 Supervisor Bill Claudino said Tuesday.

Despite previous opposition to the freeze, many people at Tuesday's public hearing spoke in favor of the extension or had questions about specific components of the ordinance. Some, however, complained the moratorium does not go far enough in protecting against unbridled development, especially in the western part of the county.

Mark Jones, a Valley Springs resident, pointed out that a number of new developments are in the works despite the moratorium.

"How many projects are we going to have? How many houses are we going to have approved before we have a new General Plan?" he said.

A good number of project applications were submitted just before the moratorium deadline, prompting critics to say the moratorium hasn't actually slowed development at all.

Joyce Techel of the advocacy group MyValleySprings.com handed the board a copy of a map that shows 32 current residential projects and projects under review totaling more than 3,000 units in the Valley Springs area.

Colleen Platt, also of MyValleySprings.com, said the existing General Plan — last updated in 1996 — should not be used to guide future planning.

"We need to figure out where we are going before it's too late," she told the board.

Platt pointed to congested roads, sewer and water systems close to overflowing, and an overcrowded jail as reasons a new plan must be in place before growth can continue in an orderly fashion.

Although the ban on rezoning and General Plan amendments was extended, those applications already on the table at the agency's Planning Department were given more time Tuesday. The county gave itself a 60-day extension to review applications and deem them complete, Community Development Agency Director Stephanie Moreno told the board.

She also listed three new exemptions that would permit an application to bypass the moratorium. Those include projects with a significant amount of multi-family housing as part of the plan.

Projects submitted just under the moratorium wire include two in Valley Springs: Mission Ranch, a 100-acre project with 136 single-family homes, 84 multi-family units and retail space, and Ponte Ranch, which calls for 1,000 homes and a large shopping center on 445 acres.

Areas all over the county are facing strains on water and sewer systems due to development, and a drive through Copperopolis or Valley Springs reveals any number of development projects already in the works.

County supervisors have stressed the need to update the 1996 General Plan in order to guide development and keep it within limits of what the county's infrastructure can handle.

Also at Tuesday's meeting, two dozen local builders and contractors were on hand to complain about the Building Department.

Mike Borean, who heads a group of local builders and contractors, read a statement to the board that included the following: "In a nutshell, it is way too difficult to get a permit and once work is started, the inspection practices hinder the work practices."

A Southern California-based consulting company hired by the county to do an audit of the Building Department found building permit documents missing from filing cabinets in the office and discovered that the Uniform Building Code was not being enforced in all cases.

The findings were described in a letter sent to the county dated Dec. 18, 2006.

Moreno confirmed after the board meeting Tuesday that the county had not been enforcing all building codes across the board, but that now it is.

County officials have remained mum about why Chief Building Official Ray Waller is on leave and whether or not he will be returning to work.

 

Contact Abbe Smith at asmith@uniondemocrat.com or 736-0916