Grass Valley to review General Plan tonight, The Union staff, January 31, 2006
Wildwood Ridge to face supervisors, Trina Kleist, January 28, 2006
Tech Center to bring offices, Soumitro Sen, January 27, 2006
'Senior Cohousing' author to speak, The Union staff, January 26, 2006
Public voices concerns about mine reopening, Brittany Retherford, January 26, 2006
Wildwood vote doesn't address housing concerns, Union editorial, January 21, 2006
Planners approve Wildwood project, Trina Kleist, January 20, 2006
Planners give thumbs up to RV project, Trina Kleist, January 18, 2006
Construction update: 13005 Loma Rica Drive, Brittany Retherford, January 17, 2006
Growth causes red ink, Trina Kleist, January 11, 2006
Construction update on cohousing project, Brittany Retherford, January 3, 2006
Grass Valley to review General Plan tonight
The Union staff
January 31, 2006
Grass Valley's General Plan is 5 years old - and standing in the way of
some projects that developers have slated for land within the city limits.
A public workshop to review the General Plan and discuss changing it will be
held at 6 p.m. tonight in council chambers at Grass Valley City Hall.
"We're reviewing the General Plan, the adoption process, the status of it
in the five years it's been implemented, talk a little bit about the future
vision for the community and allow for some public input," said city
community development director Joe Heckel.
The workshop will include a review of the Southhill Village, Loma Rica,
Northstar and Kenny Ranch projects and how they conform or fail to conform to
the General Plan.
Developers of the Southhill Village project have modified their plans to
conform to the General Plan. Developers of the remaining project have said
they would like to see changes to the General Plan.
The projects are called special development areas. City staff will explain the
projects, the planning process and options for changing the General Plan.
Developers, contractors and skeptics of the projects are expected to attend.
Wildwood Ridge to face supervisors
Trina Kleist, trinak@theunion.com
January 28, 2006
A proposed development near Lake Wildwood would offer more than double the
open space originally planned, recreation facilities and a range of housing
styles, according to plans approved by the Nevada County Planning Commission.
The Wildwood Ridge Phases 2-4 plan will go before the county Board of
Supervisors at 1:45 p.m. Feb. 14. Supervisors will be asked to approve
rezoning of the property to increase the open space from about 30 to 80 acres.
Supervisors also will be asked to approve the development agreement reached
between planners and Los Angeles-based S&Y Capital Group LLC.
Project architect Lee Iverson of Portland, Ore., said his design strives to
take into account the natural surroundings and the needs of the people who
would live there.
The plan calls for a large, grassy area along a central swath of the property,
cut by trails that would connect to the Phase I area. Much of the open area
contains slopes that are too steep for building.
At the center of the development would be a recreation area, which could have
a meeting room, picnic areas, barbecue pits and tennis courts. However, the
exact location and type of facilities have not been decided.
Four different lot sizes would create diversity by letting people buy in at
different price ranges, Iverson said.
When Iverson presented his plans to planning commissioners Jan. 19, he
described the residents as retirees zipping along the paved trails in golf
carts, baby boomers with time to travel and stroller moms enjoying the
mini-parks.
"We've always had the people and natural conditions (of the land) be the
driving elements of any development we do," said the architect, who has
designed several communities in the Pacific states.
Iverson said his designs emphasize diversity and creating a space that lets
them walk, talk and connect to each other. That would create a healthier
community where people could visit friends without driving and use their cars
less.
ooo
Four types of lots to be offered
Lee Iverson, of Iverson Architects in Portland, Ore., is working with the
developer of the Wildwood Ridge Phases 2-4 to design four different types of
lots that would be offered on the 206-acre property just north of Lake
Wildwood.
Type A: Seventy-four lots of 5,000 square feet with houses of 1,200 to 2,000 square feet in size. Individual houses would be built in clusters, with fronts facing a common sidewalk or green space. Garage doors would be on the rear, facing a common driveway. Small parks would be arranged within these clusters. Iverson showed samples of cute wood-frame buildings close together.
Type B: One-hundred-and-twenty-seven lots of 7,000 square feet with houses larger than Type A that would face the street in traditional suburban fashion. Type B lots would be on slightly steeper terrain and surround the clusters of Type A lots. Both are placed at the southern and eastern edges of the development nearest to Lake Wildwood homes, and in the northwestern section. Iverson showed samples of stucco and wood-frame styles that resemble newer homes in suburban California, but with larger front porches. Type C: One-hundred-and-thirteen lots of 12,000 or more square feet with larger houses. Iverson compared this area to the Morgan Ranch development, and showed samples with similar architecture. These lots would be on the edge of the Type B areas.
Type D: Thirty-eight custom lots ranging in size from 0.6 acre to more than 1 acre. These would be built on lots with more steep terrain. These and the Type C lots would, in most areas, be at the edges of the large open spaces planned along the center of the property, buffering the transition from the denser areas of the A and B lots. At a presentation before the county Planning Commission, Iverson showed sample architecture resembling new houses on Banner Mountain, which currently are selling for more than $1 million.
Low-income and very-low-income units: The plan currently calls for 26 of the existing lots to have a 500-square-foot rental unit built above the garage. Five more smaller lots would have duplexes built instead of single-family homes, to provide 10 additional units for low-income rental housing. Developer Brian Masterman, of S&Y Capital Group LLC, said he would try to find another way to provide more low-income housing with larger living areas.
ooo
To contact staff writer Trina Kleist, e-mail trinak@the union.com or call
477-4231.
Earmarked land purchased by property group
By Soumitro Sen, soumitros@theunion.com
January 27, 2006
Nevada City is all set to have a new business park soon.
Twenty years ago, the Grass Valley Group was approved to build its facility on
160 acres of land between Deer Creek School, Seven Hills School and Deer
Creek. About half of the property was left unused. Now Campus Property Group
has bought the tract, and will build nine office buildings on it - a project
that's being called the Nevada City Tech Center.
"There are two reasons (why we have bought the land)," said Robert
D. Upton, principal of the Campus Property Group. "One, it's a beautiful
piece of property, beautiful trees and lovely rolling terrain. Secondly, the
fact that it is already approved - 210,000 square feet - so we don't have to
go back through the process. We just have to move forward."
Two local officials predict the project will have a positive economic impact
on the area.
"Excellent, high-paying jobs will be attracted to the city and it will
continue our focus to be a high-tech center at the foothills," said
Laurie Oberholtzer, former mayor and chairperson of the Planning Commission.
According to Sally Harris, a Nevada City city councilor, the sites for the
buildings were chosen with care to have the least visual impact on the nearby
schools and residential properties.
"The Planning Commission has worked with the developer in terms of
placement of the buildings in the property," she said.
"A lot of conditions were placed on it (twenty years ago) which are there
today, such as preserving the trees and the requirement for a master
plan," Oberholtzer said. "The Grass Valley Group gave (Nevada City)
about 100 acres of open space along the Deer Creek. The new subdivision also
has about 20 acres of private open space. The result is a very high quality
business park. The new owners are implementing the original developing
agreement."
"We are talking to three or four parties who are interested (to have
their offices in the subdivision)," Upton said. "Our intention is to
own the majority of the buildings as a long term investment, but we will sell
one or two to owner uses."
ooo
To contact staff writer Soumitro Sen, e-mail soumitros@theunion.com
or call 477-4229.
'Senior Cohousing' author to speak
January 26, 2006, The Union staff
The Book Seller will be hosting author and architect Charles Durrett tonight.
Durrett will discuss his latest book, "Senior Cohousing: A Community
Approach to Independent Living," which presents a compelling alternative
to traditional senior housing.
It is a book for people who believe that a supportive community based on
proximity and cooperation is the most enriching way to age healthfully. It is
for those who believe that humans' social, emotional, physical, and spiritual
well-being depends on a balance between privacy and community. This book is
not only for seniors but also for younger people working with their parents to
find alternatives to traditional retirement homes. The senior cohousing
paradigm addresses issues of economy, independence and social health and is
for anyone who desires a more invigorating possibility for retirement living.
Durrett has designed over 30 cohousing communities in North America and has
consulted on many more around the world. His work has been featured in such
publications as Time Magazine, The New York Times and Architecture. In
addition to many presentations on cohousing to interested citizen groups, he
has spoken before Congress, the Commonwealth Club and scores of universities.
Durrett is a resident of Nevada City.
This event will begin at 6:30 p.m., will include a discussion and book
signing, and will include refreshments.
Call The Book Seller, at 107 Mill St. in Grass Valley, at 272-2131 for more
information.
Public voices concerns about mine reopening
Brittany Retherford
January 26, 2006
Wells sucked dry, increased traffic, mine tailings seeping into Wolf Creek,
inadequate housing for 400 new employees and their families.
These are some of the concerns raised by area residents during two Wednesday
public workshops on the proposed reopening of the Idaho-Maryland Mine in Grass
Valley.
The meeting was held to solicit input from the public in an attempt to be as
transparent as possible about a project that, if approved, could have an
enormous impact on the area. The city has yet to formally begin its
environmental review process - typically the first step in processing a
project application, and which evaluates the potential impacts to the
surrounding area.
It would be an unusual project - very few gold mines in the country have
historically been located within city limits - and of great size for Grass
Valley; the proposal calls for about 250,000 square feet of buildings on a
140-acre site.
To ensure that the city's and citizens' concerns both get fully addressed in
the process, "specialized expertise" has been hired, said Planning
Director Tom Last. The consultants come from a variety of backgrounds, such as
Bill Walker, who specializes in mine geochemistry; Thomas Leeman, a wildlife
biologist; and Peter Hudson, a geologist, among others.
The team was selected by the city, but Emgold Mining Corp. will foot the bill.
The Canadian mining company hopes to reopen the mine, which was closed in 1956
after 100 years of gold production. Its plan is to mine for gold, turning the
residual tailings into ceramic tiles.
The environmental review process will take a detailed look at the potential
impacts of the mine - and how Emgold will then "mitigate," or
reduce, those impacts.
"We are asking for comments now (on the project) to try to create more
opportunity, not less," Last said.
One example is the dewatering of domestic wells.
"I suspect that many of you are here for this specific issue," said
a member of the city's consulting team, Jeff Harvey. "We want to make
sure there is no loss of high quality water to these existing wells."
During the mid-90s, a proposal was first submitted to dewater the vacated
miles of shafts, which now lay beneath the city's limits. Tad Stearn, another
member of the city's hired team, said that he has had several residents with
wells on their properties express worries that their wells might be sucked dry
when the water is pumped out of the shafts.
While the answers and possible solutions to this issue are not available until
the environmental review process, Last said these are the types of concerns -
and questions - the city hopes to receive about the proposed project.
The next public meeting is slated to occur in June or July.
ooo
To contact staff writer Brittany Retherford, e-mail brittanyr@theunion.com
or call 477-4247.
The city of Grass Valley is asking the public for help on identifying issues
that should be considered for evaluation as part of the required environmental
review process for the proposed Idaho-Maryland Mine project.
Questions or comments should be directed to Tom Last, planning director, at:
mailing address: 125 East Main St., Grass Valley, 95945; e-mail, toml@cityofgrassvalley.com; phone, 274-4330; or fax, 274-4399.
Concerns should be submitted by Feb. 8.
Residents should also contact Last if they would like to be included on a mailing list to receive project updates.
For more information about the project, visit the city's Web site at www.cityofgrassvalley.com. Copies of the application are also available at city hall, at the Grass Valley Library and the Madelyn Helling Library.
Our View: Wildwood vote doesn't address housing concerns
The Union editorial board
January 21, 2006
It doesn't appear that Nevada County has enough interest in providing
affordable housing if the Planning Commission's approval of the plans for
Wildwood Estates is any indication.
The commission voted 5-0 on Thursday for a 352-home subdivision, which
includes 36 affordable "homes" and allows the developer to meet the
county's already low threshold of having 10 percent of a project being
designated as affordable.
In this case, the affordable housing component includes 26 carriage apartments
of 500 square feet. Those tiny apartments will sit on top of the garages of
the no-doubt expensive homes that will attract more newcomers and their
vehicles to the area.
The other 10 affordable "homes" are duplexes.
Commissioner Bob Jensen of Truckee does agree that the apartments don't meet a
decent affordable housing standard, but nonetheless did for the project.
The Planning Commission's approval of this project comes comes nine days after
the Board of Supervisors voted 5-0 to forgive nearly $1 million in fees and
fines on that 207-acre piece of property near Lake Wildwood. In exchange, the
county gets $600,000 in back taxes.
The developer, Los Angeles-based Stone and Youngberg LLC, purchased the
property with its delinquent taxes, fees and fines for $10.
The county has been looking for years to unload this property and now it's
close to accomplishing its goal.
Unfortunately, it won't benefit many county residents directly unless
supervisors reject or modify the current plan and demand real affordable
housing opportunities.
On the other hand, a developer has been handed a prime opportunity to take
advantage of our sizzling real estate market.
While the developer is complying with the letter of the law on affordable
housing, it, as Jensen said, is violating the spirit of the law and it, at the
same time, is showing little interest in meeting the needs of those who now
live and work here and want to buy a house.
Now it's time the supervisors do the right thing for their constituents and
demand real affordable housing in this project.
Planners approve Wildwood project
Conditions regarding affordable housing attached to go-ahead
By Trina Kleist, trinak@theunion.com
January 20, 2006
Nevada County planners approved the Wildwood Ridge project late Thursday,
imposing numerous conditions and leaving several aspects to be worked out.
In a series of 5-0 votes, members of the county Planning Commission gave the
green light to the environmental impact report, zoning changes, maps,
mitigations and permit findings for phases 2 through 4 of the long-delayed
luxury development, formerly known as Wildwood Estates.
The approval took 5-1/2 hours, a public hearing and substantial horse-trading
among commissioners, neighbors, the owner-developer and engineers.
One of the sticking points that will bring developer J. Brian Masterman back
to the commission is affordable housing.
In addition to the 352 units planned, another 36 will be for low-income
residents, in accordance with the county General Plan's rule requiring that 10
percent of units be "affordable."
The plans drawn up by Nevada City Engineering called for 26 of those units to
be 500-square-foot apartments built over garages. The other 10 were set to be
duplexes.
Neighbors in Lake Wildwood protested two-story buildings uphill from their
properties. Commissioners expressed concern about the size of the proposed
units and the lack of purchase opportunities for working-class families.
"Five-hundred-square-foot affordable housing may meet the letter of the
law, but I don't think it meets the spirit," said commissioner Bob
Jensen, of Truckee.
Masterman agreed to work on a plan to build more duplexes and fewer garage
apartments - the proposal calls them "carriage house units" - but
asked the commission's help.
He currently is limited in the number of sewage hook-ups the development can
have. To build more duplexes, Masterman said, he would need to buy sewage
capacity rights from neighbors, including Lake Wildwood.
If the commissioners gave him approval first, Masterman would have some
negotiating power with those willing to sell sewage rights. If his approval
hinged on buying sewage rights first, Masterman explained, sellers would be
motivated to demand higher prices, making affordable housing unaffordable to
the developer.
So he accepted dozens of modifications to the project to meet environmental
requirements and satisfy neighbors worried about traffic, distances between
buildings, landscaping, fences and access to trails. But he asked
commissioners to approve the project without him having to specify how he
would handle the affordable housing portion.
"You're asking us to approve this development without really knowing what
we're approving as far as the housing," said Commissioner Paul Aguirre of
Grass Valley.
"We're asking for flexibility," Masterman said. "It is
absolutely our goal to come up with something better than what we have
here."
Commissioners also asked him to return with a proposal concerning how long the
affordable housing will remain affordable.
Masterman also will provide more detailed plans for drainage and grading,
architecture, landscaping, recreational amenities, type of fencing and a legal
framework for offering trails in the development to a recreational district,
should one be created.
Masterman is president of S&Y Capital Group LLC, based in Los Angeles. The
company owns the 206-acre site north of Lake Wildwood. It is a subsidiary of
Stone & Youngberg LLC, one of the largest municipal bond underwriters in
the state.
ooo
To contact staff writer Trina Kleist, e-mail trinak@theunion.com
or call 477-4231.
Planners give thumbs up to RV project
By Trina Kleist, trinak@theunion.com
January 18, 2006
Grass Valley planners voted 4 to 1 late Tuesday to approve plans to build
the DeMartini RV Sales project off Idaho-Maryland Road, amid controversy about
the facility's appearance and impact on nearby Wolf Creek.
The project includes a building of 22,400 square feet for a recreational
vehicle showroom and nine service bays. The building would be surrounded by
more than 250,000 square feet of impermeable pavement for storing inventory.
Together, the building and pavement would cover nearly half of the 11.8-acre
site.
Owners Timothy and Margie DeMartini have been in business in Grass Valley
since 1975. They have grown the company into one of the largest RV agencies in
the nation, with sales in Grass Valley, Sacramento and Indiana, Timothy
DeMartini said.
With yearly sales of about $90 million, the company pays nearly $50,000
monthly in city sales taxes - about 10 percent of the Grass Valley's total
sales tax income, DeMartini said.
The project will go before the City Council within 45 days for a final vote.
If approved, DeMartini said, he plans to open for business by this fall on the
former quarry site, which can be fully seen from the Golden Center Freeway.
Commissioners and members of the public had mixed responses to the project.
Commissioner Ralph Silberstein, who voted against it, objected to changing the
parcel's zoning from being a business park to heavy commercial. He said
commercial properties are better located further from the town center.
"Are we going to continue to sacrifice prime areas near the center of
town for activities that that don't need to be at the center of town?"
Silberstein said.
Resident and professional planner Steve Enos said trees that would be planted
on the site would not screen the lot full of recreational vehicles from the
view of freeway motorists, as the General Plan requires.
Enos also objected to the architecture. "The Roseville-Highway 80
corridor style of design does not belong in Grass Valley," Enos said.
Commissioner Gloria Hyde praised the owners and developer, Nevada City
Engineering, for improving the facade and landscaping. After offering a plain
building last year, the DeMartinis on Tuesday brought back a modified plan
that gave more texture and style to the facade and increased the pines, cedars
and redwoods to be planted.
"I don't want Grass Valley to get into the position where we think every
building has to look like a former mining site," Hyde said.
Several members of the public expressed concern about the impact of road
improvement on habitat along Wolf Creek. They also worried that rain run-off
from the property would increase flooding. Wolf Creek flooded over
Idaho-Maryland Road during the New Year's Eve storm, closing the road near the
area of the project.
ooo
To contact staff writer Trina Kleist, e-mail trinak@theunion.com
or call 477-4231.
Construction update: 13005 Loma Rica Drive
By Brittany Retherford
Staff writer
January 17, 2006
Construction ends today on an 18,000-square-foot tilt-up concrete building
at 13005 Loma Rica Drive, across the street from the Nevada County Airport.
The new building will be home to Linda and Gordon Mulays growing family
business, Electronic Carbide Inc., which will occupy more than 11,000 square
feet of the building. The remaining space will be leased to other businesses.
ECI is a precision machine shop that was founded in 1978. It employs more than
20 people and contracts mostly with larger Sacramento and Bay Area companies.
The building itself was designed and constructed by several local companies,
including Tru-Line Builders, Nelson Engineering, Daggett Designs, McProud and
Associates, Hansen Bros., Nitram Inc., and BP Landscapes. Financing for the
project came from Citizens Bank. Construction began on the building in May
2005.
But Grass Valley deficit less than anticipated
by Trina Kleist, trinak@theunion.com
January 11, 2006
Grass Valley city books finished the fiscal year in the red, but the
shortfall is less than expected, an independent auditor told City Council
members late Tuesday.
The shortfall has been caused in part by growth in areas where the city must
provide services, but people aren't fully paying for those services yet, the
auditor said.
For the fiscal year 2004-05, the city projected income at $8.56 million,
expenses at $10.15 million and a shortfall of $1.59 million.
But a close watch on the money brought an actual income of $8.92 million,
expenses of $9.97 million and a shortfall of $1.05 million.
The budget shortfall was nearly $540,000 less than projected.
The fiscal year ended on June 30, 2005.
Mayor Gerard Tassone said after the meeting that city officials "have
been struggling to balance the budget without pulling funds from the general
fund."
However, growth in the city means the city must provide services to areas that
may not immediately pay for those services, said Marilee Smith, of the Yuba
City accounting firm Smith and Newell. She headed the independent audit that
the city does yearly.
That makes the budget a moving target for planners.
City finance director Carol Fish is working to make the budget "more
accurately reflect the cost of doing business," Tassone said. "It
takes a few years to do that, especially as you grow. We're still not there
yet.
"What we don't want to do is get into this continuous thing where we have
to draw on the general fund to balance the budget," Tassone said. The
current fiscal year's budget should be even closer, he said.
The less-than-anticipated deficit brought accolades from Smith, who gave the
city the highest rating for fiscal management.
"I see a city that is managed very closely, that keeps budgeted
expenditures in line," Smith said. "I would like to commend the city
on a job well done."
ooo
To contact staff writer Trina Kleist, e-mail trinak@theunion.com
or call 477-4231.
Construction update on cohousing project
By Brittany Retherford
January 3, 2006
The first residents of the new Nevada City cohousing project on Chief Kelly Drive and West Broad Street moved into their new homes in mid-December, reported architect Chuck Durrett of McCamant and Durrett Architects recently. Since then, at least four other families have moved in, and a second group is anticipated to begin arriving Jan. 13.
The
project, which received approval from Nevada City more than two years ago, has
been under construction and is still not yet complete. The plan boasts a
common house, swimming pool and communal gardens and trails, along with 34
affordable units with an average home price of about $310,000, Durrett said.
"We told these residents what these prices were going to be three years
ago, and we were able to stay at that price," he said.
The common house is not slated to be finished until mid-January, he said. A
grand opening is planned to celebrate the final completion of the project,
which is anticipated to be in February.
There have been some delays in the project, which Durrett attributed to
weather.
- Brittany Retherford