Amador County – The Amador County Transportation Commission heard progress on a regional growth modeling project in Amador County on Tuesday. Staff and consultants reviewed a mapping work to create an “Amador County Regional Blueprint,” and took comments.
Consultants used a UPlan mapping tool created by the U.C. Davis Information Center for the Environment to prioritize limited funding for traffic, and understand development patterns and influences that can “factor into market trends and decisions.”
They said it can also “help ACTC verify, support, “understand land use decisions the cities and county have made from a high level perspective,” and “provide a more robust tool to link transportation and land use.”
The study used the existing General Plans of the county and cities to map data to 2030 and 2050, and listed attractors to and discouragers of development, and “masks” that create areas that can’t be developed.
Board Member John Plasse said he was concerned about a map of slopes over 45 degrees. He said “one appears to be on my family’s property at Silver Lake, and I’m a little concerned about that.” He said the local high school and grammar school are built on slopes greater than that.
Plasse said he would like to see the details of areas designated to be too sloped for development. The consultant said it contained areas in quadrants of 50 by 50 meters, in which all of the land must be sloped over 45 degrees.
ACTC Executive Director Charles Field said: “What you are seeing here is a work of art as much as it is a work of science,” and it “should only be used from 30,000 feet,” and once you try to focus any closer, you lose detail.
Field said: “I think the real value of this model is going to be known in the next five or 10 years.”
Board Member Richard Forster said listing “Camanche infill” as an attractor was a misnomer as there is “no ability to develop there now because of water and wastewater capabilities.” Field acknowledged that Ione City Planner Christopher Jordan made note of the moratoriums in Camanche due to water and wastewater problems.
Chairman Greg Baldwin found a problem with traffic maps calling Highways 49 and 88 main arteries, but not Ridge Road, even though it carries the same number of cars per day.
Baldwin said they “really need to weigh traffic volumes, because a lot of people are finding shortcuts and they are taking them.” The consultant said it was based on Caltrans designations of “arterials,” while Ridge Road is designated as a “collector.”
Story by Jim Reece This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.
