Amador County – With Plymouth’s water pipeline project has come an influx of housing developments, leading to a series of workshops and tutorials for the city council, starting last week with a presentation on the Environmental Impact Report process. City Planner Paula Daneluk gave information on the EIR last Thursday, while today, new city consultant Richard Prima will host a workshop on “Planning Process Infrastructure.” Daneluk said the Cottage Knoll development had initiated its EIR process, with the city taking the lead. City Council members asked why the city did that, and Daneluk said it was the typical way to handle the process. If not, she said the city would be at the mercy of the applicant’s consultant. As lead agency, the city has access to the EIR as it develops. City Attorney Mike Dean said Plymouth “has had little going on in the last decade in regard to traditional planning,” but he told the City Council that it would be acting as “little legislators” in the EIR process. Dean said “you can just say ‘no’ for any reason or no reason. It doesn’t really matter how much time or how much money they have spent. You can simply say ‘no’ if it’s something you don’t like.” Daneluk said the process generally takes 18 to 24 months, “but there are a lot of variables,” including that the city has no control over how long it takes the applicant to produce additional studies. And she said sometimes the state or federal government will request in September a study that can only be conducted in June. Councilwoman Patricia Fordyce asked about a template “development agreement” that the city has and whether it could be used with the Cottage Knoll project. Dean said there is a “boiler plate” development agreement but the specifics that the city wants from the applicant varies with each project, depending on the project’s impacts and the project itself. The special meeting, open to the public and led by Prima, is 5 p.m. today in city hall, 9426 Main Street. Story by Jim Reece (This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.).