Amador County – Plymouth City Council last week approved documents on the Zinfandel and Shenandoah Ridge residential developments and sent the two projects to the Amador County Local Agency Formation Commission for approval of a Sphere of Influence amendment, and an annexation.

City Development Director Richard Prima said the “actions tonight are the majority of the actions you would have to take to approve the project.” He noted that additional funding had been added to the Developer Agreement by Bob Reeder and Reeder Sutherland.

Prima said the Council should wait on approval of the Development Agreement, as advised by legal counsel. But he said the Development Agreement is 90 percent complete. Counsel said to wait for its approval until after the Sphere of Influence amendment is approved. He said none of the Development Agreement becomes effective until annexation. ¶ Reeder’s original agreement was to pay $372,000 total over five years, and Prima said he agreed to another $40,000, as requested by Vice Mayor Jon Colburn at the previous meeting. That was agreed to if there was no litigation. ¶ Colburn asked about the time for appeal or litigation. Special Counsel to the city Adam Lindgren said the actions take effect 30 days after approval, and the statute of limitations for litigation is 30 days. ¶ Prima said LAFCO can adjust language based on the standards they use, and “if LAFCO denies the annexation, this all goes away.” Lindgren said the Development Agreement should also go to LAFCO so the Commission “won’t be surprised by the Development Agreement.” ¶ Lindgren said “nobody can make any arguments in litigation” unless they have already told the council about the issues, so the council cannot be blind-sided. ¶ Councilwoman Sandy Kyles asked if LAFCO could act during the 30-day period, and Prima said they “anticipate being at the December LAFCO meeting.” Colburn said that’s more than 30 days. ¶ The council approved the Reeder projects’ Environmental Impact Report certification on a 5-0 vote, and Colburn, as a member of LAFCO, abstained from the other vote, which included ordinances for annexation pre-zoning, and an application to LAFCO for the Sphere amendment and annexation, on a 4-0-1 vote. ¶ The vote also approved a resolution for a tentative map and development plans for both projects. The map approval included clarification of the description of the annexation area, Prima said, because the area “does not go south of Zinfandel.” Story by Jim Reece This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.