By Jim Reece - An estimated 14,000 oak trees will be lost in the footprint of the proposed Gold Rush Ranch and Golf Resort. The issue was among the remaining key areas still needing agreement between developers and the Sutter Creek Planning Commission. The commission met Monday and heard a report from city planning consultant Anders Hauge and discussed the housing element, grading and tree mitigation. Commissioner Frank Cunha said the commission could possibly get through the remaining issues and make a recommendation to the Sutter Creek City Council after their next meeting. But there were still areas on which the planning commission and Gold Rush developers needed to reach agreement. Cunha said there were probably about a dozen issues that needed settlement. High priorities for him were traffic, parks, housing, grading and the oak tree mitigation. Regarding oak mitigation and the loss of those 14,000 trees, he said discussion circled around solutions such as planting seedlings to replace the trees -- or the use of conservation easements. The conservation easement would typically replace each lost acre of oak woodlands with 2 acres of oak tree acreage that would be preserved and remain undeveloped. “My first choice is in Sutter Creek,” he said of any prospective conservation easement’s location. His second choice would be a preserve on property adjoining the Gold Rush property. His third preference would be to have the property in Amador County, and if it were property outside the county, he would expect more mitigation. He said “the people of Sutter Creek are the ones who are going to be impacted by this, so they should benefit from the mitigation.” An Oak tree specialist told the council that an average Blue Oak tree seedling took 50 to 70 years to grow to 5 inches in diameter size at “breast height,” or 54 inches from the ground. They also took 5 to 7 years to reach 1 inch in diameter at that height. Cunha said “it’s not something we are going to see in one or two generations.” The next meeting is November 5th and the work will be toward recommending completion of a Draft Environmental Impact Report on Gold Rush.
Wednesday, 29 October 2008 02:56
14,000 Oak Trees To Be Lost In Gold Rush Ranch Project
By Jim Reece - An estimated 14,000 oak trees will be lost in the footprint of the proposed Gold Rush Ranch and Golf Resort. The issue was among the remaining key areas still needing agreement between developers and the Sutter Creek Planning Commission. The commission met Monday and heard a report from city planning consultant Anders Hauge and discussed the housing element, grading and tree mitigation. Commissioner Frank Cunha said the commission could possibly get through the remaining issues and make a recommendation to the Sutter Creek City Council after their next meeting. But there were still areas on which the planning commission and Gold Rush developers needed to reach agreement. Cunha said there were probably about a dozen issues that needed settlement. High priorities for him were traffic, parks, housing, grading and the oak tree mitigation. Regarding oak mitigation and the loss of those 14,000 trees, he said discussion circled around solutions such as planting seedlings to replace the trees -- or the use of conservation easements. The conservation easement would typically replace each lost acre of oak woodlands with 2 acres of oak tree acreage that would be preserved and remain undeveloped. “My first choice is in Sutter Creek,” he said of any prospective conservation easement’s location. His second choice would be a preserve on property adjoining the Gold Rush property. His third preference would be to have the property in Amador County, and if it were property outside the county, he would expect more mitigation. He said “the people of Sutter Creek are the ones who are going to be impacted by this, so they should benefit from the mitigation.” An Oak tree specialist told the council that an average Blue Oak tree seedling took 50 to 70 years to grow to 5 inches in diameter size at “breast height,” or 54 inches from the ground. They also took 5 to 7 years to reach 1 inch in diameter at that height. Cunha said “it’s not something we are going to see in one or two generations.” The next meeting is November 5th and the work will be toward recommending completion of a Draft Environmental Impact Report on Gold Rush.
