Amador County – The Sutter Creek Planning Commission finished weeding through its errata sheet for the Gold Rush Ranch & Golf Resort Tuesday, finding a few items that needed work. Among those was whether houses should broach the crest of hills or whether the hilltops should be preserved. Commissioner Robert Olson said he would like to bring up the point that the specific plan for Gold Rush allows a house top to surpass the “crest of a visible ridge” by 15 feet. He said “you won’t see structures poking above the ridges in really nice subdivisions.” Olson said: “I don’t see why we are going above the ridge tops.” Commission Chairman Robin Peters said they settled on the 15-foot limit in a previous study of the city General Plan. Olson said it was a major issue for him, because after a home is built, above a crest of a hill, it would be up to the owner to provide tree cover to hide the home. He said that would make it more unlikely to happen. Peters didn’t “want to revisit the General Plan compliance conversation,” and he said “it might be good for commissioners to keep a list of issues to revisit.” Olson said they would “call it an unresolved issue.” Consultant Anders Hague said a group of maps that the commission received was prepared by Gold Rush’s Greg Bardini, in response to directions the commission had already given staff and the applicant. Peters said the maps would be available for public review at City Hall. Among other items, Peters recommended raising the standard height of sound barrier fences to 5 feet. Peters did “some research and found 5 feet was a common height.” He also suggested a rewording that made it clear that a need for sound barriers higher than 5 feet tall could be done, and “shall be accomplished with a berm and a wall or fence.” Also, it could be done with a staggered series of walls or fences, built in a terraced manner. He suggested walls for sound control over 5 feet tall be required to have terraces, like the retaining walls on the Sutter Hill bus center. Hague said they would get with Assistant City Manager Sean Rabe to use the same language used in the buss center specific plan. The commission next meets on Gold Rush June 17th. Hague said “the next time we get together, you are going to see a complete specific plan,” with changes recommended changes suggested by the commission. Story by Jim Reece This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.