Amador County - The Amador County General Plan panel decided to have the planning commission take a closer study of the City Spheres of Influence and land designations in those spheres. County Planner Susan Grijalva said cities were worried about the designation of lands in their spheres of influence. She said the county can mimic the cities’ general plan designations; designate areas as Agriculture General; create an “Urban Reserve” or similar designation; or do something else. Some designations, she said, like AG, could preserve buffers around cities to curb development. Grijalva said dropping commercial areas in residential areas “isn’t playing nice.” District 1 Supervisor Richard Escamilla said he thought they should leave it alone and make decisions case-by-case. Supervisor Chair Richard Forster said he thought keeping development closer to infrastructure and city centers would keep other unincorporated areas from getting developed. Grijalva said Roseanne Chamberlain, director of the Local Agency Formation Commission, said she would not change any current Spheres of Influence unless requested to do so by cities. Escamilla said any city will take development if it can get it, and urged to keep designations as they were and handle them individually. County Counsel Martha J. Shaver said making no change may have the effect of having the incompatible designations that cities have problems with. The panel decided to send the issue to the Amador County Planning Commission, to discuss at its next meeting, 7 p.m. Tuesday, November 18th. The panel and Forster directed staff to invite cities to the planning commission meeting, to be able to answer questions about their spheres of influence. The planning department e-mailed invitations to the cities and by Thursday, Jackson City Planner Susan Peters had responded, saying she would attend. Forster adjourned the serial meeting to November 19th, from noon to 4 p.m., noting that they had about 40 minutes of work left and then they would take more public input to close out the next meeting. Story by Jim Reece
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Amador County - The Amador County General Plan panel decided to have the planning commission take a closer study of the City Spheres of Influence and land designations in those spheres. County Planner Susan Grijalva said cities were worried about the designation of lands in their spheres of influence. She said the county can mimic the cities’ general plan designations; designate areas as Agriculture General; create an “Urban Reserve” or similar designation; or do something else. Some designations, she said, like AG, could preserve buffers around cities to curb development. Grijalva said dropping commercial areas in residential areas “isn’t playing nice.” District 1 Supervisor Richard Escamilla said he thought they should leave it alone and make decisions case-by-case. Supervisor Chair Richard Forster said he thought keeping development closer to infrastructure and city centers would keep other unincorporated areas from getting developed. Grijalva said Roseanne Chamberlain, director of the Local Agency Formation Commission, said she would not change any current Spheres of Influence unless requested to do so by cities. Escamilla said any city will take development if it can get it, and urged to keep designations as they were and handle them individually. County Counsel Martha J. Shaver said making no change may have the effect of having the incompatible designations that cities have problems with. The panel decided to send the issue to the Amador County Planning Commission, to discuss at its next meeting, 7 p.m. Tuesday, November 18th. The panel and Forster directed staff to invite cities to the planning commission meeting, to be able to answer questions about their spheres of influence. The planning department e-mailed invitations to the cities and by Thursday, Jackson City Planner Susan Peters had responded, saying she would attend. Forster adjourned the serial meeting to November 19th, from noon to 4 p.m., noting that they had about 40 minutes of work left and then they would take more public input to close out the next meeting. Story by Jim Reece
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