A decent turnout of long-time local activists, city council followers, and a handful of curious civilians attended the July 16th Gold Rush Ranch and Golf Resort public information workshop on the project’s newly released Draft Environmental Impact Report. Residents debated the merits and impacts of the development with the project board and city staff while viewing posters depicting photo-shopped before and after images of the 945 acres of oak woodland and cattle grazing land that may soon be the site of construction. The City of Sutter Creek is a partner in the project, which was initially formulated in order to facilitate the city’s wastewater disposal needs. The project includes major additions to the city’s water infrastructure, in addition to the expansion of local roads and public services.

Later that evening, much of the same crowd reappeared for a joint City Council and Planning Commission meeting to review the document. Mayor Pro-tem Bill Hepworth opened the meeting in the absence of mayor Gary Wooten, but soon thereafter announced that he would have to step down from the discussion due to a potential conflict of interest involving his wife’s business as a realtor. What ensued was a presentation on the DEIR lead by Bob Delp, who is assisting the city in Gold Rush’s environmental planning and review. Delp discussed the projects impacts to population and housing, public services and utilities, transportation and circulation, air quality, noise, location geology and hydrology, historical, biological, and visual resources.

As in previous discussions on the project’s impacts, the hot button topics that became the source of debate centered on traffic impacts and oak woodland mitigation. Planning Commission Chairman Robin Peters pointed out that there is a “distinct and obvious lack” of planning for future connections to properties bordering the project to the north, south, and west. The City, developer, and public will continue discussions on the Draft EIR through August 29th. On August 25th, public comments on the DEIR will be solicited at a public hearing before the Planning Commission. The DEIR is available for review at Sutter Creek City Hall, the Amador County Library, on the City of Sutter Creek’s website and on Gold Rush Ranch’s website.