Sutter Creek Officials are sprinting to the finish line in order to secure what many purport to be a winning project- the Gold Rush Ranch and Golf Resort. The Gold Rush Ranch and Golf Resort package includes an 18 hole golf course, club house, and related facilities, 1,334 single family residences, 300 timeshare units, a 60 room hotel, 20,000 square feet of neighborhood commercial space, a public safety site, and 300 acres of open space. The massive project, which will effectively double the size of Sutter Creek, is proposed for 945 acres adjacent to Ridge Road and Highway 88 bordering the north-western edge of the town. In a joint meeting of the Sutter Creek City Council and Planning Commission Wednesday evening, council members, commissioners, and members of the public reviewed several aspects of the Draft Environmental Impact Report.

Topics of review pertained to the project’s consistency with Sutter Creek’s general plan, the project’s specific plan for development, General Plan amendments that are required by project elements, Zoning Ordinance amendments, and the project’s tentative large lot subdivision map. Project Manager Anders Hauge was under the gun throughout the meeting, leading the discussion on several complicated components of the DEIR. At the beginning of the session, Hauge apologized to the administrators present for being unable to supply all of the pertinent information to them before the meeting, but still welcomed input on the materials that were available. Indeed, time constraints on information dissemination have been a pervasive theme throughout the execution of the project’s fast-paced schedule. Hauge took notes of public officials’ and the public’s comments, which will be incorporated into the Final EIR. Wednesday’s workshop is one of three such meetings; the other two are scheduled for August 13th and August 20th. The DEIR circulation will end on August 29th, which is also the last day to submit comments for the final EIR. On September 15th, the Planning Commission is scheduled to make a recommendation to the City Council regarding project approval. The City Council expects to consider the Certification of the final EIR accompanying project approval in December 2008.