Sutter Creek – The Sutter Creek City Council on Monday agreed to recommendations from its subcommittee on traffic impacts related to the Gold Rush Ranch & Golf Resort, and set a precedent for adding a timeline to some infrastructure improvements. Mayor Pro Tem Tim Murphy said he did not like the idea of tying the building of trails to or other improvements to the issuing of the 300th home’s building permit. He said they could be waiting 15 or 20 years for the completion of trails. He suggested putting in a time frame. Councilwoman Linda Rianda agreed. The council voted to do just that in accepting the traffic ad hoc committee’s recommendations. Those tied improvements to issuance of the 301st building permit, or the 36th month after approval of the Gold Rush specific plan. Tied to the 3-year timeline is a condition of approval for Gold Rush to build a pedestrian and bike path on the northwest side of Highway 104, from the project’s “Parcel V” to connect with Bowers Drive. The council agreed with the committee that developers must pay “Regional Traffic Mitigation Fees” and also “Local Traffic Mitigation Fees,” along with paying for intersection improvements, including “phases 1 and 2 of the Bowers Drive-Prospect Drive realignment interchange.” The council agreed that also must be done in 3 years or by the issuance of the 301st building permit. The panel also recommended and the council accepted a condition that Gold Rush developers must conduct traffic analyses at its development’s Highway 104 entry locations, and must do so prior to development of time-share units, the “hotel or commercial development in excess of 10,000 square feet,” on their respective parcels. The study would look at whether road or intersection improvement would be needed. One change will require Gold Rush to dedicate the required right-of-way that would be needed for the expansion of Highway 104 to 4 lanes, contiguous with the gold Rush project area, from the intersection of Highway 88 to the Gold Rush property line. The council expects a fiscal impact study on the project by November 16th. Story by Jim Reece This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.