Sutter Creek – The Sutter Creek City Council committee on grading discussed the Gold Rush Ranch & Golf Resort on Monday, and asked the developer to bring back maps to illustrate the aerial look of the project. Assistant City Manager Sean Rabe said the committee discussed grading and oak tree retention for a long time, and then asked the developers to bring back detailed maps showing the various types of grading, and also what the “tree crows” will look like. Rabe said the maps will show areas with less than 10 percent slope and areas with “10 percent crown cover for trees.” He said the maps will allow the committee to “see what the project will look like.” The developers will bring back the “canopy density,” and a map that shows the grading, in three degrees. They are general grading, mass grading, and no grading. Bunce in an early September public hearing said they proposed a mix of different grading, to avoid the planning commission’s suggestion of all custom grading. Bunce said “there is a happy medium between full custom lots and 600 acres of mass grading and tree denuding.” Bunce said at another meeting in mid-September that the Gold Rush plan would save about 20 percent of trees in residential areas, and the total number of trees saves “as a percentage is in the high 60s, maybe as high as 65 percent.” Rabe said the city and the developer still had to reach an agreement to “finalize oak tree retention” percentages that would be required to be left in the different grading areas. He said the maps will show the planned grading and its affects. The city council last week appointed the grading committee, which worked with Rabe and city agreement consultant Anders Hauge. Committee members are Councilman Pat Crosby, Councilwoman Sandy Anderson, Planning Commission Chairman Robin Peters, and Commissioner Frank Cunha. Gold Rush will bring the maps to a meeting of the grading committee, which reconvenes 2 p.m. Friday (October 30th) at the Sutter Creek Civic Building on Church Street. Rabe said if there was a scheduling conflict at the civic building, the meeting would be moved to the city auditorium on Main Street. Story by Jim Reece This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.