Tuesday night an Ione Interim West Bypass Community Meeting was held at Ione Junior High, the meeting was presented by the Amador County Transportation Commission and Dokken Engineering. The topics discussed at the meeting included Project Background and Initiation, Alternative Analysis, Approval of Route Adoption and Environmental Document, Design and then finally Construction.

Tonight at 7 pm the Jackson City Council will once again evaluate the merits of the proposed Jackson Hills Golf Community Project located off of French Bar Rd in Jackson.

Recently the City of Jackson held three workshops for the Oro de Amador property to discuss the future of acquired 155 acre historic parcel. About 40 people attended the three workshops held at varying times to accommodate different sections of the community. Input varied greatly from everything from donating the property to the Kennedy Mine Foundation to being the home of some badly needed recreation facilities. At the end of every meeting people were asked if they were interested in being an active part of the continuing process and City Manager Mike Daly indicated that the City also got a good response in that aspect as well. Although all of the plans for the property are preliminary because of the environmental clean up work that needs to be done, the community input is considered a great success.

Yesterday’s Oro De Amador Planning session was a success states Amador County Recreation Agency Executive Director Tracey Towner Yep. The meeting, a second in a series of three, was attended by about 18 residents, an improvement from the last session, but according to Yep- she would still like to see 25 or more interested citizen at the next final session scheduled for this Saturday, the 12th at 1 pm. The group that meet at the Jackson Civic Center this week was a diverse group with many different interests, and according to Yep, some great ideas.

The Jackson City Council conducted a public hearing Monday night to hear the appeal of an approved conditional use permit to construct a new senior facility at 135 Agate Place.  Ron Regan, the applicant, requested the permit to construct the new facility adjacent to the existing Oak Manor Senior Center off New York Ranch Road. The proposed facility would include 14 residential units for congregate care of the elderly, and would have a covered walkway between the proposed structure and the existing facility, which could be used by both residents and staff. The project was reviewed and approved by the Jackson Planning Commission in August of last year.  Subsequently, two appeals were submitted.  The first, from Gerald Browder, a resident of Placer Drive, which is near Agate Place, cited several impacts, including light and noise pollution, inconsistent land uses, parking problems, and the increased impact on public services. 

On February 26 the Amador County Board of Supervisors are scheduled to vote whether to accept or to reject the Intergovernmental Services Agreement that has been negotiated with the Buena Vista Indian Tribe. Citizens voiced their opinions in the third in a series of town hall meetings last Saturday in Jackson. There was a lot of frustration expressed by the panel and the participants over the lack of support from the federal and state governments.

Managing growth was the hot topic of the evening at the Sutter Creek Planning Commission Monday night. The meeting saw detailed discussion over several of the city’s current projects related to housing, including updates to the housing element of the city’s general plan, and architectural guidelines that the city is looking to implement for its historical residential combining zone. City staff presented the commission with a revised updated housing element, which included several changes to the wording of the document that the commission requested at a previous meeting.

The Sutter Creek Planning Commission met last night with a short agenda focused on a monster subject: City Growth. The commission discussed possible amendments to the current subdivision ordinance, rejecting a proposed change in wording that specified that developers shall be allowed to construct long, narrow “flight lots,” which often containing 3 or more residences, without Planning Commission review. The commission concurred that, given the irregular topography of Sutter Creek, flight lots are often an efficient and suitable option for developers, though developers often prefer flight lots regardless of lot dimensions because they are a cheap option. 

A new development planned for the corner of Jackson Gate Roadd and Hwy 49 in Martell may require some new improvements to the roadway in the area. And then again, it may not.  According to Amador county Public works personnel a building permit has been submitted for by a local developer for a commercial building on the southeast corner of the intersection. This part of the property is 66-percent owned by the local developer.

Amador County will soon be the home to 176 acres of new oak woodlands- courtesy Caltrans. According to Caltrans Public Information Officer Chantal Miller, the state transportation agency is in the process of planting 176 acres of oak woodlands beginning at the acorn stage.This replanting is part of the Environmental Impact Report mitigation requirements for the new Hwy 49 Bypass. Miller explains that when the bypass construction occurred Caltrans, and its contractors, destroyed about 20 acres of established oak woodlands.