Brace Road residents continue fight against Loomis RV park

Nearby residents continued to rally against a proposed RV campground on Brace Road at Interstate 80 during a Loomis Planning Commission public hearing Tuesday. Proposed by resident Jared Taylor, the project calls for a 34-space RV campground with an existing, vacant manager's house on 3.4 acres at 5847 Brace Road in Loomis. The site is located on the north side of Brace Road, east of I-80 and Tiny Tots Therapy, and west of Little Orchard Preschool. The Loomis Planning Commission held an initial public hearing for a use permit March 22. However, a parade of public comments forced town officials to continue the hearing after it ran past the 10 p.m. time limit to two weeks later (April 5), which was Tuesday. Staff said 22 residents spoke on March 22, including four supporting the RV park. After 16 more residents spoke against the proposal on Tuesday, Loomis Planning Commission directed staff to prepare an "initial study" to determine the project's appropriate environmental document. The proposal will come back before the Planning Commission on May 24, officials said. Residents along Brace Road have erupted with a variety of concerns over the plan, including traffic, noise and potential danger to children at the two nearby preschools. At issue now is the exemption from the California Environmental Quality Act (CEQA) proposed by staff. "I don't believe the proposed RV Park qualifies for exemption under Section 15332 of the CEQA guidelines," wrote Loomis resident Tom Lagerquist in a March 22 letter to the commission. "This is based on my 35 years of experience as a CEQA practitioner throughout California, including as a consultant to the town of Loomis in the 1990s." To use the "Class 32 Infill Development Project Exemption," Lagerquist said, the lead agency (town of Loomis) must specifically determine that the project wouldn't create significant traffic, noise, air quality or water quality impacts. The site must also have no value as habitat for endangered, rare or threatened species, he added. In addition, Lagerquist wrote, the Class 32 Exemption can't be used "where unusual circumstances create the reasonable possibility of significant effects." In this case, "unusual circumstances" means the Little Orchard Preschool next door, Lagerquist wrote. "The presence of a preschool next door to a proposed transient occupancy use (RV Park) creates unusual circumstances and the potential for land-use conflicts," Lagerquist wrote. The town has no "coherent plan" to address land use and circulation impacts south of I-80, according to Lagerquist. Among the 16 speakers on Tuesday was Dottie Robinson of nearby Hunter Oaks, who said, "We, the people of Loomis, strongly object to these imposed changes." Former Loomis Planning Commissioner Jean Wilson also commented. "It's the right project for the wrong place," Wilson said. "We have a petition of about 130 signatures of people who live in the area that have all signed against the RV park," said Brace Road resident Blair Lunsford. Despite the opposition, officials said the thorough application otherwise meets all the town of Loomis' requirements. "Another thing we will be doing is replying to all comments," Loomis Planning Director Mary Beth Van Voorhis said Tuesday. "All of those comments will need to be addressed."