County collecting public comment ahead of rezone program EIR

Placer County held a meeting Friday to obtain comments regarding the scope of the environmental impact report (EIR) for its rezone program. The Housing Element Implementation Program HE-1: Rezone to Meet the RHNA (Regional Housing Needs Allocation) involved planning staff accessing the viability of candidate sites in the county that have the potential to be rezoned to accommodate a shortfall for Placer's capacity in lower-income households. Kally Kedinger-Cecil, senior planner for Placer County, said the state determined Placer is a metropolitan district based on the county's population growth in the last census. According to Kedinger-Cecil's presentation, Placer's RHNA requirement for very low- and low-income households, including the 30-percent buffer, is 4,432 units. "The state has said we need to have enough land zoned for residential development to support 2,270 units (the shortfall)," Kedinger-Cecil said. "So that is our RHNA obligation, inclusive of a 30-percent buffer." Kedinger-Cecil also noted 2,162 units have already been accommodated in specific plans in west Placer within Districts 1 and 2. "A lot of our sites are within Districts 4 and 5. Districts 1 and 2 do have their share of the burden; it's within the specific plans," she said. The candidate list comprises 74 properties throughout unincorporated areas of the county, totaling 250.1 acres. The establishment of the new zone district, RM30 Zone - Residential Multifamily 30 District, which creates a minimum density of 20 units per acre and a max of 30 per acre, Kedinger-Cecil's presentation noted candidate sites equate to 5,002 units at 20 units per acre or 7,503 units at 30 per acre. "This is far above our 2,270 obligation, and again that was to try and obtain as many willing participants as possible," Kedinger-Cecil explained. According to Kedinger-Cecil, the county is conducting a programmatic EIR to ensure all 74 sites have adequate environmental analysis, but the number of parcels that will be rezoned is likely to be fewer than the 74. Anticipated impacts to be analyzed in the EIR include air quality, transportation, noise, greenhouse gas emissions, biological resources and wildfire. The county accepted close to an hour of public comment where residents raised questions on the rezone process, when properties will be dropped from the candidate list and why county-owned properties were not included in the potential sites. Kedinger-Cecil confirmed county staff will take the candidate list to the Board of Supervisors on Nov. 27 to provide options, including dropping some of the sites. Additionally, Kadinger-Cecil confirmed that while county-owned properties were not included on the candidate list, the board could decide to include them. Commenters residing in Penryn also requested the county consider the impact the rezone would have on rural communities and respect the wishes of residents living there. Kedinger-Cecil confirmed after comments are obtained and the analysis is completed, the draft EIR will be released for public comment. After a public comment period is completed for the draft EIR, the final EIR will be prepared. The notice of preparation is available for review online at placer.ca.gov/9455/60593/Housing-Element-Sites-Rezone or at the following locations: Auburn Library, 350 Nevada Street Rocklin Library, 4890 Granite Drive Roseville Library, 225 Taylor Street Tahoe City Library, 740 N Lake Boulevard Truckee Library, 10031 Levon Avenue Placer County Development Resource Agency, 3091 County Center Drive in Auburn The notice will be available for review and comments will be accepted through Monday, Nov. 20. Comments can be submitted in writing to Shirlee Herrington, Environmental Coordination Services, 3091 County Center Drive, Suite 190, Auburn 95603, or via email to cdraecs@placer.ca.gov.