Residents offer various thoughts at Envision Auburn 2045

Forty people showed up to the Rose Room inside Auburn City Hall on Wednesday night to offer thoughts regarding how the city should grow in the next 20 years. Envision Auburn 2045 was presented during the two-hour meeting. The general plan is needed for every city and county in California to prepare future growth and development. Auburn is in the first phase of the project, which is focused on setting long-term goals. This includes collecting and analyzing data about the city. Those in attendance were greeted with pizza, salad and beverages and a chance to play a game called Survivor Auburn. "I'm happy that you're here," Auburn Mayor Sandy Amara said to the crowd. "We've been over this process for little over a year now, and we've learned a lot about our city. We've heard from many of you, and your neighbors, about what matters most and what you would like to see and not see." Amara said City Council members are faced with many balancing acts. "We have to balance our need with housing, with the desire to keep our hometown character," Amara said. "We have to balance our need for more services and facilities with the realities of our city budget. We have the need to reduce traffic with the goal of making it easier for a safer place to walk and bicycle around town. We have to balance what we want, as a city, with what the county does on our perimeter. "We can't create this plan without your help and input, and we're going to make it fun, starting with pizza." Barry Miller, the lead person for the city's consulting team, also spoke about the city's growth through 2045. He gave a presentation through a comprehensive slide show covering housing, wildfire safety, economic development and air quality. This includes preparing an Environmental Impact Report, which analyzes how proposed projects will affect the environment. "The state of California has specific requirements for what's covered in the General Plan," Miller said. One slide was a map of the city of Auburn that included Dry Creek Road in the north part of the city to the American River on the east side. "It's a big area," Miller said. These covered topics such as land use, transportation, housing, open space, natural resources and public services. Local general plans have been mandatory in California since 1937, according to Miller. The general plan update will take 2 1/2 years to complete. The last time Auburn had a general plan was in 1993, looking ahead to 2012. "It's time to update the plan," Miller said. "We have new issues to deal with, and a different economy than we had 30 years ago." Miller pointed out more than 1 in 4 Auburn residents is over the age of 65. "Statewide, is about 1 in 7," Miller said. He also pointed out about 36 percent of the households in Auburn are people who are single. "We have about 41 percent of renters in Auburn, compared to 26 percent in Placer County," Miller noted. Following the lengthy slide show, attendees got their chance to play Survivor Auburn, conjuring up what they feel is needed for growth of the city in the next 20 years by using a map that was present on each table. Each table was labeled for people currently living in West Auburn, South Auburn, Northeast Auburn, Northwest Auburn and Central Auburn, which actually had two groups. The groups held discussions, along with eating more pizza and salads and drinking sodas and water, for more than an hour. At the end of the meeting, the groups had a chance to share their views of city growth. Residents in Central Auburn stated more downtown housing would be needed. The Northeast Auburn group felt utilizing empty areas and building more hotels and conference centers could be beneficial. The Northwest Auburn group noted the city should work more with the county, and that finances aren't growing as fast and must find ways to grow revenues. They also stated city staff needs to shrink. The West Auburn group voiced that local government must stay within its financial constraints, and finding a better way to help deal with traffic in the east and west directions of Interstate 80, along with Highway 49. The South Auburn group wrapped up the group discussion by stating development of the city and people getting in and out of the city is a concern. The next Envision Auburn 2045 meeting will take place at City Hall on Saturday, March 15, from 10 a.m. until noon. Free breakfast bagels will be offered.