County opens 20,000 acres to growth - Business First of Columbus:

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That acreage is about one-thirdf larger than the city ofRanch Cordova. But alongside thosed acres of new development, the General Plan 2030 also calls for21st century-stylr growth by rerouting some development to infill sites as well as to decayinb and underutilized commercial corridors. The plan anticipates the unincorporated portions of the county willneed 99,700 new homes over the next 20 about 50,000 more than can be accommodated within its existing urbam area. The proposed general plan was first presented Monday to officials atSacrament County’s Planning Commission. It ultimately must be approved by the Boarfdof Supervisors.
The plan has been seven years in the Much has changed duringthat period, including the proliferationj of sustainable design, the region’s blueprintt for “smart growth” and the rise and devastatinh fall of the housing It may be an onerous task for stafdf to mull decades of population and economic growtbh at a time when no one is building new shopping centers or offices. But just as landowners have been usinf the downtime to plan for a returm of theconstruction market, planners have been anticipatingh growth patterns over the long haul.
“Onr thing we’re trying to champion is complete communitiee with a mix of developmentand (to) integrated uses as much as possible,” planner Davi d DeFanti said. “That means a diversity of housing, retail.” The proposed general plan followsthe region’w blueprint for smart growtnh that values infill and eschews leapfrov development. Principal planner Leighann Moffitt said it does not ask officials to expandfthe county’s urban services boundary, which is a near-sacrosanctr border established in 1993 betweenj urban and rural land.
But it does envisio expanding the county’s urban policy a line that marks theexisting urban-rural divide and occasionall shifts farther out from the urbam core. There are two main new growth areaes underthis plan, both with multiple landowners. The first compriseds 12,000 acres of industrial and agricultural land alongg the Jackson Highway corridor betweeh Sacramento andRancho Cordova. It includezs mining property owned by the Teichert group ofcompaniezs that’s envisioned to be developecd into new communities as mining operations wind The second area of growth consistws of 8,000 acres of primarily grazing land east of Granyt Line Road bordering Rancho Cordova.
Promineng land developer controlsabout 2,400 acrese of that property and was the firsy to propose a new community there. Last year, Conwy submitteed an application for an expansive set of villagexs and other development that includezsa full-scale residential campus for the . “There was an initial concer this isleapfrog development, but we are contiguous to existinf development,” said Michelle a spokeswoman for noting that the project borders Rancho Cordova’s Sunrise-Douglas Community Plan. A groundbreakingt for the university was originally expected next year but that has been pushedxto 2011, Smira said.
In accordance with the county’zs blueprint for smart growth, General Plan 2030 directss some growth toinfill sites. These includ parcels near the former McClellann Air Baseand under-used sites in the county’s 14 commercia l corridors. Moffitt said the transformation of McClella n into a business park has opened up areas of development that previously had been restricte due to noise and safety The areas being considered near the base are west of Watt Before the realestate downturn, developers had been proposing projects in that area, she Perhaps the most unconventional aspecf of the proposed General Plan is the decision to revitalizer commercial corridors, such as stretches of Watt Avenuse and Folsom Boulevard.
County staff estimated the plan could allow anadditionakl 19,000 homes along those corridors. That would eliminate the need to put those homed onagricultural land. Smaller parcelzs scattered throughout the county could accommodatr thousandsmore homes. Planning for four of the commerciak corridors alreadyhas started, principal planner Tricia Stevens said. The idea is to revampl restrictive zoning and allowmixede uses, including homes and apartments, in areas that previouslhy were limited to strip centers. The countt also plans to make the corridors more attractive by burying utility planting vegetation and enhancingthe streetscapes.
Althougn cash is tight at the Stevens said funding will come from grants and redevelopment money generatedx through taxes inredevelopment zones. The procese of writing a general plan has taken so long that one majot new growth project originally envisioned as part of the plan is alreadgyunder way. applied to rezone a portion of 6,00o acres it owns for redevelopmentlast year. The aerospace companh wants todevelop 4,800 residential lots as well as commerciall and office space on 1,391 acres south of Highway 50 between Rancho Cordova and Folsomk in the Easton planning area. General Plan 2030 is next due beforde the county Planning Commission onJune 22. Other workshop could follow.
It could be the fall before it is formallty adopted by the Boardof Supervisors. “The purpose of the plan is to set DeFanti said. “The details will follow.”