Fall 2006 NFARA News

Programs
Join us on Tuesday September 19, at 7:00 pm at the Dutch Flat Community Center for our next general meeting. Otis Wollan will give a presentation on watershed issues in Placer County including a fuel reduction project in Colfax. Mr. Wollan is president of the American River Watershed Institute and our local representative to the Placer County Water Agency Board.

Big Granite Trail
On July 15, nineteen hardy volunteers rebuilt over a mile of the Big Granite Trail. Timber harvest operations over the past two decades severely damaged portions of the trail, totally obliterating it in places. Work consisted of clearing brush, establishing tread, building water breaks and installing signs. NFARA adopted this Tahoe National Forest trail last year. A work party scheduled for last fall was cancelled due to snow. Additional work parties are planned for the future.

The trail historically started at Cisco on the railroad, crossed into the North Fork drainage at Huysink Lake and followed Little Granite Creek down to Big Granite Creek and the river. During the 1890s this trail became the main supply route for La Trinidad Mine located in Sailor Canyon on the south side of the river.

Royal Gorge Development
Royal Gorge Cross Country Ski Resort has recently been purchased by Bay Area developers Kirk Syme and Todd Foster (think Foster City). The purchase includes approximately 3000 acres of land, Rainbow Lodge and Ice Lakes Lodge. Additional properties along Donner Pass Road have also been purchased by Syme and Foster. These holdings lie in both the North Fork American and the South Yuba watersheds and straddle the Placer-Nevada County line.

NFARA has heard some alarming things regarding potential development. The new owners want to create a year round destination resort complete with golf course at Lake Van Norden, an amphitheater, an equestrian center, a 1000 room high rise hotel, 1500 multi-million dollar homes, four new ski lifts to tie in with Sugar Bowl. Sugar Bowl Corporation has chosen not to be a partner in this adventure. Most of this information comes second hand and is worst-case, however it demonstrates the magnitude of development ideas being discussed.

NFARA has not been party to any discussions. We have seen no plans. Placer County Planning Department has not been approached with any development plans. A Royal Gorge spokesperson says there are no set plans for the future. Royal Gorge is ”… Just trying to listen to people and gather ideas and information.” The company has been meeting with businesses, home owners associations and other property owners in the Donner Summit area.

There are approximately 1500 new potential dwelling units on the Placer County side of Royal Gorge holdings. The zoning dates back to the 1960s and has remained relatively unchanged. These lots are located in the vicinity of Ice (Serene) Lakes. Septic problems have prevented their development thus far. A new sewage treatment plant would have to be built for the area to hook into. That facility would be located in the North Fork watershed and would probably discharge into Serena Creek. Other issues like water supply, the limited capacity of area roads, affordable housing, loss of habitat, impact on archeological sites, air and water quality are of major concern. This is essentially putting a city in a very sensitive area that currently has no city. Royal Gorge zoning entitlements in Nevada County still need to be researched.

Low density rural sprawl is a problem throughout the Sierra Nevada. “Smart Growth” principles encourage new development to take a more urban form with high density residential and mixed use added to existing towns. Royal Gorge could make their development very dense and compact with some neighborhood retail so vehicle trips by residents are minimized. Homes could be clustered together leaving most of the property natural open space. Development must fi t in with the environment and minimize impact on sensitive areas like wetlands. We hope the Royal Gorge development will adopt Smart Growth principles.

The Sierra Business Council is organizing a community based planning process and will facilitate meetings with Royal Gorge, conservation groups, community groups and other stakeholders. This process has the interested parties sit down together, discuss concerns and work out an acceptable development plan prior to submission to the county. NFARA supports this effort and plans to be an active participant throughout the process.

For more information, contact Jim Ricker at 530-389-8344.