Ledger-Dispatch

By Jerry Budrick (jbudrick@ledger-dispatch.com= )=20

Amador Citizens for Smart Growth Chair = Kathy=20 Allen made a number of suggestions to the Jackson Planning = Commission=20 Monday.

Photo by: Jerry=20 Budrick
Smart growth principles have found = their=20 way to Jackson.

More than 12 years in the making, an update of = the city's=20 general plan has begun to look like a project without end. The last few = years=20 have witnessed drastic changes in community attitudes toward what should = and=20 should not be allowed in the way of development. It was suggestions born = of=20 these shifting attitudes that fueled this special meeting of the = planning=20 commission.

Amador Child Care Council Manager Joyce Stone was the = first=20 to bring smart growth into the discussion. "Ideally," Stone said, "with = smart=20 growth principles, a parent will drop off a child at a child care center = close=20 to home, then proceed on to work also close to home." Stone was speaking = on=20 behalf of the suggested inclusion of language encouraging the = development of=20 child care services.

Members of the commission decided to = recommend to=20 the city council that two paragraphs regarding child care be added to = the land=20 use element. One paragraph commits the city to facilitating and = promoting=20 development of child care centers in almost all areas of the city. The = other=20 will require developers to provide analysis of the child care needs of = their=20 projects and to solicit input from the Amador Child Care Council. The = city will=20 also be committed to providing incentives for developers to provide = child care=20 facilities or services.

Amador Citizens for Smart Growth was = represented=20 at the meeting by chairwoman Kathy Allen, who explained a number of = recommended=20 policies her group had provided to the planning commission. Policies = from=20 Berkeley, Salinas, Davis, Calistoga and Truckee were presented in = PowerPoint=20 slide and written form to the commission.

Berkeley's phrasing of = a=20 protective policy for historical and architectural protection was = accepted with=20 Commissioner Dave Butow's addition, which states that architectural = design for=20 downtown projects will "blend with other architectural styles contiguous = or in=20 close proximity to the proposed development."

A policy from = Salinas=20 encouraging mixed housing and mixed-use structures that will help reduce = vehicle=20 trips was accepted, as well as placement of the better-looking sides of = projects=20 toward the street, rather than hidden at the back.

ACSG's = recommended=20 Davis policies requiring open space, hedgerows, passive recreation = spaces and a=20 mandatory 150-foot wide urban agricultural transition area were more=20 controversial. When it appeared that the suggestion from ACSG was for a = park=20 within five minutes of every house, City Planner Susan Peters indicated = a=20 willingness to "distill this to suit ACSG desires."

The = controversy=20 swelled over the 150-foot "buffer zone."

"There may be some ag = landowners=20 who don't want to have 150-foot wide agricultural transition areas = around their=20 land," said Jackson landowner Jim Laughton.

Another landowner, = Joan=20 Bailey, spoke in favor of a wide transition zone, pointing out the = inadequacy of=20 what would have been only a 40-foot separation around the stalled = Jackson Hills=20 subdivision project. The issue was put to rest with a compromise by = Peters.=20 "Buffer could be left undefined," she said. "Just say that a transition = zone=20 will be required and let it be hashed out in each = situation."

That was=20 accepted, but other concerns were raised.

"We are discussing a = lot of=20 issues that go beyond the scope of what appears on the agenda. We have a = notification problem here," said local realtor Tony Darcy. "Six hundred = parcels=20 in the city of Jackson belong to people who don't live = here."

Laughton=20 wondered what happened to the land use element he thought had been = agreed upon=20 10 years earlier.

Suggested policies from Calistoga didn't fare = as well,=20 with the commissioners unwilling to specify growth limits they felt were = adequately addressed in the resource allocation ordinance establishing = housing=20 equivalent units.

The last city on the list was Truckee. This = High Sierra=20 community was cited as an example of how to do smart growth the right = way at=20 last week's Sierra Land Use and Water Policy Summit, sponsored by the = Sierra=20 Nevada Alliance. Allen attended the meeting, where Truckee was praised = and=20 Jackson was used as the example of what not to do.

"I'm = disappointed by=20 people picking Jackson as the bad example without understanding the=20 complexities," Peters responded.

Jackson will benefit, however, = from=20 Truckee's good example, borrowing policies for bicycle and pedestrian = trails and=20 walkways, as well as clustered development that should aid in = preservation of=20 open space. At one point in the meeting, Peters said, "We're not = tweaking our=20 zoning codes here. We are throwing them in the trash and making entirely = new=20 ones."

Pages of suggested amendments to the general plan, = submitted by=20 Kathy duBois, will be discussed at the next planning commission=20 meeting.

Asked how she felt about her suggestions being received = so well,=20 Allen said she was "very encouraged that the Jackson Planning Commission = is=20 working very hard to make sure that the Jackson General Plan and = Development=20 Code are written in a way that will help secure Jackson's = future."

Jerry = Budrick