Sutter Creek – The Sutter Creek City Council opened its review of Gold Rush Ranch & Golf Resort plans and environmental documents Tuesday with a Planning Commission report, and a presentation from project principal, Bill Bunce. 4 hours later, Mayor Gary Wooten opened up the public hearing and took comments from some of the dozens in attendance. After 5 hours, the meeting was continued to 6 p.m. today. Planning Commission Chairman Robin Peters gave an overview of what the commission had done in recommending the project’s specific plan, with sticking points that it recommended for changes, and that were contested by the developer. Bunce and Gold Rush sought different ways to handle issues, which will have to be worked out by the council and the applicant, in the “conditions of approval” and “development agreement.” Peters said in General Plan consistency work, it was easiest to modify the specific plan to fit the city’s document. Peters said the commission’s last meeting included comments from Gold Rush that the commission went through, line by line, changing some, ignoring others for the council to settle. Peters said changes the commission recommended to the city General Plan were mostly “housekeeping,” largely clearing up related maps, and they “were not amendments made in Gold Rush’s favor.” Peters said they did not know if the traffic impacts were fully evaluated, and that fair share evaluators could help do that. Bunce said the areas of disagreement with the commission should in no way mean the developer does not see the commission’s perspective. He called up support in his presentation, from partner, Troy Claveran, who said from the beginning, this was a project to help build a golf course and help Amador Regional Sanitation Authority and the city solve wastewater problems. Claveran said the city and ARSA combined in the Gold Rush Ranch project, putting in $700,000 total, and gold Rush put in $2.5 million, toward the gold course. Claveran said “I’ve always believed this will be a quality project to help Sutter Creek.” The public hearing resumes 6 p.m. today in the auditorium. Staff will answer some questions raised and answer some written comments. Story by Jim Reece This e-mail address is being protected from spam bots, you need JavaScript enabled to view it