Ledger-Dispatch

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

Krista Clem with husband John = O'Sullivan and=20 their daughter, Tessie O'Sullivan, won county approval for the = Mokelumne=20 Bluffs subdivision to move forward.

Photo by: Jerry=20 Budrick
After five years and three = environmental=20 impact reports, the Mokelumne Bluffs subdivision has been approved by = the Amador=20 County Board of Supervisors.

Project applicants John O'Sullivan = and=20 Krista Clem were elated by the Tuesday morning board approval, although = they=20 can't break ground until they have submitted a final map and responded = to four=20 questions about greenhouse gas emissions posed by Upcountry resident = Wendell=20 Peart. Peart told the board that a letter he sent to project consultants = in June=20 had not elicited a reply and the board determined that one was=20 warranted.

The final step in the approval process consisted of = zoning=20 changes on portions of the project, as well as variances from average = depth to=20 width ratio requirements on 13 of the 98 single-family residential lots = created=20 by the subdivision of 138 acres. Plans for development of this parcel of = land 3=20 miles east of Pine Grove were previously approved in 1991 and many = extensions=20 kept it alive until expiration in 2002. Those plans never came to = fruition and=20 the project was sold to Sutter Creek Villages Inc. in 2003. The new = owners'=20 attempt at naming the subdivision Sutter Creek Villages was contested by = the=20 city of Sutter Creek. The name was subsequently changed to Mokelumne=20 Bluffs.

Billed as a "green sustainable development," the = Mokelumne Bluffs=20 Nature Estates plans to include 2.5 miles of walking trails with a "par = course,"=20 70 percent open space preserved by the implementation of building = envelopes on=20 each lot, wildlife and woodland mitigation plans developed over an = 8-year period=20 by qualified specialists and low impact development design features. = According=20 to the U.S. Department of Agriculture, sustainable development is action = "to=20 meet the needs of the present without compromising the ability of future = generations to meet their own needs."

Two lots in the subdivision = are to=20 be dedicated to recreation. Lot A will include a basketball court, = children's=20 play area and parking area. Lot B will have a tennis court, an = additional play=20 area and its own parking facility. Night lighting will not be provided = at the=20 proposed recreational facilities. These facilities will be dedicated to = the=20 Amador County Recreation Agency for public use. ACRA has agreed to = accept=20 ownership of these facilities. O'Sullivan said that his first proposal = for the=20 project included walking trails, which created a problem with the = county. "At=20 the time, there was no ACRA," O'Sullivan said, "so the county had no way = of=20 accepting the walking trails. Without the walking trails, it wouldn't = really be=20 a green development."

Plans and the EIR had to be reworked at = another=20 point in the approval process, when the county requested insertion of=20 multi-family units into the project. Opposition from neighboring = communities led=20 to a return to single-family parcels.

Treated water will be = provided by=20 the Amador Water Agency, which indicated that the project's proposed = water=20 system would improve system reliability in the project vicinity by = increasing=20 system looping via connections to the adjoining residential areas. = Individual=20 septic systems will be installed for wastewater. Previous plans for a = community=20 wastewater disposal system were removed from the equation. Gene Mancebo, = manager=20 of engineering and planning for the AWA, conjectured that "when the = density of=20 the project went down (from elimination of the multi-family units and = fewer lots=20 in total), the community system became less desirable. Costs are going = through=20 the roof on small community systems."

Mancebo estimated the costs = for=20 installation and operation of a community system, due largely to = increased state=20 regulation, could result in monthly charges of $100 per housing unit. = Individual=20 septic systems would pay for themselves in only a few years at that=20 rate.

The project is planned to be completed in phases, with = Phase 1=20 consisting of 40 one-acre lots accessed through Ranch House Estates, an = existing=20 subdivision contiguous to Mokelumne Bluffs on the east.

"As soon = as we=20 get final map approval," O'Sullivan said, "we'll be starting on the = roads in=20 Phase 1." Cognizant of the possibility of delays caused by the process = or the=20 weather, he added, "We'll definitely start by next April."

One = other=20 bureaucratic approval is still to come. "Paperwork is being processed by = the=20 California Department of Real Estate," Clem said. "Once that's done, lot = sales=20 can begin."

Finished one-acre lots with infrastructure in place = are=20 expected to be priced at about $250,000.

Future phases will = include a=20 traffic signal and four-way intersection where Gayla Drive will cross = Highway 88=20 to become O'Sullivan Drive, the main thoroughfare in the = subdivision.

Jerry = Budrick