Ledger-Dispatch

By Debbie Dunn (ddunn@volcano.net)=20

The Upcountry Community Council = celebrates its=20 two-year anniversary Thursday with a cake.

Photo by: Debbie Dunn

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Attendees broke up into work groups = Thursday to=20 discuss land use designations that would affect upcountry = residents if=20 implemented into the county's updated general plan.

Photo by: Debbie = Dunn
Two=20 years ago, 50 upcountry residents gathered to select officers for a = fledgling=20 council intended to strengthen the representation of the thousands of = people who=20 live on Amador County's rustic outskirts.

On Thursday in = Buckhorn, that=20 group, the Upcountry Community Council, celebrated its second = anniversary in=20 style, with a birthday cake and several of its original members in=20 attendance.

At its outset, the council pulled representatives = from each=20 of its distinct communities: Amador Pines, Buckhorn, Pine Grove, Mace = Meadows,=20 Pioneer, Rabb Park, Silver Lake Pines/Sierra Highlands and Volcano. The = topic of=20 discussion on Thursday was a county general plan, whose land use = designation=20 will affect these unincorporated communities. Attendees also talked = about a=20 decision on town center recommendations, led by council Co-Chair Bob=20 Currall.

New member Richard Farrington, who had made an earlier=20 presentation at the joint panel general plan meeting in Jackson, was = asked to=20 repeat the performance for the council. Farrington voiced a basic = concern about=20 making Pioneer a town center if that meant a 400-acre sphere with 970 = more=20 housing units and an additional 40,000 square feet of commercial use = than is=20 currently in the area.

After a celebratory opening and praise = from=20 District 3 Supervisor Ted Novelli, the council split into community = groups for=20 final discussions. The group from Amador Pines, a community of almost = 1,500=20 single dwellings divided into three separate designations, requested a=20 designation that would govern transitions from agricultural to = residential=20 development.

Town centers defined in the general plan proposals = include=20 Pine Grove, Red Corral, Pioneer and Buckhorn in the upcountry region. A=20 submitted project for an area outside of Pine Grove was described by = developer=20 Marc Bowman. His request was to include Aqueduct in the Pine Grove town = center=20 sphere.

The group from Sierra Highlands, connected to Silver Lake = Pines,=20 hosts 243 units. Residents are requesting residential-low density, which = designates 1 to 7 acre parcels where public water and sewer systems are = made=20 available. The Buckhorn group supported a town center decision and = believed the=20 sphere should range from King James orchard to Mace Meadows. A strong = proposal=20 was made to work toward a sewer system or community leach = field.

The=20 monthly meeting is held the third Thursday of every month at 6 p.m. at = the=20 Veterans Hall in Pioneer Park. For more information, contact Currall at = 295-7630=20 or Debbie Dunn at 296-5435.

Debbie Dunn is a member of the = Upcountry=20 Community Council.

Debbie Dunn
Ledger Dispatch Contributor=20