In a show of amiable solidarity, the Amador County Planning Commission, county planning staff and a diverse group of residents reached apparent consensus on many topics at a rare two-night pair of meetings last week.

Planning commissioners decided to recommend that the Amador County Board of Supervisors bring back the General Plan Advisory Committee. They also decided to recommend Pine Grove, Buckhorn and River Pines as town centers.

The two-night marathon - Dec. 16 and 17 - clears the path for a series of joint public hearings before supervisors and planning commissioners on the Amador County General Plan in February.

"I would like to recommend that the board reconvene GPAC for the (general plan optional) economic element" said Commissioner Ray Ryan. Ryan mentioned possible involvement of the Amador Business Council and "ag people."

"That's a really good idea," agreed Commissioner Denise Tober. "I don't think it would take them that long. They've got their notes."

The commissioners' decision on a governance element - the second optional general plan element chosen by supervisors - was to recommend that the board of supervisors direct staff to develop the element in conjunction with pertinent agencies. "As long as the public is still involved," insisted Commissioner John Gonsalves.

Making the list

General agreement was reached on the three town center designations. The three will be included in the commission's general plan update recommendations to supervisors.

Last Tuesday night, the walls of the supervisors' chambers at the county administration building were covered with maps of the five candidates for a new general plan town center designation: Red Corral, Pioneer, Pine Grove, Buckhorn and River Pines.

County Planning Director Susan Grijalva acted as the tour guide for the evening's excursion to four centers of activity along Highway 88 and one on Highway E16, at the county's northern border with El Dorado County. "The communities have different purposes," Grijalva noted. "Perhaps we can recognize what's there and build on that."

"The Upcountry (Community) Council has some thoughts on this," said planning commission Chairman Andy Byrne, as he introduced council Co-chair Bob Currall. "Perhaps we should hear what they have to say, so we can all be on the same page."

"We feel that two town centers (rather than all four) would avoid duplication," Currall said in naming Buckhorn and Pine Grove as the UCC's preferences. Currall's council also sent along its preferred geographical borders in Buckhorn, covering the area between King James Orchard and Silver Drive.

Planning staff had reached the same conclusion about Buckhorn, recommending virtually identical borders and calculating the area to be 50 or 60 acres. In the land use workbook prepared by EDAW, consultants for the general plan update, "town centers will include a mix of residential, commercial, public and industrial uses similar to the traditional development pattern of rural communities."

As the participants moved around the room, they verbally agreed that Pioneer and Red Corral served functions more specialized than the town center concept described.

"Perhaps Pioneer is a place to suggest as a resource base, light industrial," said Foothill Conservancy attorney Tom Infusino.

"The community pretty much agreed that Pioneer wouldn't be a town center," Chairman Byrne added, "but a job center."

Of Red Corral, Grijalva said, "There are terrain constraints. It's not retail. There is a church, a mini-mart, two propane companies, M&M Doors, a car wash and not a lot of population around it."

"The intersection (at Red Corral) is very industrial," Infusino declared, "with truck traffic. My question has always been, 'What benefit do you get from fixing that intersection at the great cost it would incur?'"

There was no disagreement that Pine Grove, with its established business community and bustling activity, qualified for inclusion on the town center recommendation list. "Pine Grove has the potential of being a walking community," Byrne said.

Defining Pine Grove

Pine Grove's problem was found to be one of definition. "If you asked five different people where Pine Grove begins and ends," Grijalva quipped, "you'd probably get seven different answers."

The possibility arose of defining Pine Grove by its Community Services District, but Grijalva pointed out that the CSD is a lot bigger than the proposed town center. CSD representative Jay Ollig said, "There are lots of areas of mutual concern and we should be working together."

Across the county, River Pines faced no competition for designation as a town center, but Ryan warned, "There's a lot of vacant commercial property in Mount Aukum. We may create commercial that ends up being failed commercial where houses used to be."

"We don't want to set them up for failure," Gonsalves added, "but the people who came from there tonight seemed to support the idea of having a town center."

As the commissioners leaned toward solid recommendations to the supervisors, Infusino instead suggested presentation of alternatives. He was joined in his effort by Art Marinaccio, representing the Amador Citizens for Responsible Government. "I'd like to reiterate what Tom was saying - present alternatives to the board," he pleaded. "Tom and I are in concert."

"That is not what is before you (the commissioners) tonight, developing that range," Grijalva replied.

In the end, the commission voted unanimously to recommend to the board of supervisors that the town center designation be placed on River Pines, Pine Grove and Buckhorn.

"I think we all agreed that we were going to leave Pioneer and Red Corral as they are," Tober concluded.

Included in the land use workbook is the following description of town centers, which, until very recently, were called Local Service Centers: "The LSCs are intended to provide access to commercial and industrial uses which draw users from the community and immediately surrounding communities or areas. Examples of appropriate uses might include grocery stores, convenience stores, hardware stores, local offices, local industry or health care providers. The LSC development strategy can help to reinforce the traditional development pattern of small communities to facilitate bicycles and pedestrians and reduce the length of vehicle trips to meet basic needs. Each service center is intended to include a mix of developed parcels, which might offer infill potential, and currently undeveloped properties, which offer a potential for some expansion of each community."

Urban outfitting

The second consecutive night of planning commission meetings was somewhat less cordial, as mild dissension arose over both the Urban Reserve land use designation and proposed locations for affordable housing.

Planning staff proposed a definition for UR: "This designation is applied to lands within city spheres of influence as established by Amador LAFCO. This classification is intended to preserve cities' future growth options within their spheres. More intensive development of these areas could occur, but only in accordance with city General Plan land use designations following annexation."

Planners from all but Amador City of the county's five cities were present for the discussion. "Our idea of the UR designation," said Plymouth planner Paula Daneluk, "was that it would serve as a sort of warning to people that land is in the city's sphere of influence for development as urban."

"The cities all seem to want UR," Byrne said, "but they want to make sure that they're at the table when the details are decided." More than an hour was spent in reaching an uneasy truce.

"If you say that only lands near cities will be developed and only upon annexation," Marinaccio said, "that can be a policy and that's OK. I don't believe that Amador County is ready to say that all development will be annexed into the cities."

"My antenna went up when we started talking about restricting development," Ryan said. "That gets into property rights and land values."

Affordable housing sites within the city of Ione's sphere of influence elicited a passionate response from Ione Planning Director Christopher Jordan. "We don't want to be taking on the county's burden," he said, "without some sort of reciprocal arrangement."