College Park (aka Sierra Villages)

Sierra College development project called “College Park

scroll down & click on “SierrA VILLAGES For additional project info

NOP is now posted on Rocklin City Website

Notice of Preparation of an Environmental Impact Report

The NOP is not extremely detailed. It is general in nature.  Careful thought of potential environmental impacts must be put into your responses.

(1) the Project Description does not identify what will be built in all areas of the College Property.  In the areas not currently identified for “residential” development it only states that “Mixed Uses” will be located in these areas.  The General Plan definition for “Mixed Use” pretty much allows just about anything to be built including residential uses up to 40 units to the acre.

The NOP does state the North Village 72-acre site would include approximately 432 dwelling units, and the South Village site would include approximately 26 dwelling units (#’s don’t match their maps).

The majority of the South Village 36-acre site (Site C-2) (all the area in blue) will be left simply with a zoning designation of “Mixed Use” – no description of what they intend to actually build in this blue colored area. All the blue area will be left open to the College to build whatever they want in the future with this Mixed Use zoning.

The North Village site will primarily be composed of extreme high-density single-family residential land uses.  The majority of “Lots” will be under 3,000 sq. ft.  Many as small as 1,200 sq. ft. That’s lot size not house size.  Be sure to look at the legend on the map. What will be built along the southern end of the property (Site B) (peach colored area) on the north side of Rocklin Road is also unknown as it too is simply designated “Mixed Use”.

The General Plan Land Use Designation of “Mixed Use” could mean apartments, retail, senior housing, etc.  However, if residential uses are eventually developed on Site B, or Site C-2, they are supposed to be within the density range assigned to the Mixed Use Land Use designation category which is a minimum of 10 to a maximum of 40 units to the acre.  Why the City ever approved a change to this land a few years back to a GP Land Use Designation of “Mixed Use” is unclear.

(2) the NOP does not provide detailed information for Site C-1 (southern section of the South Village site – south of the creek off El Don Drive).  For example, there is nothing indicating the distance between the residential lots and the creek or the “actual” lot sizes of each of the proposed lots (the NOP simply gives an approximate square footage of each lot).

Here is a link to a more detailed map of the South Village area that may help add some clarity.

The City has stated this week that they do not as yet have a “completed application” from the developer; therefore, apparently will not share or post more detailed project information. Once the City deems the developer’s application complete, they should post those materials on the City’s website.

The College and their developer state on their new project website that, “Revenue from this development helps fund Sierra College’s Master Facility Plan (MFP) which calls for renovating the campus and expanding educational opportunities for students.”  What about the $700 million the College is getting from the recent passage of Measure E?  It certainly doesn’t appear the College still needs money from this development to make improvements to the Rocklin campus.  Perhaps they need to hold onto this land for future College campus expansion rather than develop it.

SCOPING MEETING
The City of Rocklin is required by CEQA to hold a public Scoping Meeting to receive written comments.  This must be done prior to completing the draft EIR. This will not be a formal “public hearing” rather an informational meeting hosted by City staff.  The scoping meeting will be conducted in an open house format with stations displaying project exhibits and information about the CEQA process. There will be comment cards that can be filled out there or taken home and returned later. Anyone who attends can ask questions of staff who are at the various stations.

The Scoping Meeting will be held on

February 27, 2019 from 5:30 to 7:00 pm
in the Rocklin City Council Chambers,
located at 3970 Rocklin Road, Rocklin, CA.

NOP Comment Period Ends March 4, 2019

El Don Neighborhood Advisory Committee  (Facebook site)
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