Sunset Industrial Plan Area (DEIR)

Placer County is attempting to approve a 14 square mile (9,000 acre) mixed use development that includes over 8,000 new homes directly across Hwy 65 from the City of Rocklin.  This massive development basically lies within the unincorporated area of Placer County on the west side of Hwy 65 between Roseville and Lincoln (map below).  The project is so massive that it will generate almost a million new cars on local roads (conservative estimates at this time are 879,000 new daily vehicle trips).  Many will use Sunset Whitney Blvd., Pacific Street and other Rocklin Roads to by-pass congestion on Hwy 65.  The Draft EIR (DEIR) is out and you can submit comments.  Use above link to learn more.

This development will have “significant” traffic impacts on our Rocklin Communities.  Even to East Rocklin with SB Hwy 65 “regional” traffic trying to access EB I-80 by going down Rocklin surface streets to Pacific Street then east on Rocklin Road or Sierra College Blvd.  Please pass this information onto your friends in downtown and north Rocklin.  Ask them to go to our Save East Rocklin website and sign-up for informational emails.

Questions/Comments go to the Contact Us page.

A number of our members (like yourself) have recently made comments on our Facebook page about the traffic congestion on Rocklin Road and Sierra College Blvd.  Please visit (and join) our Facebook page.

Traffic Update:

Some of our members attended the City’s traffic workshop on Tuesday, February 5th.  As was suspected from reading the workshop materials a head of time, the City is acutely aware of the traffic impacts on both Rocklin Road and Sierra College Blvd that exist today – especially Rocklin Road.  The Engineering firm that is working on the City’s new General Plan “Circulation Element” even acknowledged that there are additional impacts on our local roads from “regional” traffic (cars coming from outside Rocklin City limits, e.g. Roseville & Loomis) that use these two arterial thoroughfares.

Save East Rocklin (aka El Don Neighborhood Advisory Committee) was also concerned because the engineering firm appeared to only acknowledge about half of the # of vehicles that will be generated onto these 2 roadways from future development in the Rocklin Road/SC Blvd. area.

And as suspected and previously stated, the City appears to be looking at foregoing current General Plan policy which states the City’s goal is to maintain an intersection Level of Service (LOS) of “C”.  Grading goes from LOS “A” (best) to LOS “F” (worst).  The workshop materials and the discussions that evening centered around changing the City’s General Plan Goals and Policies of maintaining a LOS of at least “C” to now allowing lower levels of service to D, E & F.  Reasoning:  with all the new development being approved, the City cannot afford to financially “mitigate” or fix  the traffic impacts from all this new development – like Sierra College’s extreme high-density project along Rocklin Road and SC Blvd.  The College’s project is the most massive pending project in our area (and Placer County) and will create considerable additional traffic on our roads (Rocklin Rd, SC Blvd. and surface streets like El Don Drive and Southside Ranch Rd.).  Waiting on Rocklin Road for 10 minutes to get to I-80 will only get worse.

The workshop written materials and discussions on Tuesday did not address the traffic impacts on surface streets like El Don Drive and Southside Ranch Road.

Below is a link to the workshop materials for your review.  Also more workshops to come on the “circulation element”.  Public comment is allowed at these workshops.  And if you have traffic comments, you are urged to email our Mayor Joe Patterson at Joe.Patterson@rocklin.ca.us

Citywide Circulation Element Update Background Materials

Please know that your neighborhood group of community volunteers are working tirelessly in the background to address the varying impacts to East Rocklin.

El Don Neighborhood Advisory Committee  (Facebook site)
Please also join us on Facebook for additional updates.

Sierra College’s developer has changed the College’s 108-acre project name from “Sierra Villages” to “College Park“.

Find out more information about College Park. 

The Sierra College project aka “College Park”

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)
Please sign up and become a member of our Facebook site.  Often more information is posted on this site.

Good news from Rocklin City Hall. The Sierra College project “Sierra Villages” NOP will not be coming out until after the first of the year. But we do anticipate the Notice of Preparation (NOP) of an Environmental Impact Report (EIR) on the project to come out in January. We will have 30 days to respond with our comments/concerns.

Sierra College is seeking written comments on the Draft Environmental Impact Report (DEIR) for their Facilties Master Plan.

Items include

• New 50 foot high Parking Garage
• New multi-story classrooms
• New Student Dormitory
• Redesign of campus entrances
• and much more

Comments Due by January 2, 2019
send to
Laura Doty, Director Facilities and Construction
5100 Sierra College Blvd.
Rocklin, CA  95677
or email to
ldoty@sierracollege.edu

Link to Draft EIR

The Save East Rocklin aka El Don Neighborhood Advisory Committee voted this week to endorse Michele Vass for Rocklin City Council after a review of each of the 3 candidates publicly filed FPPC “Campaign Disclosure” forms filed so far for 2018.

Why Vote for Michele…simple.  Michele is the only candidate  who did not take money from developers.  Both Jill Gayaldo and Bill Halldin have taken huge amounts of money from local developers, including the Sierra College developer and Sierra College Board of Trustee members who voted to develop “Sierra Villages” in our community.  And let’s not forget former Sierra College Trustee Bill Halldin was instrumental in bringing this horrible development to our community, and Jill Gayaldo voted yes on Granite Bluff subdivision which has turned out to be an absolute nightmare for surrounding residents.

Although there are two Council seats up for election this year, we only support Michele for City Council.  You only have to vote for one candidate.  Mail-in ballots go out next Monday, Oct 8th, so get the word out now.  Please pass this email onto your neighbors and other Rocklin voters.

We have Vote for Michele campaign signs available for pickup as well as handouts.  Please contact us for where to pick up.  For more information on Michele, visit her website at http://www.michelevass.com/ 

Below are just highlights of these 3 candidates campaign donations.  We think this speaks volumes.  How are we as concerned residents going to get a fair vote from councilmembers who take all this developer money?  For actual copies of their complete FPPC filings click HERE.  If you have trouble viewing, let us know and we can send to you directly.

Why Vote for Michele Vass for City Council
2018 FPPC Campaign Disclosure 460 Forms (as of 9.22.18)

Jill Gayaldo
Has Raised: $34,354
Contributions
Cresleigh Homes (Sierra Village Builder) $300
George Phillips (Sierra Villages Developer Atty) $500
Bob Sinclair (Sierra College Trustee) $100
Building Industry lobby $5,000
John Mourier Construction (local developer) $7,874
Auburn Manor Holding Corporation (local developer) $1,000
JMC Homes (local developer) $500
David Busch (President – Quarry Park Adventures) $150

Bill Halldin
Has Raised: $21,315
Contributions
Cresleigh Homes (Sierra Villages builder) $250
George Phillips (Sierra Villages Developer’s Atty) $250
Bob Sinclair (Sierra College Trustee) $916
Aaron Klein (former Sierra College Trustee) $200
Sonbol Aliabadi (Exec Director, Sierra College Foundation) $500
Auburn Manor Holding Corporation (local developer) $1,000
CA Business Properties Association (developer lobbyist) $500
John Mourier Construction (local developer) $500
Westpark Communities (local developer) $1,000
J.R. Conkey & Associates (local developer) $500
USA Properties Fund, Inc. (local developer) $500
David Busch (President – Quarry Park Adventures) $150

Michele Vass
Has Raised: $8,115
Contributions
Chris Wiegman (local resident – Pres. Citizen’s Voice) $2,000
Mike Mattos (local resident) $500