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EDH APAC

EDH APAC Comments on Third and Fourth Quarter 2024 Project Review Schedule

Letter submitted July 3rd.

The Officers of the El Dorado Hills Area Planning Advisory Committee (EDH APAC) submitted a letter expressing concerns about the tentative review schedule of multiple projects impacting El Dorado Hills in the third and fourth quarters of 2024.

Adequate time for thoughtful project review and analysis along with input from residents results in projects that offer increased benefits for a community to better balance against potential negative impacts.

The El Dorado County Planning and Building Department must operate in a manner that adheres to both state law, as well as El Dorado County policies and ordinances, in a process that respects the rights of project applicants, and County residents. EDH APAC recognizes that Planning and Building Staff have a challenging task to respond to both developers and the community. EDH APAC is grateful for the collaborative manner that County Staff conducts project review, and the amount of assistance that Staff generously provides to EDH APAC volunteers, and the community.

Please note that the letter contains a typo regarding the date of the Town & Country Village El Dorado Scoping meeting date – the letter indicates August 2024, when in fact the Scoping meeting was held in August 2023.

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EDH APAC Submits Initial Review Findings on Project Frontier. EDC Auditor Harn provides updates regarding project’s Sales Tax forecast

Subcommittee Reviews Center on project impact concerns, consistency with Zoning and Land Use

EDH APAC submitted a letter to the El Dorado County Planning Department and the Planning Commission that summarized EDH APAC’s volunteer subcommittees’ initial review findings regarding Project Frontier CUP22-0016 DR22-0003. The Subcommittee findings were presented to EDH APAC members and the El Dorado Hills Community at an overflow meeting at El Dorado Hills Fire Department Station 85 on April 19, 2023.

While the reviews are the initial findings, concerns and questions provided by EDH APAC volunteers, the project itself is awaiting a submission to El Dorado County of a CEQA Analysis, and peer review of the Applicant generated DRAFT Transportation Impact Analysis Report. Review of the project’s Conditional Use Permit (CUP) for a 106% height allowance over the County Ordinance stipulated 50 foot limit will come before the County Planning Commission. No Review Hearing Date has been scheduled yet.

EDH APAC April 28, 2023 Email to Planning Department & Planning Commission

EDH APAC April 26, 2023 Cover Letter to Planning Department & Planning Commission


EDH APAC Subcommittee Reviews Submitted to Planning Department & Planning Commission April 28, 2023

County Auditor Controller provides EDH APAC with an update regarding Project Frontier’s potential Sales Tax revenue to El Dorado County.

EDC Auditor Controller Joe Harn submitted the following update to EDH APAC regarding questions about Project Frontier’s projected Sales Tax revenue to El Dorado County

EDC Auditor Controller Harn April 28, 2023 Letter to EDH APAC

EDC Auditor Harn CDTFA Document to EDH APAC April 28, 2023

EDC Auditor Harn Sales Tax Consultant to County Newsletter


Auditor Harn previously provided an initial letter to EDH APAC regarding potential Sales Tax benefits to El Dorado County on March 14, 2023.

Additionally, Auditor Harn provided EDH APAC a copy of an updated Economic Impact Analysis Memorandum from consultants EPS on March 30, 2023. The updated Analysis was the result of a request from Auditor Harn for El Dorado County specific Sales and Property Tax estimates regarding Project Frontier.

To review all available Project Frontier public documents, visit the EDH APAC Project Document page for Project Frontier.

EDH APAC Comment Letter to Planning Commission About Latrobe Road CIP Item

Comment Letter submitted to Planning Commission recommending tabling Latrobe Road CIP Item.

El Dorado Hills APAC submitted a comment letter to the Planning Commission regarding Agenda Item #2 on their scheduled April 13, 2023 Planning Commission Hearing. EDH APAC members, and many El Dorado Hills residents have concerns regarding the timing of adding a Latrobe Road widening project back into the County’s Capital Improvement Program, just three years after removing the project (then – CIP Project No: 72LATROBE) due to a finding that it was unwarranted in 2019/2020.


The timing concerns center on the staff recommendations that the new CIP #36105055 item is due to “growth in the EDH Business Park.” EDH APAC Subcommittee members have observed that the only significant growth in the El Dorado Hills Business Park that might justify traffic improvements has been the expansion of the John Adams Academy private school. The school has been a success welcomed by EDH residents, and has generated a significant traffic impact in the area, however without a traffic analysis it is uncertain if that one development has triggered the need for the expansion of Latrobe Road. John Adams Academy opened in El Dorado Hills in 2017, so some of its traffic impacts should have been known in 2020 when CIP Project 72LATROBE was removed from the CIP list.

It appears that CIP #36105055 would mostly benefit the proposed Project Frontier, which EDH APAC Subcommittees are still reviewing. EDH APAC Subcommittees are concerned that adding CIP #36105055 into the CIP would expose El Dorado County Taxpayers to more costs by shifting the funding burden away from the full impacts of the proposed Project Frontier development before it has been adequately reviewed and analyzed.

CIP project #36105055 proposes to widen Latrobe Rd between Investment Blvd and Golden Foothills Pkwy (south)

The EDH APAC comments to the Planning Commission recommend:

EDH APAC would propose delaying this action before your Commission before a thorough review has been completed. Considering that CIP 36105055 was removed as “unwarranted” just in 2020, it is fair to ask if it was short-sighted to remove the project at that time. If so, it may also be short-sighted to add the project back into the CIP without a comprehensive analysis of the impacts of Project Frontier in 2023.

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April 11 2023 Comment Letter [185.87 KB]

El Dorado Hills APAC Subcommittee submits finding of non-support for CEDHSP

Click HERE to see EDH APAC Findings Report

Planning Commission Public Hearing Scheduled for June 9th at 8:30AM

The El Dorado Hills Area Planning Advisory Committee submitted the findings of the APAC Central El Dorado Hills Specific Plan Subcommittee report to the County of El Dorado Planning Commission, and the El Dorado County Planning Department on Thursday June 2.

The Subcommittee Findings report is comprised of 68 pages of findings, concerns, and questions. Thirteen supporting exhibits were also included. The Report concludes with a finding of non-support, which is consistent with the Subcommittee report in January 2020, prior to a second recirculated Draft Environmental Impact Report being issued to address the new Vehicle Miles Traveled transportation standard that became part of the California Environmental Quality Act (CEQA) and law in July 2020, and two new suggested project alternatives.

The subcommittee draft findings report was approved unanimously by voting EDH APAC members at a special May 25, 2022 meeting. The past two weeks, EDH APAC volunteers have worked on formatting, layout and internal linking for the supporting documents.

As part of the public comments, EDH APAC submitted the following observation in a cover letter:

The goal of EDH APAC is to review proposed El Dorado Hills development projects with the intent of finding the best possible result for our community, for the applicant, and for the County. To provide community feedback on the future of development in our community. Our reviews result in one of three possible findings:

1) Support of the project as presented
2) Conditional Support based on recommendations and improvements in the proposed project
3) Non-Support of the project based on incompatibility, or overall negative impacts for the El Dorado Hills community

As we offered in our January 2020 findings regarding the CEDHSP, our result in 2022, again, is a recommendation of Non-Support. The project has not changed in any meaningful way.

A finding of Non-Support is essentially a failure. A failure of EDH APAC and the Community to convey the necessity of needed improvements or changes for the project to be a benefit for our community. And a failure of the applicant and the Planning Department to recognize the community’s concerns, to discover some middle ground, improvements or changes, that recognizes and respects the numerous legitimate community concerns of shortcomings, and injury that our community seeks to avoid.

All documents – report, exhibits, etc – submitted as public comment for the June 9, 2022 Planning Commission Hearing are cataloged on this findings page: https://edhapac.org/edh-apac-subcommittee-findings-cedhsp/. Each link will allow the website visitor to view the full document as a PDF, without having to download each document.

El Dorado Hills residents are encouraged to offer their own fact-based concerns and questions as public comment to the Planning Commission – comments may be submitted to planning@edcgov.us. Include the following in the subject line: Public Hearing: Agenda Item 3, Central El Dorado Hills Specific Plan.

August 11, 2021 APAC Meeting In Person At EDH Fire Station 85, also Streaming Via Zoom and YouTube

Find the meeting details on the event page

Meeting in Hybrid Format

The August 11th EDH APAC meeting is being held in-person at the El Dorado Hills Fire Department Station 85 Meeting Room, located at 1050 Wilson Blvd, in El Dorado Hills. The meeting start time is 7:00PM

Since this will be the first in-person meeting for EDH APAC since restrictions for public gatherings were implemented in 2020, and because many community members find value in being able to attend EDH APAC Meetings virtually, the meeting will also be streamed via Zoom – https://us02web.zoom.us/j/84531672523

Additionally, because the meeting topics are expected to draw increased attendance, EDH APAC will also attempt to stream the Zoom virtual session via the EDH APAC YouTube Channel – the live YouTube meeting link is https://youtu.be/kNmI-t_z6fE

The in-person attendance is limited to 114 guests. The EDH APAC Zoom Webinar attendance is limited to 100 attendees. Because of the these limits, if the Zoom session maxes out on attendees, Zoom will prompt every attendee beginning with the 101st attendee to follow the meeting live stream on YouTube. YouTube attendees will not be able to participate in the discussion, but will be able to view the live video, and hear the live audio.

REMINDER

Because EDH APAC has not conducted an in-person meeting in over a year, and also because meeting topics may be viewed by some members of the community as controversial, we offer these EDH APAC Meeting reminders:

  • PUBLIC COMMENTS are limited to three minutes, to allow all attendees the opportunity to participate.
  • PUBLIC COMMENTS on matters not on the published agenda are heard at the beginning of the meeting, at a designated time.
  • Courtesy is extended to all attendees from the Community, as well as to all speaking guests, and project applicants.
  • When public comment and questions from the community begins, we ask attendees to come forward to use the microphone – this allows all attendees to hear the comments and questions, both in-person, and for our streaming attendees. We cannot accept questions shouted from the audience.
  • Keep comments and questions short and focused – 1 or 2 questions/comments are permitted.
  • If your question has been asked, please do not repeat the same questions – we only have a limited time availability to use the meeting space.
  • Courtesy is expected in allowing guests to respond to questions and comments without interruption.

EDH APAC strives to make sure that our public discussions remain civil. Development projects can be controversial, for both supporters and for those who may be opposed. It is human nature to be motivated by emotion, but in EDH APAC’s experience of 40 years of reviewing proposed projects, we have found that emotion tends to cause decision makers to tune out the community’s concerns – and we have been guilty of that in the past too, just like any other community members. We’re committed to better, more effective, communication.

EDH APAC is not focused on supporting a project, or denying a project – we have no land use authority – EDH APAC strives to review proposed projects in a thoughtful informed manner, so that when we provide our findings, that they are based in facts, and reason. This allows the community’s concerns, questions, and suggestions, to be heard by the project applicants, the County Planning process, and our elected decision makers. EDH APAC’s goal is not to see a project approved, or denied, but to result in the best possible project outcome for El Dorado Hills residents, the County, and the project applicants. EDH APAC never seeks advocacy to support or oppose a project.

We’re excited to welcome the El Dorado Hills Community back to in-person public meetings – your participation is valuable.

El Dorado Hills APAC November Meeting Video Posted Online

The El Dorado Hills Area Planning Advisory Committee has posted the video recording of the November 13, 2019 Meeting online.

Single Topic Meeting

The November 13, 2019 meeting was focused on the proposed Central El Dorado Hills Specific Plan. A review of the plan, and it’s latest changes was provided by representatives from Serrano Associates, including Director of Government Affairs Kirk Bone, and Principal Planner Andrea Howard. Addressing the project’s traffic impacts and mitigation was Senior Associate David Robinson of Fehr & Peers Transportation Consultants.

The CEDHSP presentation at APAC was made in advance of the first of four hearings before the County of El Dorado Planning Commission. The first hearing being held November 14th in Placerville, CA. The second hearing is scheduled for December 12th in Placerville, CA at 8:30AM. The third hearing will be held in El Dorado Hills, in the evening, in January 2020, at a time and place to be determined. The fourth and final hearing before the Planning Commission will be held in January-February in Placerville, CA, in the Planning Commission Building C Hearing Room, at a date to be determined.

The meeting presentation materials/slides
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El Dorado Hills APAC March Meeting Minutes and Video Online

The minutes of the El Dorado Hills Area Planning Advisory Committee March 13, 2019 minutes are now available online.

Additionally, the presentation slides used for the March 2019 meeting can be viewed here.

A video recording of the meeting is available on our EDH APAC YouTube Channel. The recording has been embedded here in this update post as well.

Due to the configuration of our meeting room, recorded volumes are very low, so for better playback, make sure that the YouTube player’s audio is at 100%, and then adjust the listening volume of your playback device accordingly.

El Dorado Hills Area Planning Advisory Committee would like to thank the Bridlewood Canyon HOA, and HOA Board Member Ron Cassity, for their generous hospitality in hosting our March 2019 meeting.

Our next El Dorado Hills APAC meeting will be Wednesday, April 10, 2019 at 7:00PM in our usual meeting location, the El Dorado Hills Community Services District Norm Rowett Pavilion, 1021 Harvard Way, El Dorado Hills CA, 95762.

Signup for the El Dorado Hills APAC email list to get the April 2019 meeting agenda as soon as it is available in early April.

El Dorado County Issues Fact Sheet For Proposed El Dorado Hills Costco Project

Following several ‘Stakeholder’ meeting sessions with representatives of the property owner, and Costco, El Dorado County has released the following Fact Sheet regarding a proposed Costco location in El Dorado Hills.

The location selected by Costco is on the east side of Silva Valley Parkway, north of the Highway 50/Silva Valley Pkwy interchange- just north of Tong Road, and south of Oak Meadow Elementary School, and the proposed alignment of the future extension of Country Club Drive. The project is expected to be developed in conjunction with, and as a component of the proposed EDH 52 project. This property is already zoned for Commercial Regional (CR) and by rights, is zoned for big-box commercial development, which makes a proposed Costco facility a compatible land use for the zoning. In terms of mitigating traffic impacts, Commercial Regional is best suited along major highway interchanges, removing traffic impacts from interior roadways.

Costco representatives revealed that an El Dorado County location is desired to help relieve the current over impacted Folsom location. They shared that there are other California Costco locations within 3 miles of each other, as the current Folsom and proposed El Dorado Hills locations will be. As a membership store, Costco has direct knowledge of where their members are located – from the identified target area in El Dorado County around El Dorado Hills, excluding the existing Folsom Costco members, there are currently 40,000 Costco Members, so the customer base already exists.

Costco seeks to be near highway interchanges for their stores, and many locations in El Dorado County have been evaluated for a site. Out of all highway interchanges in El Dorado County, only Silva Valley Parkway has the necessary capacity for the addition of a Costco Facility, as it currently measures a Level of Service (LOS) A. It already has the necessary road and highway capacity to meet this use. Questions were asked about other El Dorado County locations, but representatives indicated that El Dorado Hills Blvd/Latrobe Road at HWY50, to Town Center West, or to the Business Park, is currently at too poor a LOS level (C, D, and E, depending upon the time of day), and with the existing and planned developments in the area are physically too constrained to add more capacity. Other County locations, including interchanges such as Missouri Flat Rd, are also too limited by poor LOS levels, and the inability to add additional capacity, as existing development prevents adding more road space. Interchanges such as Cambridge Road, Cameron Park Dr, and Ponderosa Rd also lack the capacity for additional traffic volume, and are facing challenges in terms of costs just to increase capacity to meet existing needs. The Cameron Park Dr at HWY 50 interchange, as an example, is facing a $70 million dollar improvement to meet current needs, and isn’t projected to be completed for 10 years, if funding can be found. Even with these proposed improvements, the interchange would still fall short of required capacity to adequately mitigate the impacts of a project of the scope of the proposed Costco Project. Since Silva Valley Pkwy is currently an A-Rated interchange, Coscto would be mitigating impacts from their project, and would not need to fund a complete overhaul of a highway interchange, which would be prohibitively costly.

Costco representatives indicated in the Stakeholder meetings that in the El Dorado Hills customer target area of their study, there are approximately 40,000 current Costco members. The El Dorado Hills location is supported by their internally defined demographic metrics – over 40,000 residents in El Dorado Hills, nearly 15,000 in Cameron Park, upwards of 5,000 in Shingle Springs, 2,500 in Rescue, and 11,000 new homes planned in the Folsom Ranch development south of HWY50 (over 20,000 new residents in the next 20-25 years) on the future White Rock Rd Capitol Southeast Connector, which will terminate at the Silva Valley Pkwy/HWY 50 interchange. Locations further east in El Dorado County, such as Placerville, with only 10,000 residents, lack the population to provide an adequate customer base to support developing a new Costco store location.

The next steps in the proposed project will be the President of Costco visiting the El Dorado Hills site later in March/early April. If the President of Costco makes the determination that the site fits their defined needs, along with the market demographics, they could decide as early as April 2019 to proceed with the project. If they do, it is expected to take 18 – 24 months to gain environmental approvals and permitting, along with a full Environmental Impact Report and the resultant traffic study. If the project gains these approvals, it is estimated that it would take another 12 months to begin and complete construction. As the approvals process and construction timeline would take at best a minimum of three years, the earliest possible opening date would be in 2022.

If the project proceeds, El Dorado Hills Area Planning Advisory Committee members will be studying the project over the next several years, evaluating the Draft Environmental Impact Report when it is released, and making recommendations on the project, and any proposed mitigation. Representatives from Costco have already proposed keeping close communication with EDH APAC, and have agreed to conduct public outreach via EDH APAC and other community agencies and organizations, to educate residents on their progress, and to get community feedback, to help improve the project. Costco representatives have indicated their willingness to present their project at EDH APAC meetings during the approvals process, and to foster and maintain an open dialog as the project proceeds.

A second Costco store was recently completed in Elk Grove CA. While the City of Elk Grove is a much more urban, and higher density area than anyplace in El Dorado County, some elements of that project involved its placement in proximity to both a highway and residential neighborhoods, and the steps required to mitigate those impacts. The project was proposed in 2015, and completed in September 2018.

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El Dorado Hills APAC February Meeting Minutes and Video Online

The minutes of the El Dorado Hills Area Planning Advisory Committee February 13, 2019 minutes are now available online.

Additionally, the presentation slides used for the meeting can be viewed here.

A video recording of the meeting is available on our EDH APAC YouTube Channel. The recording has been embedded here in this update post as well.

Due to the configuration of our meeting room, recorded volumes are very low, so for better playback, make sure that the YouTube player’s audio is at 100%, and then adjust the listening volume of your playback device accordingly.

Our next El Dorado Hills APAC meeting will be Wednesday, March 13, 2019 at 7:00PM in a different location, the Bridlewood Canyon HOA Clubhouse at 3550 Devon Way, El Dorado Hills CA, 95762. A one-day gate code will be issued to attendees. Signup for the El Dorado Hills APAC email list to get the March 2019 meeting agenda and gate code as soon as it is available in early March.

El Dorado Hills APAC Adds Video Recordings Of Monthly Meetings

The El Dorado Hills Area Planning Advisory Committee has started recording monthly APAC meetings.

Since EDH APAC operates without any funding from the County, APAC volunteers have begun recording meetings with a volunteer supplied MEVO camera that allows volunteers to use a single camera to record multiple angles of APAC meetings. One drawback of this configuration is that the audio recording is reliant on the single microphone built into the camera, so playback levels once posted to YouTube are low – if users turn up the volume on their playback devices most of the meeting discussion can be heard.

APAC volunteers are still working on finding the best angles, and configuration of the camera, as video recordings of meetings continue. We hope that we’ll have the very best recording possible for El Dorado Hills residents to check in on our monthly APAC meetings. In the future, we’ll test live streaming the meetings on YouTube. Live streaming will be limited by the available bandwidth of the meeting venues.

EDH APAC meeting recordings will be posted on the new Recorded Meetings page here on the EDH APAC website. Residents can also subscribe to our new EDH APAC YouTube Page