Building projects gain ground

Two development projects -- one providing housing for seniors and the other lodging for travelers -- are under way in El Dorado County after being delayed by legal challenges.

Erik Pilegaard said his firm, Cameron Park Ventures, prevailed in a lawsuit brought by the California Native Plant Society, and work is proceeding on a senior housing and congregate-care facility on 68 acres northeast of Gabbert Drive and east of Palmer Drive in Cameron Park.

In Placerville, developer Edward Mackay said grading has begun for a hotel, country store and gas station north of Highway 50 at Point View Drive after an out-of-court settlement was reached with Save Our Neighborhood, a group that included nearby homeowners.

Pilegaard said he expects the 239-unit Ponte Palmero, including 35 units for people with Alzheimer's disease, to be ready for occupancy by late fall 2008.

Construction crews were pouring concrete slabs for 32 buildings last week.

In addition to the Alzheimer's care facility, the project will include 64 duet cottages, or halfplexes, 140 congregate-living units and an 8,000-square-foot clubhouse with dining room, and recreation and fitness centers.

"There hasn't been anything built in the county as far as this type of project in over 20 years," said Pilegaard, president and chief financial officer of Cameron Park Ventures.

The firm also built the neighboring Eskaton Lodge, which Pilegaard said has been fully occupied since it opened in 1997.

Eskaton will manage the new development as well, he said. The seniors-only community will be open to people 55 and older.

The Board of Supervisors approved the project last fall, but construction was delayed by a lawsuit filed by the California Native Plant Society and the Center for Sierra Nevada Conservation. The suit alleged that the project lacked adequate provisions to permanently protect rare-plant species found at the site. The property is south of the Pine Hill Ecological Preserve.

El Dorado Superior Court Judge Daniel Proud found in Cameron Park Ventures' favor, according to a court clerk. Pilegaard said the judge ruled that the developer had complied with required measures to compensate for plant loss, including participating in a plant mitigation fee program.

"We're very grateful that the judge ruled in our favor and that he found we were doing an adequate job to protect the environment," he said.

Pilegaard said a Sacramento-area nursery already has propagated one of the plant species, Roderick's ceanothus, and more than 10,000 plants will be transplanted on a 5.96-acre parcel next to the development. The preserve site will be deeded to the federal Bureau of Land Management.

Farther up Highway 50, at Placerville's east end, Mackay's Gateway project is scheduled to open in September 2008 with a 109-room Holiday Inn Express as its centerpiece.

"This Holiday Inn Express will be the nicest in the world," Mackay said, "because we've really gone over the top."

The hotel will feature 3,500 square feet of conference facilities and 1,200 square feet of retail space.

"It will have a nice lobby with a big fireplace, high ceilings and open beams," Mackay said, explaining that it has been designed to resemble an 1880s-era mountain lodge.

"We want it to reflect our area and our history," he said.

The period architecture also will be featured in the 9,600-square-foot country store, which will offer specialty food items and products grown or made in El Dorado County and the Sacramento Valley. It will include an outdoor dining area with fireplace and waterfall, Mackay said.

The complex is intended to serve Highway 50 travelers, with a 12-pump Chevron gas station and car wash, as well as visitors to Apple Hill's orchards and wineries.

As a condition for project approval, the city required the developer to extend Point View Drive north to Jacquier Road, opening a new route to the Smith Flat community and the heart of Apple Hill.

The new road connection will be completed before the hotel opens, Mackay said, and should be in place in time for the 2008 harvest season.

Provisions of the settlement with Save Our Neighborhood prohibit the parties from discussing terms of the agreement, Mackay said.

The project, unanimously approved by the Placerville City Council in August 2004, was strongly supported by Apple Hill growers and the El Dorado County Chamber of Commerce, which cited the critical need for lodging to support tourism on the county's western slope.

But area residents concerned about the project's environmental impacts filed suit, arguing that the development was too big for the site. They pointed to the extensive earth removal required and the anticipated loss of wetlands on the property.

They also argued that extending Point View Drive and expanding the roadway would encourage speeding.

In June 2006, the 3rd District Court of Appeal found that the city violated the California Environmental Quality Act when it used the environmental study for a previously proposed hotel complex at the site as the basis for assessing the environmental impacts of the Gateway project.

Mackay said his vision goes beyond the current development.

He owns 100 acres in the adjoining unincorporated Smith Flat area, which he seeks to annex to the city for development as a destination resort, with lodging, restaurants and a variety of shops featuring clothing, arts and crafts.

Mackay said he envisions Placerville as the hub for visitors drawn by the county's recreational, historic and agricultural attractions, much as Jackson Hole, Wyo., serves as the gateway for visitors to Yellowstone National Park.

"We need to be a central launching point," he said.

About the writer:

• The Bee's Cathy Locke can be reached at (916) 608-7451 or clocke@sacbee.com.