8,000 homes, new college campus may be coming to Placer County – but neighbors aren’t happy
A major development in south Placer County that could bring in more than 19,000 residents to the area is getting criticism from community members and at least two nearby cities, which are arguing the county hasn’t fully and adequately planned for the new growth.
At the center of the Placer Ranch area, part of the greater Sunset Area Plan development in unincorporated county land, is the promise of a new Sacramento State satellite campus that could bring in thousands of students and economic opportunity. More than 8,000 new homes are expected to be built in the area, which spans more than 13 square miles.
County officials argue plans for developing the area sandwiched between Roseville, Rocklin and Lincoln have been in the works for more than two decades. But residents argue the county — which is in the unusual position of being both the project applicant and approver — is rushing the review process.
Some residents say that there are too many unresolved issues. They say traffic will worsen, and that the housing proposed will contribute to sprawl, isn’t affordable, is too close to a county landfill and destroys existing habitats.
Sacramento State has expressed interest in a new campus, but the California State University system has not published a detailed plan for how it will pay for a new education center.
And with the city of Lincoln’s sphere of influence — areas planned for annexation in the future with new growth — overlapping parts of the boundaries of the Sunset Area, city officials say there are still unresolved issues related to mitigation fees and new land-use designations.
The Placer County Board of Supervisors is expected to vote on the project during its Tuesday meeting. The county planning commission recommended the plan for approval last month.
The cornerstone of the Placer Ranch development is a proposed Sacramento State satellite campus, which would also include facilities for Sierra College. Placer Ranch Inc., the owner of the property led by Los Angeles developer and philanthropist Eli Broad, plans to donate 300 acres to the university as a gift.
“That is a phantom university. We don’t have a commitment,” said Leslie Warren, chair of Alliance for Environmental Leadership, a group that has rallied against elements of the development.
The California State University Board of Trustees discussed the potential campus during their November meeting. A gift agreement and a memorandum of understanding between the county and the university are expected to come before the board next year.
The university will identify “alternative funding sources” for the new campus, according to a board memo, including “public-private partnerships.”
“In my evaluation with the chancellor (of CSU), in the very first evaluation, he said, ‘you’ll never use CSU dollars,’ and we’re sticking to that,” said Sacramento State President Robert Nelsen during the November board meeting.
New housing, worsening traffic
Residents are concerned that much of the proposed housing will be single-family homes, and that it is too close to the Western Placer Waste Management Authority landfill, which sits at the center of the proposed development.
“Is this the best Placer County can do? To place a campus next to a landfill? To me, it doesn’t speak well to the county,” said Wayne Nader, one of the county’s seven planning commissioners, during the November meeting.
Over the next 20 years, more than 3,400 new single-family homes are expected to be built in the Placer Ranch and Sunset Area Plan, according to the county environmental impact report. Warren said the county should prioritize affordable, multi-family housing to accommodate the region’s expected population growth.
Traffic and urban sprawl are the most important reason why people do not want to move to Placer County, said Annie Bowler, vice president of Visit Placer, during a county planning commission meeting.
“I disagree that people want big houses,” Bowler said. “I know lots of young people who want to live right across from coffee shops. ... We have a great opportunity to build ourselves an awesome center city that’s densely populated.”
More cars on county roads, in an area that already experiences bumper-to-bumper traffic during rush hour, is also a concern among residents.
The county estimates that by the time the Placer Ranch is built out, there will actually be fewer cars — about 6,000 fewer — lining up each day on Highway 65 for interchanges with Rocklin and Lincoln.
That’s because more traffic would be diverted to Fiddyment Road, Athens Avenue and Blue Oaks Boulevard, among other busy corridors running through the area. In particular, the new trips associated with the development would result in “over-capacity traffic conditions” on Sunset Boulevard, and “degrade operations” at other intersections, the report suggests.
The county is expecting the Placer Parkway — the long-anticipated four-lane expressway that could ultimately connect Highway 65 to Highway 99 in the west — will alleviate traffic.
The first phase of the parkway would connect North Foothills Boulevard to Highway 65 at the Whitney Ranch Parkway interchange in Rocklin. Full funding for construction has yet to be secured, but the county anticipates this section will be completed by 2022.
Still, traffic might get worse before it gets better, the county concedes.
“If the project is approved and begins developing before the opening of Phase I of Placer Parkway, the proposed project would temporarily worsen operations on these roadways,” the county report says. “This impact would be significant and unavoidable in the short-term, if more than 25 percent of the PRSP is developed and Phase I of Placer Parkway is not yet completed and open to traffic.”
Nearby cities’ concerns remain unaddressed
Steve Prosser, Lincoln’s community development director, said the city has asked the county to modify the boundaries of the Sunset Area Plan to exclude the portions that overlap with the city’s sphere of influence. The city plans to eventually annex those portions of county land, but the new zoning proposed aren’t consistent with the city’s general plan, he said.
“It just adds a layer of complication for future buyers and property owners to figure out whose rules do we follow,” Prosser said.
In addition, if the city annexes the land and increased traffic from the Placer Ranch development requires the installation of a traffic signal, there’s no mitigation fee plan in place to make sure the city recoups the cost from developers and the county.
And if the Placer Parkway isn’t completed in the next three years, there’s no Plan B for how the county will address the increased traffic in the region, another concern for Lincoln officials, Prosser said.
Prosser said the city will be present at Tuesday’s Board of Supervisors meeting to relay these unaddressed concerns.
At November’s planning commission meeting, Commissioner Samuel Cannon said it’s “astounding” that the city of Roseville and the county have not drawn up an agreement for the project, given that it is the largest city in the county.
“I can only assume Roseville has no objections,” Cannon said.
Roseville spokeswoman Megan MacPherson said that the city does have issues with the development — specifically, the effect the development may have on the city’s fire department response services.
“We’re concerned that mutual aid along the three-mile border we share could have an unfair impact on Roseville,” MacPherson said in an email. “We want to have mitigation in place to ensure our fire-response service levels to our residents and businesses are not eroded by (the) impacts of new development.”
Both cities will have representatives at Tuesday’s meeting to express their concerns during public comment.
Even if the Board of Supervisors approves the development Tuesday, a construction timeline has yet to be finalized — a developer for the land has not been selected, county spokesman Chris Gray-Garcia previously told The Sacramento Bee.
“We’re not saying no to a project,” Warren said. “Growth is coming. It’s just we believe we can accommodate growth in a way that keeps Placer County a desirable place to live.”
This story was originally published December 10, 2019 at 5:00 AM.