About District 4

Fourth District, Calaveras County, CA

Altaville | Angels Camp | Douglas Flat | Murphys | Vallecito

More on Walking and Family

Yesterday, I attended a neighborhood meeting in Murphys. The reason for the neighbors to meet was to discuss their concerns about land use changes proposed in their area. The first thing I noticed was the diversity of the participants – younger/older, male/female, talkative/quieter, and so on. It was a good cross-section of any viable neighborhood. The first thing the participants did was to take a field trip to make sure everyone had a personal knowledge of the area under discussion. It was good to see individuals taking the time to form their own view of the situation. Next there came a discussion of the facts – the “on the ground” perspective.

Facts acquire meaning when placed in a context. Community development and planning are complex public processes which form the context for land use facts. It was quickly apparent that this neighborhood group was going to have to fill in some of the gaps in the current County processes. For example, community notification of proposed changes can be pro-active rather than reactive. A pro-active process alerts citizens as early as possible; ideally before there is a formal application submitted.

The pro-active approach brings the developer and the impacted residents together before detail decisions are made. At this stage, both the developer and the neighbors can focus on the potential benefits and impacts of the proposed development. If required, mitigation plans can be worked out prior to the hardening of points of view. This is not utopian, this process works and it saves everyone time and money in the long term.

Land use is a regulated process. Developers must invest considerable amounts of money into required studies – for example, traffic, hydrological, and archaeological, -- before they turn a spade of dirt. These studies provide a wealth of information about the like shape and impact of the proposed development. These studies should reflect professional and scientific standards. As such they provide part of an objective understanding of the proposal. The public staff should act as the clearinghouse for such documents and provide unbiased reviews of the data and conclusions. I believe that both the developer and the community benefit when this process is open and actively publicized. In today’s world, most project documents should be available on the County’s web site prior to Commission or Board action.

As always, please use the "Write Lee" link to share your thoughts.