Placer County Workshop—Sunset Industrial Area Development

Date: 11/19/2015 at the Material Recovery Facility (Waste Management facility, Fiddyment Road)

Sherri Conway, Senior Planner for County of Placer Community Development Resource Agency, started the Power-Point type presentation with matching handouts. Ms.Conway discussed the projected 8,100 acres considered as the Sunset Area Plan. She discussed the Existing Conditions Report and Economic Market Analysis (both complete); Opportunities and Constraints Report and Land Use Alternatives (in progress), and Capital Improvement and Finance Plan and Design Vision Plan and Standards (due April 2016).

South Placer’s growth was more than double the rate of the rest of the region, so the potential is greater to support an economic base in this area. The recent withdrawal of financing for the Placer Ranch Specific Plan was mentioned as a setback, but noted that sacramento State is still eager to proceed and they expect to keep going with the project.

They discussed the region’s statistical factors:

24% have bachelor degrees or higher; 50% have AA degrees or higher; $77,159 median income (30% higher than Sacramento, and $337,000 as the median house price. But we have more residents than jobs, so a key factor needed is the increase of potential job sources. They want to make this a major entertainment center, and increase corporate facilities, research and development, and manufacturing facilities. Several speakers discussed properties, opportunities, and transportation issues related to expansion to fit these desires.

Michelle Kiefer discussed Infrastructure finance Districts (IFDs) as the main source of funding for all this growth (at fixed or adjustable rates). Once again, large sources would come from property development; mostly from Placer Ranch and other community or regional projects’ impact fees.

Although these fees would only apply to current property owners, obviously the fees will be passed along like Mello Roos assessments to future buyers of homes, etc. Votes to approve these fees would be through the current owners: Those parcels with 12 or under landowners would require a vote of just the landowners; over 12 landowners would require a vote of all the registered owners. Whether that vote would require a 51% approval or 2/3 approval would have to be determined. They pointed out that new fees would not apply retroactive to other residents, just those effected in the new growth areas.

Some questions were asked about traffic increases to the area, but they referred people to the Placer County Transportation site for more updates. The Sunset district has been zoned industrial for 40 years.