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Father’s Day
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GORGEOUS GARDENS The Gardens of the Hills tour will inspire. ■
IN EL DORADO HILLS
INSIDE, A3
MAY 25, 2022
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Residents continue to denounce CEDHSP Sel Richard Staff writer El Dorado Hills residents persist in attempts to persuade county officials to reject Parker Development’s Central El Dorado Hills Specific Plan that proposes building 1,000 homes along El Dorado Hills Boulevard. At a special El Dorado Hills Community Services District meeting last Thursday, more than 110 attendees had the pavilion overflowing while almost 80 more viewed the proceedings virtually. District 1 Supervisor John Hidahl was the sole county supervisor in attendance. As board member Noelle Mattock explained, “This is just us trying to gain information from the community as to what they really desire to share with the county.” Mattock opened the meeting with a brief history of the project that requires a county General Plan amendment to
allow zoning to be changed from recreational facilities-high intensity to medium- and highdensity residential for the now defunct executive golf course at the El Dorado Hills Boulevard and Serrano Parkway intersection. As Mattock outlined the project’s 10-year trajectory, she touched on the CSD’s attempt at acquiring the golf course parcel, labeling Parker Development as an unwilling seller. “It was never a true negotiation,” she declared, “just another bait and switch on this community.” “$32 million,” revealed board member Sean Hansen. “That is the price tag if the rezoning passes for highest and best use.” Hansen proclaimed his hope for a denial of the rezone and the CSD’s subsequent return to acquisition negotiations. “We have enough rooftops,” opined board member Ben ■
See CEDHSP, page A5
Village Life photo by Sel Richard
Rayona Sharpnack addresses the El Dorado Hills Community Services District board as a line of residents waits to speak during a special CSD meeting last week.
Longtime Lake Forest leader signs off Memorial Day
honors the brave fallen
Julie Samrick Special to Village Life
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ake Forest Principal Bruce Peters will leave his post at the end of this school year, marking the end of an era for the school he has led for 15 years. He is hardly saying goodbye to education, however, but will return to his roots near Lake County where he will serve as superintendent of the Laytonville Unified School District. Peters, 50, has spent 23 years in the Rescue Union School District, first as a classroom teacher at Lake Forest and then as vice principal of Marina Village Middle School before he returned to Lake Forest as principal in 2007. “Back then people used to say, ‘You’re so young to be a principal,’” Peters said with a smile. “They don’t say that anymore!” He first became interested in teaching when he was 15 and walked a few yards to his former elementary school to volunteer as an instructional aide in his first-grade teacher’s classroom. “I really enjoyed it,” Peters recalled. “Before long, I
John Poimiroo Special to Village Life
Photo by Julie Samrick
Bruce Peters sits at his desk at Lake Forest Elementary. The principal will leave his post at the end of the 2021-22 school year. started teaching a daily lesson and that was what got me thinking that teaching could be my thing.” The first in his family to be a teacher, Peters earned both an undergraduate degree in liberal studies and a multiple subject teaching credential at California State
University, Chico. While student teaching, he had a positive experience again in first grade. “I felt primary was my wheelhouse,” he added, “but I’m kind of at the tail end of a dying breed of men being primary grade teachers.” He thinks growing up in a “tight-knit, small
community” is one reason he gravitated toward being an elementary teacher. “I had a large family and I always had a way of getting along with both the young and older members of my community,” he explained. One of Peters’ noted ■
See PETERS, page A5
After being asked to read the name of a veteran who died this past year, officers of the El Dorado County Veterans Alliance, which conducts Memorial Day ceremonies at the El Dorado County Veterans Monument in Placerville, considered, “Why read just one name? Why not read the names of all El Dorado County’s vets who passed away in the preceding year?” They were shocked when they got the answer. Green Valley Mortuary submitted a list of more than 220 veterans. A separate healthcare organization knew of another 100, but for privacy reasons was unable to provide their names. Five other organizations in the know replied it was too great a task to take on. “We first thought there might be 20 or so and were stunned to learn there were hundreds of vets who died in the previous year. That ended up being many more than we could read within the ceremony,” said Gary Campbell, president of the Veterans Alliance. “And so, on Memorial Day we will list all those whose names provided on a poster board for attendees to read. “Memorial Day honors and remembers those who died serving the cause of freedom,” Campbell explained. “It was established following the American Civil War to honor war dead and was then called Decoration Day after the practice of decorating war graves. In El Dorado County, we commemorate the day at the Veterans Monument ■
See MEMORIAL DAY, page A4
INSIDE NEWS VOL. 29
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ISSUE NO. 21
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SERRANO HOME A QUIET RETREAT
FOR GUARANTEED WEEKLY DELIVERY, SUBSCRIBE BY CALLING (530) 344-5000
This two-story gem in El Dorado Hills is located on a quiet street and next to a greenbelt.
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ORHS PLAYS STRONG FOR BRYCE The Trojans honor their teammate on and off the field with a winning season.
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VILLAGE HOMES, B1
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SPORTS, B2
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