Living by the dump Placer County OKs major residential development, college campuses near landfill by Graham Womack
university-related, non-residential use,” as well as In recent decades, Placer Ranch sat largely roughly 5,600 homes. undeveloped as nearby cities Roseville, Rocklin Michele Kingsbury, a management analyst for and Lincoln more than tripled in population. Placer County, said the concepts for Placer Ranch While regional housing shortages have continued and the Sunset Area have both been around for to fuel explosive growth in southwestern Placer more than 20 years. County, there has been a good reason the 2,213“It’s just a natural growth and extension of acre area stayed vacant: development in this area,” Kingsbury told SN&R. It sits adjacent to the Western Regional AEL chairperson Leslie Warren said her Sanitary Landfill. group spent $11,000 on its plan, which proposed No matter. The Placer County Board of dwelling units for all 60,000 people who would Supervisors voted 5-0 on Dec. 10 to approve be working in the Sunset Area “so people won’t the Placer Ranch Specific Plan and to update have to commute out of the area to find housing.” a development plan for the parent 8,497-acre Warren said she believes the county gave short Sunset Area plan. shrift to its plan, while prioritizing its own. The board’s actions could bring 8,000 “It’s a 1980s plan that they’re approving residents and campuses for Sacramento State in 2020, and it’s not going to be built out University and Sierra College to the land. until 2050,” Warren told SN&R. But even supporters of the plan “People aren’t going to want housacknowledge that the smell could be ing from 1980.” unavoidable in the new develop“There will Steve Pedretti, director for ment, where the closest houses be odors.” the Placer County Community will sit just 2,000 feet from the Development Resource Agency, landfill. Bonnie Gore defended looking past the alli“There will be odors,” Placer County ance’s plan. Supervisor Bonnie Gore told supervisor “With the AEL proposal, it was SN&R. “But they can be mitigated essentially some private citizens, to a good amount and we feel like a small group of private citizens, we’ve done enough to make sure that who were planning other private citizens’ that landfill—which is a huge priority to our properties without talking to them,” Pedretti community—is protected.” told SN&R. County records show that Placer Ranch The land for Placer Ranch is owned by a contributed $1,000 in 2019 to Gore as well as company connected to Eli Broad, who Forbes $200 to another Placer supervisor, Jim Holmes. estimates as the 84th-richest person in the world The board’s meeting in Auburn lasted with a net worth of $6.8 billion as of Dec. 13. more than eight hours with testimony from the Meanwhile, the alliance has taken to Alliance for Environmental Leadership, or AEL, a coalition of 14 groups that submitted an alterna- GoFundMe to finance a possible lawsuit under the California Environmental Quality Act. As tive plan for the land. of Dec. 19, the group had gathered $3,740 in “Obviously, I’m a little sad and discouraged,” donations. said Annie Bowler, a member of the group. “But Warren said her group was looking at taking we’re not giving up. There’s lots and lots of some of its key issues to the state legislature people that are not in favor of this development and state agencies including the California State as it’s currently going through.” Transportation Agency, Air Pollution Control A Dec. 11 press release from the county noted District and Solid Waste Management Board. She that the goal of the Sunset Area plan update was also said she had contacted her attorney and was “to create a unique employment, entertainment strategizing about next steps. and education center that would provide regional “It’s determined that we have grounds for a benefit and create high-wage jobs for residents lawsuit,” Warren said. Ω of nearby cities and unincorporated areas.” The release also noted that the Placer Ranch Specific Plan would add “approximately 8.5 million square feet of commercial, employment and
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