Politicians, especially local ones, generally respond very well to what the majority of their constituents want and they have done so in this case, providing a community of spacious homes, large lots, car-oriented, with lots of parks, trails and open space.
Editorial: In Placer, region's Blueprint withers on the vine
Supervisors' decision makes sprawl look like the region's growth plan of the future
Published 12:00 am PDT Wednesday, July 18, 2007
The Placer County Board of Supervisors dealt a severe blow Monday to the Sacramento region's efforts to grow up, instead of out.
Siding with developers, the supervisors approved a low-density mix of 14,132 homes for the Placer Vineyards project west of Roseville. None of the five supervisors endorsed an alternative "Blueprint" plan that would have allowed more residences to be built on this pivotal 5,230-acre property. That would have put housing closer to jobs and created the kind of community where transit is a viable option.
We had high hopes that Supervisor F.C. "Rocky" Rockholm would help make Placer a leader in designing a community that would retain its appeal far into the future. Instead, he and others opted for the same-old, same-old -- and offered a number of unconvincing reasons for their decision.
At Monday's meeting, supervisors mouthed fears that the higher-density Blueprint alternative would increase regional traffic congestion. Rural residents in nearby Sutter County could bear the brunt of this traffic, they said, creating bad neighborly relations on Placer's border.
