It is important to begin from the guiding principles of a plan when determining if a project has realized its hopes, and this project appears to have done so.
Another View: Vineyards accomplishes Blueprint objectives
By F.C. "Rocky" Rockholm - Special to The Bee
Published 12:00 am PDT Sunday, August 12, 2007
The Placer County Board of Supervisors made the right decision July 16 when it voted unanimously to approve Placer Vineyards, opting for a base plan that calls for building slightly more than 14,000 dwellings.
The Sacramento Bee questioned that decision in an editorial, arguing for the Blueprint plan, a higher-density option that would allow more than 21,000 residences to be built on 5,230 acres at the southwest corner of Placer County. That option is a response to the Blueprint Project, a smart-growth program developed by the Sacramento Area Council of Governments.
Either plan works for me, base or Blueprint. Both rely on sound planning principles and contain smart-growth features.
I helped develop the Blueprint Project as a member of the SACOG Board of Directors, first as a representative of the Roseville City Council and now as a representative of the board of supervisors.
Blueprint is based on seven key principles: transportation choices, mixed-use development, compact development, housing choice and diversity, use of existing assets, quality design and natural-resource conservation.
Looking at the base plan for Placer Vineyards, I see those principles at work.
It will be a sustainable community with mixed uses and about 700 acres of open space. The base plan includes more than 50 parks and a community-wide trail system. It protects wildlife, enhances riparian corridors and preserves oak groves.
The project provides for a mix of housing with low, medium and high densities.
Placer Vineyards will have about 4,100 residents per square mile at build-out. That's substantially higher than the 2,736 people per square mile in Rocklin and 2,838 people per square mile in Roseville.
