Reflecting how the majority of people have chosen to live since ancient Rome—out in the countryside away from the city—developers have created a community that is now being challenged by the usual suspects, but hopefully the leadership that has been approving it for the past 15 years will remain on track.
Yuba project fight heats up
February vote to decide conversion of rural site to homes, businesses
By Todd Milbourn - Bee Staff Writer
Published 12:00 am PDT Monday, September 24, 2007
Yuba County Supervisor Hal Stocker calls the project an example of "leapfrog sprawl." His colleague on the board, John Nicoletti, sees the housing development as "good for the local economy, good for the local community."
But it will be Yuba County voters who ultimately decide whether the controversial Yuba Highlands project -- 5,100 homes in the rolling foothills near Beale Air Force Base -- becomes reality.
The vote is five months away, but the run-up appears certain to be a spirited -- and likely well-financed -- campaign. Already, critics of the project have filed two lawsuits, saying the development has not undergone sufficient environmental review.
"This is a huge regional issue and not just for Yuba County," said Mark Augustine, a Loma Rica resident who helped collect signatures to get the measure on the ballot. "It's going to affect Nevada County and Sutter County in terms of air quality and traffic, and definitely the cities of Wheatland, Lincoln and Linda. These commuters will have to drive through those cities to get to job centers."
Yuba Highlands would transform a vast swath of pastoral, oak-sheltered grasslands into a bustling bedroom and retirement community, home to about 13,000 residents.
The 3,000-acre site is in the heart of rural Yuba County, sandwiched between Beale and a wildlife refuge, accessible today only by narrow, gravel roads.
Gary Gallelli, the Rocklin developer behind the project, said the site is as good as any in Yuba County.
"If you look at Yuba and you don't want to build on the floodplain and you don't want to build on prime ag land, you build where Yuba Highlands is," Gallelli said.
