COURT RULES AGAINST EL DORADO COUNTY BOARD OF SUPERVISORS

For Immediate Release

Contact: Sue Taylor (530) 391-2190

COURT RULES AGAINST EL DORADO COUNTY BOARD OF SUPERVISORS

December 23, 2015, Cameron Park, CA
The El Dorado Hills Town Center Apartments project approval has been overturned by the courts, one year after its approval by the Board of Supervisors. The court ruling substantiates the public’s claims that the El Dorado County Board of Supervisors abused its discretionary authority when it ignored the El Dorado Hills Specific Plan, the El Dorado Hills Area Planning Advisory Committee, and the El Dorado County Planning Commission, in addition to violating the County’s general plan, density limits, design standards, and the requirement to mitigate impacts to infrastructure in approving the Town Center Apartments project on December 2, 2014.

The following is an excerpt from the ruling handed down December 18, 2015 by the El Dorado County Superior Court on the matter of Citizens for Sensible Development in El Dorado Hills v County of El Dorado:

“As explained in detail below, the Court finds the administrative record contains substantial evidence that the proposed project might have significant environmental impact that requires further review. The Court finds that the project at issue is a new project, not a modified one and that substantial evidence exists to support a fair argument of significant traffic environmental impacts due to the project, despite existing or planned mitigation. The Court also finds that in approving the project, Respondent has not proceeded as required by law under CEQA.”

The documents and other related information are available here: https://saveourcounty.net/el-dorado-hills-town-center-apartments/

Camino resident Sue Taylor further explained, “Continuing their abuse of discretionary authority, the Board of Supervisors proceeded in a similar action on December 15, 2015 to approve the General Plan and Zoning Ordinance Update (TGPA/ZOU). Just like the Board’s action on the Town Center Apartment project, this General Plan and Zoning Ordinance overhaul forces the public to file a lawsuit against the County in order to protect the county’s resources, the voter-approved General Plan, and historic zoning rights. This end-of-the-year action will have an enormous negative impact on the rural nature of El Dorado County.”

“It is just one more example of why we need better representation on the Board of Supervisors,” added Rescue resident Ellen Van Dyke. “Supervisor Mikulaco voted along with Supervisor Veerkamp to approve the Town Center Apartments project last year, ignoring his District 1 constituents’ opposition to the project. The same pattern of disregard and reckless disdain of public input was exhibited by four of the five Supervisors in the recent vote to pass the General Plan and Zoning Ordinance overhaul, in spite of all the flaws pointed out by County residents.”

Shingle Springs resident Lori Parlin stated, “It was almost like déjà vu to see four out of five Supervisors vote to ignore environmental law – again. El Dorado County residents can no longer ignore the clear pattern set by the Supervisors. It is time for voters to take action and replace the current Supervisors with public servants that will represent our County as they promised rather than advocate for special interests.”
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