El Dorado County may finally get oak-management plan

[Matthew]

It may have seemed like it took longer than a tree to grow from seed, but if all goes according to schedule, the El Dorado County Board of Supervisors will be poised to adopt a long-awaited oak woodland management plan April 1.

The draft document was released for public review in November, and planners sought the board's direction recently on several policy issues. Planner Peter Maurer said he expected to release the environmental report next week, schedule a hearing before the Planning Commission in March, then bring the plan to the board for a hearing and adoption in April.

Available board meeting dates, Maurer said, were April Fool's Day and Tax Day. The board chose April 1.

The plan, which has been debated for nearly two years, outlines how trees are to be protected while allowing for land development. It is required under the general plan, the county's blueprint for growth.

Adoption of the plan will allow landowners who must remove trees for development the option of paying into a fund to preserve oaks at other sites, rather than planting replacement trees elsewhere on their property or at off-site locations.

The county's general plan, adopted in 2004, provided both options. But under a legal settlement with the environmental group El Dorado County Taxpayers for Quality Growth, the Board of Supervisors agreed to postpone the fee option pending adoption of the oak woodland management plan.

The management plan identifies prime oak woodlands appropriate for conservation and provides the basis for the fee.

Updating the board on the plan Tuesday, Maurer said, "The amount of the fee is still a matter of paramount concern."

The goal, he said, is to "make sure it is as low as possible, but still does the job it is intended to do."

The supervisors directed Maurer, as part of the environmental study, to examine fees from $3,250 to $14,000, allowing them to choose a figure in that range when the plan comes back for adoption.

Among other policy issues, Maurer asked for board direction on how to measure the tree canopy. Choices ranged from identifying just the footprints of each individual oak tree or stand of oaks affected by development, to measuring the oak woodland habitat, including not only the tree canopy, but also associated grassland and other vegetation.

Maurer recommended basing the measurement on the oak woodland canopy, which would include all trees, not just oaks, within the oak woodland. This method, he said might be less expensive for landowners than identifying individual oaks because the woodland area could be easily determined from aerial photographs.

But Supervisor Jack Sweeney said, "People are upset enough that we're trying to save oak trees. And we're going to save digger pines?"

The board directed that only the oak tree canopy be measured.

The board also directed staff members to:

- Require payment into the conservation fund, in lieu of replacing trees on-site, on a 1:1 ratio, the same as for on-site replanting, rather than a 2:1 ratio. Staff members had suggested that the 2:1 ratio would help compensate for the net loss of oak woodlands.

- Define areas of "agricultural cultivation" as they are defined in the Public Resources Code, to include production facilities such as packing sheds and wineries, as well as land planted with crops. Areas of agricultural cultivation are exempt from the requirements of the oak woodland management plan.

- Exempt from the plan trees that must be removed within 30 feet of a structure to provide defensible space for fire protection.

- Work with the county counsel on a provision exempting road-widening projects if the widening is critical to the road alignment.

The board also approved a Planning Department recommendation to begin including the fee option as a condition for projects that are likely to obtain building permits after the oak woodland management plan is adopted.

The board stressed that the option would be contingent on adoption of the plan.

[Matthew]

A vision of a "green" El Dorado County that is pedestrian and bicycle-friendly, and promotes recycling, alternative fuels, water conservation and clean air won praise from residents and elected officials.

But a proposed resolution prepared by the county's Youth Commission for adoption by the Board of Supervisors elicited more than verbal pats on the back for the county's future leaders Tuesday. Stressing that the document will guide county policy, the board called for several additions.

Corey Harkins, co-chairman of the commission's environmental, parks and recreation committee, said Supervisor Norma Santiago enlisted the group's help in October to create a policy that would encourage "green" reconstruction projects in the area burned by the Angora fire near South Lake Tahoe in June.

"It became a more broad statement of environmental vision in our county," Harkins said in presenting the resolution to the supervisors Feb. 12.

The Youth Commission, made up of teen representatives from throughout the county, advises the Board of Supervisors on issues that affect youths.

The environmental vision grew out of forums and meetings with individuals and groups, including the Boys and Girls Clubs of El

Dorado County and Lake Tahoe, the Washoe Tribe Youth Council, state Resources Agency officials and county staff members.

Surveys were distributed to science classes at high schools countywide, Harkins said, and approximately 600 students responded.

Citing answers to three key questions, he said, nearly 69 percent of students think the county lacks sufficient sidewalks, 71 percent believe cars and transportation have a "huge impact" on the environment, and 86 percent say they would support local government policy encouraging environmentally friendly building and transportation.

The proposed resolution sets forth goals in seven categories: transportation, traffic and transit; planning and construction; waste; energy; air quality; water quality; and education, outreach and awareness.

They include expanding transit opportunities; using clean-fuel vehicles for county employees; encouraging energy efficient development; promoting recycling and use of recycled products; providing incentive rebates to encourage replacement of older wood stoves with cleaner burning devices; and linking community design with the long-term health of citizens.

Laura Gill, county chief administrative officer, said, "These goals are actions that we can take and in fact already are taking as an organization."

The county has some clean-fuel vehicles, she said, and El Dorado was recognized by the state as a rural county that is diverting more than the required 50 percent of waste from landfills.

The supervisors praised the resolution as a well-thought-out document. Board chairman Rusty Dupray said it reflects many of the smart-growth principles in the Sacramento Area Council of Governments' Blueprint program.

Supervisor Ron Briggs, who operates an organic farm, said, "I endorse what it says, but it has a huge something missing and that's agriculture. If you protect agriculture in the county, you protect the environment."

Supervisor Helen Baumann said the resolution also should mention the need for sustainable forests and management practices that prevent catastrophic wildfires.

Seventy percent of the county is in timber, she said.

"Renewable forests are a source of economic stimulus in the county," Baumann said. "When they burn down, it truly is catastrophic."

Supervisor Santiago also recommended emphasizing the need for defensible space around homes in fire-prone areas.

Placerville resident Chris Alarcon said the resolution should include an analysis of the fiscal impact of the policies. Alternative energy sources typically are more expensive, he noted.

Others urged the students to pursue their vision. El Dorado Hills resident Noah Briel said El Dorado County has a reputation for being politically conservative, and "what you are saying is not very conservative."

But, he said, "Don't run away. Fight for what you want."

Former county Supervisor Bill Center recalled that he was on the board 15 years ago when civic leaders gathered to help form the local Boys and Girls Club.

Saying he was pleased to see the effort come full circle, he praised the Youth Commission for producing a "place-based, amenity-loving resolution."

"So much of what we have in El Dorado County is place-based," Center said. "It can't be exported to China."

Supervisor Briggs said none of the board's requests for additions was intended to diminish the Youth Commission's achievement in drafting the resolution.

"It's a function of what we say and what people read. We're giving direction to the county," he said of the need to provide a document that is as complete as possible.

Commission member Colleen Moore said, "We understand that this is like a stepping-off place. It will develop."

Commission members said they would return with a revised resolution Feb. 26.

As for the next step, Harkins said he expects other county commissions and agencies to use the resolution to develop policy and "to re-evaluate what is our environmental position in the county."