Supes delay decision on Meyers plan

Brendan Ferry with the El Dorado County Planning Department briefs supervisors about the Meyers Area Plan on Oct. 28. Photo/Kathryn Reed

By Kathryn Reed

El Dorado County supervisors are not ready to sign-off on the Meyers Area Plan. Instead, they want the community to weigh in at one more public meeting.

The Meyers issue was the main item on board’s agenda during their annual meeting in Lake Tahoe on Oct. 28. It was clear the supervisors, except for Norma Santiago, were unfamiliar with this unincorporated area to the west of South Lake Tahoe. They asked about demographics, boundaries of the area, didn’t understand what a TAU (tourist accommodation unit), or CFA (commercial floor area) were.

Supervisor Brian Veerkamp asked more substantive questions pertaining to how things are working with Caltrans and water concerns. In response to one of the 18 people who spoke, Veerkamp cautioned people about wanting a traffic light on Highway 50. He said all they do in Placerville is create a greater backup, and that once they are in it’s near impossible to get one removed.

The four (Supervisor Ron Briggs was absent) agreed to have a board workshop in December in the basin to hash out the remaining issues concerning the area plan. Those include height limitations for new construction, how much can be built per acre (density), the ability to transfer commercial floor area square footage (looking at economic and environmental concerns), and the creation of an advisory council that would report to the supervisors and have to follow open meeting laws.

The county Planning Commission when it met last week went against staff’s recommendation and said the local working group should be more casual and not have to adhere to the Brown Act.

However, everyone who spoke to this concern on Tuesday said they wanted the group to have transparency. After all, some of the reason for Meyers’ becoming splintered of late is because of the perceived backroom deals made at meetings that were not publicized. Going forward all sides want the ability to hear what is being discussed before it seems to be a done deal.

The supervisors agreed.

Most of the public comments centered on the process for the past 32 months.

Brendan Ferry, planner with the county, gave a brief history to the board about the process that started in February 2012.

He had hoped to have a final draft of the area plan done in November. That won’t happen now that there will be a workshop. Also delayed is the start of the CEQA environmental review process.