By Brad Branan, Sacramento Bee

Granite Bay has some of the region’s most expensive real estate, with big homes on large rural lots that have attracted well-heeled buyers who prize the area for its pastoral quality near Folsom Lake.

Though the area has seen its share of development in recent years, turning into an affluent suburb of 20,000 residents, some are fighting to preserve the area’s more rural properties in the face of plans by home builders.

That fight has become the central issue in the supervisor race to represent Placer County District 4, which covers Granite Bay and parts of Roseville.

Longtime incumbent Kirk Uhler thinks developers should be able to build more homes on low-density land in Granite Bay. His support for home builders has attracted a late challenge from financial planner Victor Bekhet, who lives behind one of the proposed developments and has gathered support from neighbors who think Uhler is too aligned with builders who have contributed to his campaign.

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