No San Stino Development

http://www.mtdemocrat.com/letters/open-letter-to-board-of-supervisors-for-no-san-stino-development/

No San Stino development

By Letters to the Editor, Mountain Democrat, April 5, 2013

From page A5 | 13 Comments

EDITOR:

Dear members of the Board of Supervisors, I know you get a lot of this stuff, so let me see if I can at least lighten it up or at least entertain you.

Genie: “I am the great Genie of the San Stino Project Proposal. What may I do for you?”

Stan: “My family built our home here almost 40 years ago. Our goal was to raise our family and retire in a rural community. We knew that someday these properties would be taken out of Ag. Preserve and developed by descendants of the owners. We actually voted for the General Plan in 2004 as the zoning shown on the plan, minimum of 5 acres, plus agriculture, was consistent with a rural community. We didn’t know what a Community Region was, but it sounded like a good thing. Surprise. It’s not.

We have been model citizens of El Dorado County, volunteering in the schools, youth sports, adult recreation, raising our children with rural values to become responsible citizens.

After the kids were gone, we became supporters with both time and charitable donations to some of the very deserving and important causes within our county. A few of the organizations that benefit from our involvement are Snowline Hospice, Center Against Violent Relationships, M.O.R.E., C.A.S.A., Habitat For Humanity, and El Dorado Community Health Center. The last one I have served on the board for the last five years. We also participate in local fundraisers for various causes throughout the county.

I also serve as the chair of the Hillwood Community Services District, which is one of the districts adjacent to this proposed project. The HCSD did not enter a NOP as we felt that we could not fairly do so without an official vote of the residents. I can as a resident tell you though after contacting most of the residents of the district, that the opposition to this project as proposed is over 90 percent with a few who don’t care, but none who expressed support.

So, Genie, here’s what I want for my three wishes.”

Genie: “Sorry, but I said I’m the Genie of the San Stino Project Proposal and will grant you no wishes! The only one that can grant your wishes is the El Dorado County Board of Supervisors.”

So, Board of Supervisors, please keep the Shingle Springs area rural by granting these wishes.

1. Remove the Community Region around Shingle Springs.

2. Maintain the zoning as it currently is in the General Plan.

3. Deny the San Stino proposal immediately.

The importance of this last one is to allow hundreds of citizens including myself to get back to our regular lives. I already have countless hours dedicated to this. The amount of time, money and effort expended on this by the county and our citizenry would be much better focused on the positive things we can do for our community.

This will however be the sole receptor of my time, money and effort at the loss of many fine organizations and worthy causes until it is settled.

Thank you for your concern.

STAN AND JUNE STAILEY

Shingle Springs

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Discussion | 13 comments

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SusanMarch 29, 2013 - 5:42 am

    • Great letter! BOS I hope you are listening

    • Kathy OttenbergApril 03, 2013 - 12:23 pm

      • Thank you for writing this excellent letter. The point about the time residents need to invest is very much on target. In order to fight this development, and Tilden Park, residents are expending huge amounts of time and money that could be put to MUCH better purposes in helping to meet existing needs in El Dorado County. I hope the Board of Supervisors will take note of this. In my own neighborhood, a number of families have spent hours attending meetings, sending emails, writing letters, etc. - and we aren't even adjacent to the development, but feel Shingle Springs would be very negatively impacted by it.

    • NancyApril 05, 2013 - 3:14 pm

      • RECALL every person on the BOS who votes for San Stino.

    • Shingle SeniorApril 05, 2013 - 8:22 pm

      • Hold the BOS and the Planning Dept. responsible for rubber stamping these developments. We have lived here long enough to know that these projects are handed to Planning and told to pass them through the process with all receiving a Negative Declaration on any EIR. The conditions are never enforced or even placed on these projects. I love that the public is being made aware of the process (sic#$%) that is only in place to try and fool the public into believing that EDC cares about keeping our communities rural and not flattened by asphalt and concrete. Thank you Stan and June and everyone for fighting for Shingle Springs.

    • francescaduchamp@att.netApril 06, 2013 - 11:28 am

      • http://www.csmonitor.com/USA/Latest-News-Wires/2012/0711/Why-San-Bernardino-and-two-other-California-cities-are-going-bankrupt-video Why San Bernardino, and two other California cities, are going bankrupt (+video) "The taxpayers of this city have been duped, hoodwinked and misguided for the past several years," Valdivia said, according to the Sun.

    • Mark StaileyApril 06, 2013 - 11:50 am

      • Board of Supervisors: As one of Stan & June's sons, I had the wonderful privilege of growing up in Shingle Springs, attending Buckeye through Ponderosa, and enjoying all that a rural town has to offer. In the 30 years since, there have certainly been modest changes to the commercial areas around the freeway and that is to be expected; however, the scope and scale of what is being proposed by San Stino in the rural living areas of Shingle Springs will do nothing less than DESTROY the way of life in this small town. I ask you, how would you like a dense housing development of this proportion in your backyard?

    • iakjwlfgwApril 07, 2013 - 4:27 am

      • hello worldl, i am new herer

    • brenda boissevainApril 07, 2013 - 2:53 pm

      • BOS I raised my children here in shingle spring cause of the rural values this area has to offer. A quieter way of life then the bay area where I grew up. I have property here and want my children if the so choose to be able to raise their children here to with as close to the same life style they had. Please deny San stino tilden park. 3g Gallo off durock rd and any other proposed devlopement that isn't in line with what shingle springs residence want. Grant us the three wishes. Its the right way to go for our preservation of a rural life style.

    • francescaduchamp@att.netApril 07, 2013 - 3:21 pm

      • they thought it would work...Safe, sustainable shale resource development. It’s achievable. This belief forms the foundation for the Center for Sustainable Shale Development (CSSD) – an unprecedented collaboration built on constructive engagement among environmental organizations, philanthropic foundations and energy companies from across the Appalachian Basin. "Fracking coalition upsets both greens and drillers" http://news.yahoo.com/fracking-coalition-upsets-both-greens-drillers-180136589.html The New economy is having some problems.

    • Susie O.April 07, 2013 - 8:01 pm

      • Frances, what the heck are you talking about???!! Nothing related to the subject, it appears.... BOS - this community is serious. Stop rolling over and rezoning everything. If it doesn't pencil out for the developers and the current land owners to build at current zoning, well, that's business. The developers and land owners should not feel ENTITLED to upzone to make their venture profitable at our expense.

    • francescaduchamp@att.netApril 07, 2013 - 8:42 pm

      • Susie O...my comment was in the wrong place. lolol...however...even this development deals with community advisory boards--sustainability--which is making cities and counties go broke. And unless you have some way to stop these groups--this development is not going away.

    • francescaduchamp@att.netApril 07, 2013 - 9:02 pm

      • UC Davis scholars' paper raps El Dorado County planning as dysfunctional Read more here: http://www.sacbee.com/2012/06/19/4572191/uc-davis-scholars-paper-raps-el.html#storylink=cpy Good luck to your community

    • Ashley BlinnApril 07, 2013 - 9:03 pm

      • Thank you for publishing this excellent letter! It is vital to preserve our environment for tomorrow and for years hence. The Shingle Springs area is an important component of the Sierra Nevada foothills watershed. This resource will be increasingly valuable locally, and to the State. We must keep Shingle Springs rural and the foothills healthy.