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Dear Shingle Springs residents and rural lifestyle supporters:
The Shingle Springs Community Alliance (SSCA) has been tracking several projects and initiatives at the County level that you should be made aware of. Summarized below are two pending construction projects and a County planning initiative.
1. Proposed ARCO Gas Station and AM/PM Market at the Corner of South Shingle Road and Durock Road
A Folsom-based developer intends to build an ARCO gas station with a car wash and AM/PM market at the southwest corner of Durock and South Shingle roads. The project has worked its way through County approvals and a public hearing is forthcoming. The hearing has yet to be scheduled and we will follow-up with the date once the meeting is scheduled – it is important for community members to show up and provide input at the hearing!
The SSCA has engaged with the developer and the County Planning Department by providing input but several issues remain. Most notable is the traffic impact to the already congested intersection. The developer’s traffic study concluded “The project would not be anticipated to contribute substantially to increased traffic in the area”. Yet the traffic study estimates there will be 1,650 vehicle trips per day entering and exiting the gas station. The main entrance to the gas station will be off of South Shingle, but vehicles leaving the gas station onto South Shingle will only be allowed a right hand turn away from the freeway. The developer expects the majority of exiting vehicles to turn right onto Durock then turn left at the stoplight to access the freeway and overpass. That plan will result in a backup of cars on Durock and a significant increase of traffic on Sunset Lane for those exiting south onto South Shingle and wanting to return to the freeway via Sunset Lane and Motherlode Drive.
We have pushed for a more aesthetically pleasing building design than the initially planned generic stucco design. The developer showed willingness to replace the stucco finish with a faux wood siding and brick look (using a concrete material), and replace the flat roof over the gas pumps with more of an A-frame type raised roof. However, the developer is refusing to include stone elements into the design such as those used at the ARCO station at the corner of Green Valley Road and Sophia Parkway in El Dorado Hills (which the developer/owner owns).
The AM/PM market plans to sell vaping and tobacco products and the owner refuses not to sell those products, even in the face of the recent Countywide moratorium on granting business licenses to new tobacco sales shops, and the vaping problems at Camerado Middle School and Ponderosa High School.
Attending the public hearing and voicing your concerns about increased traffic congestion, building design and/or vaping product sales will be necessary to impact the County’s decision on approving or disapproving this project as currently proposed.
2. Ponderosa Road Freeway Overpass Expansion and Realigning North Shingle Road and Durock Road
CalTrans plans to widen the Ponderosa Road freeway overpass to 5 lanes with bike lanes and sidewalks on each side. That work is not scheduled but according to County DOT staff is expected to occur in perhaps 10 years. Phase I of that project calls for realigning North Shingle Road through the vacant field to access Ponderosa Road near the Happy Kids Daycare property. A stoplight will be constructed at that location, and the existing stoplight at North Shingle and Ponderosa will be removed. Durock Road is to be realigned behind or through the equipment rental yard business and access South Shingle Road at Sunset Lane. A stoplight will be constructed at that intersection and the existing stoplight at Durock and South Shingle will be removed. Note that realigning Durock Road will impact the planned ARCO gas station and further complicate traffic flow, as the planned driveway onto Durock Road will then be replaced by a driveway into the Park & Ride where another driveway from the Park & Ride will lead to Durock Road. According to County DOT staff the road realignments are already funded and construction is tentatively scheduled to begin in 3 to 5 years.
3. County Plans to Direct Future West Slope Housing Developments to Shingle Springs
The County hired a consulting firm, “bae urban economics”, to come up with Countywide residential growth projections over the next 20 years (through 2045) within “Community Regions” along the west slope of the county, excluding the city of Placerville. The highest projected residential growth rate over the 20-year period was allocated to Shingle Springs at 5.23%, with the next highest rate at 1.34% for Cameron Park. All other areas evaluated (El Dorado Hills, Diamond Springs, greater Placerville area and “Balance of West Slope”) were below 0.75% growth projected. The plan calls for allocating 17 homes in Shingle Springs by 2025 and 57 additional homes by 2030, then ramping up with 414 more homes by 2035, 427 more homes by 2040 and 1,265 additional homes by 2045. That totals to 2,180 homes by 2045 which would urbanize Shingle Springs. Our population would increase from roughly 3,700 today to an estimated 13,000+ by 2045. That is unacceptable.
Concerned community members should question this and provide feedback to County leaders. You can do this by attending BOS meetings, public hearings, and emailing your supervisor at:
bosone@edcgov.us John Hidahl, District 1
bostwo@edcgov.us George Turnboo, District 2
bosthree@edcgov.us Wendy Thomas, District 3
bosfour@edcgov.us Lori Parlin, District 4
bosfive@edcgov.us Brooke Laine, District 5
Team SSCA on behalf of the
Shingle Springs Community Alliance
Keeping Shingle Springs Rural
www.ShingleSpringsCommunityAlliance.com
www.facebook.com/ShingleSpringsCommunityAlliance
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