Cottonwood comes back for new life
The Cottonwood Park Planned Development project, Phases 4 and 6, has been revived with the same developer  but a new owner, and at last week's Placerville City Council meeting, the project received unanimous approval to go ahead.
Phase 4 and 6 are the final phases of the project that began in 1988 located on 49 acres between
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Pleasant Street, Roddan Court and Anderson Way.  Other phases of the project already completed include 45 single family homes, 78 apartment units,  and 81 senior apartment units. Phases 4 and 6 of the Cottonwood Park Planned Development consist of  39 single family residential parcels on 22 acres, and include a continuation of Constellation Drive between Clay Street and Poverty Hill Road/Roddan Court and a proposed internal road, Utah Drive. Approval for the development plan was given by the Placerville Planning Commission and the City Council in 2006 with a two year window, but the original owner, Edward Mackay, did not file to extend the approval when it expired in 2008.
When Mackay defaulted on the project loans, River City Bank became the owner of the property and it is proceeding with developing the final phase of the project using Patterson Development, the company that has been involved with the engineering of the project since its inception. The plans submitted to the Planning Commission in September and to the City Council at Tuesday's meeting are virtually the same plans submitted in 2006 and were conditioned with 109 conditions of approval.
Paul Zappetini, longtime resident of the area, handed the City Council photographs of the project area where vegetation had been removed for construction, causing a significant loss of forest. In addition, a fire had destroyed trees in the project area, said Zappetini, and a grove of some 30 diseased trees was removed and the developer had not reforested.
"We must begin the reforestation now, before starting to build," said Zappetini.
The lack of reforestation, according to Councilman Mark Acuna, was a key factor in the Planning Commission's split vote on the project approval in September.
"Two of the planning commissioners had strong views about reforestation because it hadn't happened," said Acuna. Condition 99 dealing with the City Woodland and Forest Conservation Ordinance was expanded to state that the developer must submit a reforestation plan, begin implementing reforestation within two years and post a bond to ensure performance.
Considerable public input was received with regard to speeding traffic in the project site, particularly on Clay Street, and condition 110Â added a three-way stop sign at the intersection of Constellation Drive and Clay Street for additional traffic safety. Another condition for traffic was amended to include speed bumps north of the intersection of Constellation and Utah drives.
Duffey Park, a public park on 1.5 acres and a long awaited part of the project, is still under design review by the City Council and so was not part of the discussion of approval for the development plan.
Councilmen Acuna, Carl Hagen and Vice-Mayor Dave Machado and Councilwoman Patty Borelli were present for the unanimous vote. Mayor Pierre Rivas was absent.
E-mail Wendy Schultz at wschultz@mtdemocrat.net or call 530-344-5068.
Wendy Schultz
Wendy Schultz is an award winning writer and journalist whose work has appeared in a variety of venues internationally.
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