Professional Documents
Culture Documents
It appears that 69 buildings are to be built in Lemmon Canyon, accommodating at least 716
people in buildings, tents and RV trailers. There will be parking for 400 cars. There will be 123
wood burning fireplaces, adding to the pollution problem in the valley. There will be 10,185 sq
ft of Conference Room space. There will be employee housing. This development is much too
large. It needs to be dramatically reduced and right-sized.
It appears that 69 buildings are to be built in Lemmon Canyon, accommodating at least 716
people in buildings, tents and RV trailers. There will be parking for 400 cars. There will be 123
wood burning fireplaces, adding to the pollution problem in the valley. There will be 10,185 sq
ft of Conference Room space. There will be employee housing. This development is much too
large. It needs to be dramatically reduced and right-sized.
It appears that 69 buildings are to be built in Lemmon Canyon, accommodating at least 716
people in buildings, tents and RV trailers. There will be parking for 400 cars. There will be 123
wood burning fireplaces, adding to the pollution problem in the valley. There will be 10,185 sq
ft of Conference Room space. There will be employee housing. This development is much too
large. It needs to be dramatically reduced and right-sized.
It appears that 69 buildings are to be built in Lemmon Canyon, accommodating at least 716
people in buildings, tents and RV trailers. There will be parking for 400 cars. There will be 123
wood burning fireplaces, adding to the pollution problem in the valley. There will be 10,185 sq
ft of Conference Room space. There will be employee housing. This development is much too
large. It needs to be dramatically reduced and right-sized.
It appears that 69 buildings are to be built in Lemmon Canyon, accommodating at least 716
people in buildings, tents and RV trailers. There will be parking for 400 cars. There will be 123
wood burning fireplaces, adding to the pollution problem in the valley. There will be 10,185 sq
ft of Conference Room space. There will be employee housing. This development is much too
large. It needs to be dramatically reduced and right-sized.
1.14 Campground for 7900 50+ 150 in tents This camp-ground and RV
150+ people in plus 36 in 12 (trailer) park would be
tents and RVs RVs? located on a 7.5 acre site
with 44 to 48 encircling “Sensitive”
parking spaces habitat and adjacent to
wetlands. It will be visible
from Lemmon Canyon Rd
and SR49, being only
partially screened due to
fire considerations. A tent
and trailer park ghetto for
150+ people cannot be
allowed and especially not
in this sensitive area when
the applicant has 635
acres from which to find a
better location. Loyalton
just got rid of its unsightly
trailer park after years of
trying. It is inappropriate to
put a year-round tent and
trailer park of this size in
Lemmon Canyon. How
many barbecue pits will be
provided? These produce
just as much pollution as
wood burning fireplaces
thus contributing to the Air
Quality problem in Sierra
Valley. Outdoor cooking
should not be allowed.
It appears that 69 buildings are to be built in Lemmon Canyon, accommodating at least 716
people in buildings, tents and RV trailers. There will be parking for 400 cars. There will be 123
wood burning fireplaces, adding to the pollution problem in the valley. There will be 10,185 sq
ft of Conference Room space. There will be employee housing. This development is much too
large. It needs to be dramatically reduced and right-sized.
1.18 Market/Deli for 700 1 n/a The plan calls for this
CampGround market to be built adjacent
Compound to a beautiful meadow.
Why? Surely it would
make more sense to build
a market in downtown
Sierraville?
It appears that 69 buildings are to be built in Lemmon Canyon, accommodating at least 716
people in buildings, tents and RV trailers. There will be parking for 400 cars. There will be 123
wood burning fireplaces, adding to the pollution problem in the valley. There will be 10,185 sq
ft of Conference Room space. There will be employee housing. This development is much too
large. It needs to be dramatically reduced and right-sized.
2.1 An unspecified number Page 28 The Applicant must cover the cost of running
of new propane tanks underground natural gas lines to the project so that
would be located within above ground propane tanks are not required.
the Compound to serve Propane Tanks are a major contributor to wild-fires
the needs of the (see the recent Camp Fire in Yuba County)
community
2.2 Under the proposed see Table 3 on The applicant has a 635 acre site. From an
plan, the top priority for Page 29 environmental and biological perspective it make no
development is the 7.5 sense to locate this campground adjacent to
acre 50+ unit camp sensitive wetlands and encircling an area designated
ground (tent city) and as “Sentitive Habitat”. Applicant should relocate it.
an RV park (trailer park)
for 150+ people
2.3 Under the proposed page 29: Under the proposed plan no formal project phasing
plan, the applicant has Project is identified for buildout of the Masterplan”. Why?
sole discretion in Buildout Surely it would make sense to agree on a build-out
determining the paragraph plan?
sequence of the
buildout.
2.4 Under the proposed page 31: Use Taking into consideration the capacity of proposed
plan the max population Assumptions conference rooms, campgrounds, the trailer park for
of this resort is RVs, the restaurant, the hotel and cabins, I calculate
expected to be 529 that the maximum population could be at least 716
people - an increase of people. Where will they park and what about the
3 4 % o v e r t o d a y ’s traffic coming through Sierraville? The proposed
population. development is much too big and should be right-
sized.
2.5 The applicant is asking Page 32 and See also my comments in Table 5.
Sierra County to grant pages iv and The Re-Zoning Amendment, if approved, will allow
1) a zoning change 2) a v the applicant to build on land currently zoned as
Conditional Use Permit General Forest (GF) and Agricultural (A-1). The
and 3) a 20+ year Applicant seeks to rezone their land to PD_SP so
D e v e l o p m e n t they have the power to change the land use at a
Agreement with the future date, via a series of amendments to the 20+
option to extend year Development Agreement that the Applicant
beyond 20 years in 5 wants Sierra County officials to approve. Surely this
year increments. implies that today, the community of Sierraville and
the County don’t actually have a clear understanding
of what the Applicant is planning to do over the next
20+ years. This calls into question the relevance of
the plan that the community of Sierraville has been
asked to comment on.
2.6 The County identifies 32 Page 34, 35 Could it be that experts in these areas and hundreds
potentially significant of Sierra Valley residents do not agree with the
e n v i ro n m e n t i s s u e s County’s assertion that it is OK to downgrade all 32
affecting Lemmon issues to “insignificant”? Please provide the science
Va l l e y a n d S i e r r a and factual data that you used to determine that the
County. The County impact was “insignificant” when all issues were
claims that ALL such originally found to be “potentially significant” to
i s s u e s a re a c t u a l l y Sierra Valley and Lemmon Canyon.
“insignificant”due to
mitigations
2.7 County headcount and Sierra County is one of the poorest counties in
expertise to manage California. I worry about the impact of this project on
and oversee a project of the County’s limited budget. Given the size, scope,
this size and scope complexity, the environmental issues and the
proposed 20 year duration of this project, surely the
County would need to hire a significant number of
people to manage it, oversee compliance and
enforce remediation of out-of- compliance events? I
think that the County will need to hire at least 10
people to supervise this project. I think that the
Applicant should cover the cost rather than Sierra
County tax-payers. Note that the Applicant is a tax-
exempt 501 (3) (c) organization. Check IRS.gov for
information on tax exemptions. What is the County’s
staffing plans and budget for this project and how is
it funded?
2.8 60% of this 65 acre Page 53 - 54 The applicant owns 635 acres of land. Therefore the
development (i.e. 39 applicant can move the project to another area of the
acres) will be located property away from woodlands that are known to
within a mixed conifer provide habitat to numerous species of bats and
woodland, thus endangered birds
requiring felling of
numerous trees of
varying sizes
2.9 Paving would be “at the page 30 Why? Surely paving should be a requirement to
d i s c r e t i o n o f t h e paragraph 2
reduce/mitigate air pollution (PM 2.5) from gravel
applicant” Page 100 road dust and noise from 500+ vehicles driving along
a gravel road? The report states that the gravel road
is already almost at capacity with 270 daily
roundtrips. 300 daily round trips is the maximum.
This project expects 1875 trips. Page 98
2.10 Construction will occur Page 31 : How could any community tolerate this? We cannot.
all year long for up to 11 Construction 5 days a week from 8 a.m. to 6 p.m. is consistent
hours a day, 7 days a schedule with how other communities handle these things.
week and for 20+ years.
2.11 Grading and earthwork Require that such work is limited to Summer and
would primarily occur Fall. Define which months in the Master Plan. A
Summer through Fall, compliance plan ought to be put in place with a
although would not be system of substantial fines for all out of compliance
limited to those months. events. Again, 11 hours a day, 7 days a week for 20+
Such work would be years is not acceptable.
allowed up to 11 hours
a day, 7 days a week
2.12 The County and the Page 30, The revenue to pave these roads must be secured
applicant recognize the paragraph 2 before these plans are approved. The roads must be
need to pave Lemmon paved before any ground is broken. It is an air
Canyon Rd, Campbell pollution and noise pollution issue. Sierra County is
Hot Springs Rd, and 4 one of the poorest counties in California. The cost of
acres of parking but paving must surely be borne by the Applicant since it
they don’t have the is the primary beneficiary. See my comments on
money to pay for it. Sierra Valley Air Quality in Item 1.11 in Table 1.
Both parties are
“exploring funding
sources”
3.2 Air Quality 13 issues The level of construction, the heavy construction
traffic, the increase in passenger vehicle trips by
guests, the 123 wood fireplaces will have a
dramatic impact on the air quality in Sierra Valley
- all the way into Plumas County. See item 1.11 in
Table 1 for my Comments on the air quality
problem in Sierra Valley today.
3.3 Biological 6 issues Clearly the biological issues identified impact the
Resources entire Sierra Valley
3.5 Geology & Soils 10 issues These issues appear to impact the entire Sierra
Valley
3.7 Hydrology & 10 issues The goal of the project is to develop between
Water Quality 32.4 and 63.5 acres much of which is adjacent to
sensitive habitat, a deer migration route and
wetlands. This report acknowledges that the
primary leach field for disposal of sewage and
other waste water could be subject to failure or
underperformance and in that case the entire
63.5 acres will be used to develop an additional
leach field. Surely, the sensitive habitat and
wetlands surrounding this project will be at risk
when the leach field fails, as predicted in this
report. The County should require the Applicant
to clean-up and pay for the restoration of
sensitive habitat and wetlands that is damaged or
destroyed by sewage leaking from the
inadequate leach field.
3.8 Noise 1 issue The report states that the Construction Phase of
this project is expected to last over 20 years. This
means that people, and equally important, the
wildlife living in this area will be subjected to
construction noise pollution for 7 days a week for
20+ years. During weekdays the noise will be 12
hours a day, starting at 7 a.m. On Saturdays the
noise will last for 9 hours, starting at 9 a.m. On
Sundays, construction noise will last for 8 hours,
starting at 10 am. It is unreasonable to expect
any community to tolerate this. A 20+ year
Development Plan cannot be allowed. A 5 year
plan for the build-out of this project is much more
reasonable, with no construction allowed on
weekends and on weekdays construction must
be limited to 8 hours - from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m.
3.9 Transportation & 3 issues Sierra County is already out of compliance with
Circulation Federal Air Quality standards - particularly ozone
(smog) and particulate matter (PM2.5) which
comes from smoke and unpaved gravel roads.
PM2.5 particles are small enough to get into the
lungs and from there into the bloodstream and
then into the brain and other critical organs. It is
bad stuff. We do NOT want more of that. Smog is
caused by traffic and with this project we will
have 20+ years of heavy construction traffic plus
increased passenger traffic, thus increasing smog
levels in Sierra Valley and neighboring Plumas
County (which is also out of compliance with
Federal Air Quality Standards). This project needs
to be right-sized - dramatically reduced in scope.
Sierra County and Plumas County must take
meaningful steps to ensure that both counties
meet ALL Federal Air Quality standards within 2
years.
Total of 62 Proposed 14 issues 48 issues Who will enforce and measure the effectiveness
“Mitigations” of such mitigations. What is the system of fines
covering 10 for non-compliance and clean-up? Where does
potentially significant the budget for compliance officials come from?
environmental issues, The County does not have the personnel. County
48 of which impact Offices are a 90 minute drive away over a 7,000
the Sierra Valley and foot mountain pass.
5.1 The County has been aware Page 1, Why has this project been allowed to progress
of this development for 4 Paragraph 3 for almost 4 years without any input from the
years (since Feb 2015) community? What was the thinking behind that
decision?
5.2 What is the nature of the Page 1, Need a break down by 1) The Construction
employment opportunities Paragraph 6 Phase and 2) Operational Phase. Job Titles, Job
that the County and the descriptions, and hourly, salaried and pay scale,
applicant believe will arise as with or without benefits. The jobs are mostly for
a result of this development? cleaners, massage therapists, cooks etc. Sierra
County needs jobs that gives people a salary
that allows people to buy a home, raise a family,
buy a car and take occasional vacations. These
jobs don't achieve that goal.
5.3 The applicant demands the Page 3. We don’t need a camp-ground ghetto in Sierra
right to build the proposed Section Valley. Loyalton had one and it has taken years
facilities in any order that 1.20 Project for the city to rid itself of that eyesore. No
meets their financial goals. Phasing campground or trailer park of this size in Sierra
Their goal is to start with a Valley, please. Thank you.
large campground for 150
people living in tents, plus a
trailer park for 8 to 12 RVs.
5.4 County Staff will review Page 3, Full (not partial) compliance with the approved
Building permits for Section 1.3 Master Plan should be required
substantial compliance with Applicable
the approved master Plan Conditions
Applied to
Phase
Developme
nt
5.5 The landowner may request page 3, This cannot be allowed. What is the point of
modifications to the approved paragraph having an approved Master Plan if the applicant
Master Plan and if such 1.3 has no intention of following it?
modifications are out of
compliance with the agreed
Master Plan, the landowner
will have the option of
requesting an “amendment to
the approved Master Plan”
5.6 If the Applicant requests page 3, Again, the approved Master Plan must be the
m a j o r c h a n g e s t o t h e paragraph final. Changes cannot be allowed, otherwise it is
approved Master Plan - there 1.3 not a “Master” Plan. It is simply a perpetual draft
could be a whole new cycles that is subject to constant amendments.
of public hearings and
appeals meetings with Board
of Supervisors.
5.7 All existing facilities are Page 4 b. This is false. The Applicant's existing gray water
currently served by systems Wastewater disposal system at the Hot Springs is currently
a p p ro v e d b y t h e S i e r r a Disposal out- of-compliance.
County
5.9 Discussion as to how to find a page 5 c. Heavy construction traffic will destroy these
source of tax revenue to pay Access
gravel roads and lead to a dramatic increase in
for paving Lemmon Canyon (last 2 air pollution across the entire Sierra Valley and
and Campbell Springs Rd paragraphs) particularly in Lemmon Canyon and the town of
Sierraville. These roads must be paved before
the project begins. The applicant is the primary
beneficiary and therefore should fund the entire
cost or voters should be given an opportunity to
vote on a Bond Measure so that the County can
borrow the money at tax-payers expense.
5.11 Gravel roads and parking lots Page 6 e. But at the cost of dramatically increased air and
will improve drainage Drainage pollution from dust and noise pollution from
heavy construction equipment and passenger
vehicles moving over a noisy gravel surface.
There will be a dramatic increase in PM2.5 levels
across Sierra Valley and into Plumas County due
to dust from gravel roads and parking lots. Is
Plumas County aware of this?
5.17 L a n d s c a p i n g s h o u l d b e Page 9 p.
This implies that views (Aesthetics) will be
minimal so as not to increase Landscapin severely negatively impacted by this project
fire danger in parking lots and g because it will be impossible to adequately and
next to buildings safely use vegetation to screen from view: 400
parked cars on the proposed 4 acres of parking
lots, the unsightly Shower Rooms, Toilets,
Maintenance Facilities, or the Maintenance yard
with heavy equipment and 7.5 acres of camp-
sites with 50 tents and a trailer park with 8 to 12
RVs. This is not acceptable. The project must be
scaled back dramatically.
5.24 The applicant wants the Page 12 This cannot be allowed. What we know is that all
County to approve a 1.45
sorts of laws will be introduced and others
Development Agreement so Developme amended between 2019 and 2039. The climate
that the Masterplan is valid nt will change, air and water quality may
for 20 years - until 2039 - and Agreement deteriorate. Fire will become more common. No-
with the option to seek one can see 20 years into the future. It is too
additional extensions beyond risky to grant the Applicant a 20 year approval
2039 if the County Board of for the Master Plan, via the proposed
Supervisors is in agreement Development Agreement. Wouldn't that make
the Applicant exempt from complying with new
laws that are introduced? Surely we don't want
to do that? Surely, it makes more sense to
approve a dramatically down-sized version of
the Master Plan for 5 years WITHOUT a
Development Agreement attached and without
rezoning there Applicant’s property.
6.2 Septic tanks and leach Page 69 A viable solution, one that works throughout the
fields calendar year, for disposal of gray water has not been
proposed.
6.4 Roads Page 30 Roads and parking lots must be paved before this
paragraph 2 project begins to reduce air and noise pollution. The
Study states that paving will be at “applicant’s
discretion” and that a source of funds to cover the cost
has not been found, by the applicant or Sierra County.
Sierra County should have a funding source lined up
and approved before this project is approved.
6.6 Internet Masterplan Only the city of Loyalton has broadband. The Sierra
Page 7 h. Valley is “served” by slow and expensive satellite
internet (whose capacity is already at its limit) and by a
slow terrestrial internet infrastructure based on a
system of repeaters that are mounted on structures
such as buildings, trees and poles across Sierra Valley.
A requirement of this project should be that modern,
high speed Broadband cable is extended from Loyalton
to Sierraville. This will benefit guests of the proposed
development and Sierraville residents, alike. Reliable
high speed internet service with enough capacity for all
will bring better paying jobs to the community. The
County should work with State officials to secure
funding and make this happen.