Developer's tree-cutting angers group

Developer's tree-cutting angers group
Sierra Club says Bickford Ranch project should have spared oaks.
By Niesha Lofing -- Bee Staff Writer
Published 2:15 am PST Monday, January 31, 2005


Environmentalists and builders are at odds again over the controversial Bickford Ranch development, this time over ridgetop oak trees being felled.
Sierra Club officials say they are furious that Lennar Communities - which is developing the nearly 1,900-home project in Placer County - reneged on a good-faith agreement made in court to protect the trees on certain ridgetops.

Officials said the trees could potentially have been included in a woodland preserve the group hoped would become part of a settlement agreement.

"To us, this is sending a message that they're not willing to talk anymore and (are) willing to violate the understanding they had with the court," said Terry Davis, conservation coordinator for the Mother Lode chapter of the Sierra Club.

He added, "If they think we're not going to press ahead legally, they're wrong."

The developers, however, say that no agreement exists for a woodland preserve, and settlement talks ended unsuccessfully months ago.

"There is tree removal going on on the site, and it is all pursuant to the county approvals," said George Phillips, land-use attorney for Lennar Communities. "Inspectors are on site, and (contractors) are removing only those (trees they are) permitted to remove. Oak reforestation and planting is going on as well."

The Sierra Club has been embroiled in lawsuits in recent years over Bickford Ranch, a plan for 1,890 homes, a private golf course, public parks, a commercial center and 720 acres of open space on 1,942 acres of pastureland and ridges between Penryn and Lincoln.

Opponents claim the project would tax the water supply, cause traffic congestion and is too big for the area.

The development will require the destruction of about 10,600 oaks, but the plan states for every tree lost, two will be planted in its place. There are about 78,700 trees on the site.

The Sierra Club asked the 3rd District Court of Appeal to halt construction shortly after the plan was approved in October by the Placer County Board of Supervisors. The court issued an order halting construction but later reversed its decision, allowing the project to continue.

The Sierra Club then sought temporary restraining orders and preliminary injunctions from Placer Superior Court, which were denied. Davis contends construction was allowed to continue because the developer agreed not to cut trees on certain ridges.

Davis said a document filed Dec. 23 in Placer Superior Court by the developers shows they went back on their word.

The document states the developers "do not intend to remove trees from Ridges Nos. 9, 11, 13 and 15 during that eight-week period" that began Dec. 23.

An e-mail message from David Bingen, senior civil engineer for Placer County, to Davis on Thursday further emphasizes that Lennar Communities didn't want trees on certain ridges to be cut down.

"The contractor has explicit instructions from Lennar to avoid those areas of concern," Bingen wrote.

The e-mail also states he was informed Thursday that Lennar Communities had decided to begin removing trees on two of the ridges they had previously stated were to be avoided.

Bingen didn't return a call for comment.

When asked to comment on the dispute, Anita Yoder, the county's public information officer, simply said, "The project's been approved."

Lennar attorney Phillips confirmed that the decision to cut some of those trees ahead of schedule was made this week, primarily due to weather changes.

"They are using certain equipment, and there was concern that it would be too wet to get the equipment up there, but they were able to figure out conditions that allow them to get out there," he said.

Phillips said because the project was approved, and there is no court order stopping them from proceeding, construction will continue.

The bottom line, he said, is that trees are being removed to make way for development.

"The project, as approved, provides for development on those ridges," he said.

The Bickford Ranch project was approved in 2001, but the approval was tossed out last year by visiting Placer Superior Court Judge John Golden, who ruled that the planning document was too difficult to interpret.

Golden, however, ruled that the environmental documents remained valid.

The decision stemmed from lawsuits filed by a consortium of environmental groups - including the Sierra Club, a citizens group and the town of Loomis - claiming the county violated its development policies when it approved the project and that the project's environmental documents were invalid.

The project was resubmitted to Placer County supervisors and approved in October, despite staunch opposition by rural residents, many of whom live near the development.

Claudia Starkey, who lives below the project on Allen Lane in Penryn, said watching the trees being cut down is awful.

"It's physically painful to see," Starkey said. "The scale of the tree-cutting up there is mind-blowing."

Starkey said she is disturbed because there's no way to verify that the proper number of trees are being felled.

"The only thing we can do is stand on Clark Tunnel (Road) and squint," she said. "We're trusting these people who aren't exactly wedded to honesty or civic discourse."

Developers estimate that people will move into Bickford Ranch by 2006.


About the writer:
The Bee's Niesha Lofing can be reached at (916) 773-6846 or nlofing [at] sacbee.com.