Bear Valley development spurs lawsuit

The Calaveras County Board of Supervisors announced Tuesday the county could pursue legal action against a Alpine County development plan that would expand residential and shopping offerings at Bear Valley Ski Resort.

The announcement was among several actions taken by the board at its last meeting of 2009. Supervisors  also took positions on a proposed road to New Melones Reservoir near Copperopolis, and the purchase of land for a new animal  shelter.

Supervisor Russ Thomas announced that, during a previous closed-door board meeting, supervisors unanimously voted to prepare for legal action against the proposed Bear Valley Village development project.

An environmental impact report on the project, released last year, concluded it would increase traffic along Highway 4 through Calaveras County.

Located just across the Alpine County line, the project calls for, among other things, the addition to 64,000 square-feet of retail space, 491 residential units, a 50-person employee housing facility, and amenities like daycare facilities, snowmobile parking and a ski club. In all, 14 buildings would be erected.

Thomas said the board does not oppose the plan, but the vote was a “shot across the bow” aimed at furthering stalled negotiations on relieving traffic congestion.

Tom Garcia, director of Public Works, praised the move.

“It was exactly the clarification the (Alpine County Board of Supervisors) and the developer needed,” he said. “It allowed us to open negotiations again, this time successfully.”

Following the announcement, the board gave, as per its routine, unanimous approval to the consent calendar, a group of items considered to be non-controversial.

The board received a very non-routine reaction: applause.

Nearly half the chamber was filled with Calaveras Humane Society supporters, who were overjoyed at the passage of an item directing Jeanne Boyce, county administrative officer, to identify county land suitable for a new animal shelter.

Members had made frequent and strenuous appeals before the board in the preceding weeks, saying time was running out with construction due to begin soon on a jail complex that will displace the current, aging shelter.

The board Tuesday also gave its formal support to a resolution urging federal officials to pursue an access road from the Copperopolis area to New Melones Reservoir.

Development interests from the area gave their whole-hearted support to the plan, as did all the members of the board.

“This reservoir is underutilized, and I think that is because of the access,” said Supervisor Russ Thomas, who has been actively promoting the inclusion of the road.

When the U.S. Bureau of Reclamation was trying to sell county officials on the reservoir in 1976, the plan it presented said the man-made lake would one day attract 3 million visitors a year. It has never had more than 800,000.

“There are some big benefits to the county,” said Paul Stein, a former county supervisor who is now vice president of land planning at Castle & Cooke, a real estate development firm.   

But Melanie Lewis, owner of Glory Hole Sports, located on what is currently Calaveras County’s only access road to the reservoir, disagreed.

“There’s not enough tourists to go around,” said Lewis, who believes the road would force her business to close. “This is going to be great for Castle & Cooke, but not for Angels Camp.”

The board voted 5-0 to adopt the resolution, which will call on the bureau to honor the original plan for the area in formulating their new Resource Management Plan and, as such, study developing a new access road, along with equestrian, pedestrian and biking paths on the surrounding lands.

Any action will likely be 15 years away, or further, as Greg Mayer, owner and Realtor with Century 21 Central Sierra Realty pointed out.

“If I’m alive when this happens, I’ll be happy,” he said.