South County application deemed complete

A proposed master-planned community in south Colusa County has taken its first big step toward becoming a reality.

After several months of revision and review, the Colusa County Department of Planning and Building gave its stamp of completeness to the General Plan amendment application for the project, known as the South Colusa County Gateway Community.

Pacific Cascade Group first proposed the project in 2004, in conjunction with Prudential Financial, with whom they earlier formed Colusa Heritage Partners, an Arbuckle-based firm.

The application requests an amendment to the General Plan, from its current industrial and general agriculture designation to a new “Community Planning Area” designation.

Pacific Cascade hopes to build 330 homes a year at County Line Road over a 20-year period, a project that could serve as a springboard for new jobs and economic vitality for the county, according to its local partners.

On Monday, Jim Resney, senior vice president of Pacific Cascade, said he is grateful to the county staff for their hard work and assistance in completing the application.

“This was a major milestone,” Resney said. “We are now looking forward to working with the county as we move on to the next step in the process.”

According to Stephen Hackney, Colusa County Planning Director, the next step is the environmental analysis, as required by the California Environmental Quality Act.

“This work shall be accomplished by the county selecting an environmental consultant, to be paid by the applicant, to analyze the General Plan amendment based upon the project description provided in the re-submitted application,” Hackney stated in his July 23 letter of completeness.

Pacific Cascade has also offered to fund a contract planner to assist in lightening the load of the planning and building department as the process moves forward, at no cost to the county.

“We are aware of the need for a contract planner to ease that load,” Resney said. “Hiring a contract planner for the county would be a win-win situation for all concerned.”

Resney said he is pleased with the good relations Pacific Cascade has maintained with the county staff, and hopes the Colusa County Board of Supervisors will give the application serious consideration.

Resney stated that developers spent considerable time and effort into making sure the resubmitted application met the requirements of the county, and they are now pleased that it has been deemed complete.