Land Use in the Sierra Valley

Posted by jesikah maria ross

February 27, 2007

There is a idea that has been floating around in my head for the past month. It's from a conversation I had with Steve Frisch of the Sierra Business Council in preparation for an upcoming public radio feature Saving The Sierra is doing on outcomes from the dispute over land use in the Martis Valley, outside of Truckee, CA.

At one point, Steve said "For the Sierra Nevada, land use planning is everything, which is not true of all places. Coming to good land use planning decisions touches everything we've been talking about: community character, class, the environment, economics." As you might surmise, we were having a pretty wide ranging discussion on impacts of recent development in the Sierra.

What has captivated my imagination is how crucial land use planning is and how in California systems are set up to ensure public participation in such planning, not that the particular set up we have or the processes used are the most effective, meaningful, or always the most democratic.

Which brings me to an email I received last night from Tony Maddalena, a rancher in the Sierra Valley who we featured in a radio piece called Saving The Ranching Way of Life which explores land use, development pressures, and how folks are coming together across divides to preserve both the rural way of life and the health of local economies in the Valley. (To listen to this piece or the whole series on Saving The Agricultural Way of Life head to http://www.savingthesierra.org/radio ) I'm posting Tony's email below to share his announcement as well as to spark conversation about land use planning in the Sierra, especially when it comes to balancing increasing human use (in this case development for homes) with the vitality of working landscapes and the character of rural communities.

I 'd sure be interested to hear what folks think about the importance of land use planning in the Sierra, any land use planning success stories (where folks came together across differences to make it work), and thoughts on what's going on in Sierra Valley.

Comments?

From Tony Maddalena, Feb 26 2007

Tuesday March 6, 2007 is shaping up to be one of the most important days in the history of Sierra County and Sierra Valley. Most of you are probably aware of the fact that the City of Loyalton, along with some developers and a county supervisor are stopping at nothing to try to annex land South of Loyalton for development. At the same time, the Goicoechea family, the Marsh family and the Potter family wish to put their ranches in the Farmland Security Zone. They have this right and have followed all of the rules throughout the process. The City of Loyalton, the developers and the county supervisor are fighting them every step of the way. It has gone far beyond slow growth vs. pro growth. These people are now challenging State conservation programs that ranches, farms and open space depend on. If the Sierra County Board of Supervisors vote against these three FSZ applications on March 6th, agriculture will suffer a tremendous blow. If they vote for the applications, the developers have threatened lawsuits against the Goicoechea family and the county. Besides threatening our agricultural programs, there is another huge threat to our industry and our way of life. If these developers and politicians get away with this, it will open the door for many more just like them. If they get away with their bullying and/or lawsuits, we can expect many more greedy developers to find Sierra County in short order. They have launched an all out attack on Sierra Valley. Do not take them lightly. Please plan to be in Downieville on March 6th. We don't know the time just yet, but will let everyone know as soon as possible. Let's not look back on March 6th as the day that changed Sierra Valley forever. Please help us take a stand against these people who care nothing about this county and this valley. They will make their money and move on. Please take a stand on this most important of issues. Please forward this to everyone you can think of. If they get it three times it will be better than not at all. If you have any questions, please call Tony at 994-3553 or 514-0011 or call Dave at 993-4059.