Roseville could be granted a massive westward expansion if the city is willing to reverse course and join a land conservation plan, officials told the Business Journal this week.
Although details are preliminary, the gist of recent discussions is that urban development in Placer County should occur within city boundaries, while the county should guide conservation of land. The idea is expected to be aired publicly for the first time next month.
Until now, Roseville had declined to participate in the Placer County Conservation Plan, a decade-old effort to conserve 85,000 acres that will be funded by development as it occurs. But with the arrival of new city manager Ray Kerridge, that stance has softened, Board of Supervisors Chairman Robert Weygandt said.
"It's an idea that has a lot of merit," said Weygandt, who gave credit to fellow board member Kirk Uhler for the idea. "For the significant urbanization we have left, it would be better governance for that to go to the cities."
The tentative plan would allow any future urbanization south of the route for a planned roadway known as Placer Parkway to become part of the city of Roseville and anything north of it to become part of Lincoln, which has already signed on to the conservation plan. That's if the cities and landowners decide they want annexation.
That means large swaths of land targeted for development west of Roseville could eventually become part of the city if the deal comes together. It's an idea that's simple in concept but "incredibly challenging" to get off the ground, Weygandt said.
"We're open to the discussion," Kerridge said. "Of course it's all subject to the details." He said there have been some informal discussions but nothing concrete has been proposed. But there could be some benefits to Roseville signing on to the conservation plan", he said, while the cost of building infrastructure for the new urbanization will have to be thoroughly explored before any decisions are made.
That such a discussion is occurring at all is a relief to Weygandt, who said some of Roseville's own City Council members had questioned why the city was not part of the conservation plan.
He and Uhler expect to present the idea to fellow county board members at a meeting next month.
Uhler said he got the idea upon noticing that counties struggling under strained budgets tended to be those with significant urbanization like Sacramento County, which faces a $70 million general fund shortfall this fiscal year. That led him to wonder whether Placer County is prepared to deliver urban services on a massive scale over the coming decades.
"It's a question of what are we good at and what we are not so good at," he said.
Cities like Lincoln and Roseville, however, are accustomed to growth--Roseville is in the process of adding thousands of acres to its west that will someday hold new homes and commercial development.
Under this deal, Roseville could seek to annex projects such as the huge 5,200-acre Placer Vineyards development bordering Sacramento County, which envisions 14,000 homes built over the next three decades. Placer County approved the project in 2007 but infrastructure will cost more than $400 million.
"Placer Vineyards has not been in discussions regarding this," said Doug Elmets, a spokesman for the Placer Vineyards landowners group, which is the region's largest entitled community. "Placer Vineyards is in the county and they're planning to develop in the county."
Guy Spitzer, who heads Cornish & Carey Commercial’s land brokerage, represents a landowner within Placer Vineyards. He said the deal could be good for all sides.
"The City of Roseville has a proven record of building large developments," he said.
There are other proposals bordering Roseville as well, such as land developer Angelo Tsakopoulos' plan for a university development on 1,100 acres. Additionally, developer Eli Broad offered to donate almost 300 acres from a proposed 2,200 acre housing and commercial project for a university campus, although he withdrew the proposal when the economy tanked in 2008.
"I think it's a huge deal," said David Jarrette, an appraiser who's done extensive work in Placer County. "Roseville is the happening place. They know how to get things done and have a reputation for building infrastructure and providing the amenities."
Jarrette said that from a marketing standpoint, such a deal could improve land values due to Roseville's solid reputation among developers.
Still, those effects are years away and assume that the new-home market will be much more viable than it is now. Uhler noted that no one is contemplating annexation today. But even a discussion about annexation of those areas couldn't happen without Roseville signed on to the conservation plan.
