Central El Dorado Hills project going through new environmental review

According to a government relations official with Parker Development Co., the project to redevelop a golf course into primarily housing would still pass environmental review. That’s even with new state law that took effect last year requiring consideration of how many vehicle miles traveled a project would produce, said Kirk Bone of Parker.

But that consideration triggered the requirement to recirculate the draft environmental impact report for the project, he said. The original report, as required under the California Environmental Quality Act, measured impacts of up to 1,000 homes. But after consultation with county officials and refining the number of homes on high-density parcels, the actual number built is likely to be closer to 737, Bone said.

“Our preference would be to end up with a project that utilizes the CEQA document we have now and ends up with less units than what’s allowed under that CEQA document,” he said.

Central El Dorado Hills would be built over two sites: Pedregal, on the west side of El Dorado Hills Boulevard and with up to 242 housing units; and Serrano Westside, east of El Dorado Hills Boulevard and with up to 758 homes.

A strong contingent of El Dorado County residents, though, is still likely to push back. The El Dorado Hills Executive Golf Course has been closed since 2007, and opponents have said redeveloping it would mean a loss of open space.

“Off the top, the overall sentiment of the residents is that they oppose this project,” said Jim Pridemore, a member of the project opposition group Parks not Parker, in an email. While he said he hadn’t yet fully digested the recirculated environmental impact report, he noted there were potential concerns about allowable alternative uses for the property under zoning.

What’s allowed under zoning may prove to be another twist in the project. Bone said after Parker Development looked into it further, the zoning for the golf course might also allow uses such as hotels, or even an entertainment-style development such as Topgolf.

“The underlying zoning has some pretty intense development possibilities,” he said, adding Parker’s preference is still for a residential project. While such other uses might be economically viable, he said, he’d expect they’d also draw opposition.

Because the golf course would be too small to stay competitive, he said, reopening it is not in the cards.

El Dorado County’s planning commission will have a workshop on the recirculated environmental impact report on May 25, Bone said, with a possible vote by the commission on Sept. 23. An El Dorado County Board of Supervisors vote on the project might be possible by year’s end.

Even then, though, the possibility of litigation, market changes and the need for infrastructure and other work make it difficult to say how soon an approved Central El Dorado Hills project would move forward, Bone said. At least two years away would be a reasonable estimate, he said.