Keeping Copperopolis Safe

The dangerous wildfires in Paradise and Malibu California and the loss of life make it clear that Calaveras County must work with the local Copperopolis Community to develop adequate evacuation routes in the case of emergencies. Presently Little John Road is the access out of the southern areas of the Copper Cove Association and Saddle Creek Resort. The need for adequate traffic circulation will be increased as additional already approved development takes place in the Saddle Creek and Tuscany Hills communities in the years ahead.

There needs to be an alternative future road out of the western portion of the Lake Tulloch Basin. Currently the Airola Family is asking the county to give final approval of their effort to convert the former Oak Canyon Ranch Project into a huge conservation easement. It should not go forward without being amended.

The condition, amendment or denial, needs to take into consideration the written and fully executed agreements made in 2007 between Castle & Cooke, Tuscany Hills and the Oak Canyon Ranch projects for the amount of property needed to allow a secondary access. Per that agreement 26 acres of land would be exchanged for 26 acres of Airola's 3,256 acre ranch land amounting to .0007% the entire ranch.

This is a route on the West side of Saddle Creek Resort designed to connect to the intersection of Copper Cove Drive and Little John Road. Without this road, future traffic patterns and emergency ingress and egress for the Tuscany Hills and Copper Valley Ranch projects would need to travel down Little John Road. The county approved Tuscany Hills with the consideration that this road would be become a reality when and if necessary at some future time. We need this option for proper traffic circulation, a fire break and fire protection and emergency ingress and egress of all types.

We are hoping for a reasonable resolution that does not sacrifice the future of Copperopolis and enhances the safety of the community. We conclude with 3 key points:

· We are asking that the written agreements for the exchange of 26 acres put in place in 2007 between Castle & Cooke and Oak Canyon Ranch that occurred during the Tuscany Hills approval process be honored by the Airola Family.

· The Copperopolis Benefit Basin Traffic Analysis done in 2010 by county traffic consultants concluded this future road was preferred and desirable for secondary access to the southern Little John Road area and important for public safety.

· The Board of Supervisors during the approval process of the Tuscany Hills project in 2007 assured the Copperopolis community that this secondary access was desirable and preferred and would be an available option for the future when and if necessary.

We need your voice and support! At the December 4, 2018 Board of Supervisors meeting as well as adding your name to this Keeping Copperopolis Safe Petition. Should such conservation easement be recorded without amendment it will have negative impacts on the Copperopolis Community going forward.