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Placer Sentinel

Supervisors Approve Contracts Furthering the Placer Ranch Development

May 19, 2016 12:00AM ● By Source: Scott Sandow, County of Placer

Placer County is now one step closer to bringing more economic, education and residential opportunities to south Placer County, as the board of supervisors today awarded two contracts for planning of the Placer Ranch project and the Sunset Area. The contracts will help county staff prepare plans, studies and analysis for the proposed development.

The Sunset Area is the largest contiguous underdeveloped area in the region. Surrounded by the cities of Lincoln, Rocklin and Roseville, Sunset offers excellent opportunities for business and education development. For several decades, Placer County has viewed the approximately 8,200-acre Sunset Area as its primary location for possible economic development. Placer Ranch makes up approximately one third of the Sunset Area.

Placer County today awarded a $1,271,140 contract to Mackay and Somps Civil Engineers Inc. to prepare the Placer Ranch Specific Plan and complete associated technical studies for the master-planned development. Some of the technical studies needed to complete the plan include: design standards and development guidelines, traffic impact studies, potable water guidelines, water conservation plan, recycled water master plan, sewer master plan and more.

Mackay and Somps prepared many of these documents when the project was being developed by a private company, but in the fall of 2015, the company withdrew its development application. Placer County has since decided to process the application itself, because Placer Ranch is considered critical to the future of the Sunset Area. Awarding the contract to Mackay and Somps saves the county time and money from having to replicate those key documents allowing the firm to complete the technical studies from where they last left off.

The board also authorized the Department of Public Works and Facilities to execute an agreement with Stantec Consulting Services Inc. to conduct a sewer services alternatives analysis for the area surrounding Athens Avenue in the Sunset Area. Under the contract, $200,000, which includes an estimated $150,000 for consultant services and $50,000 for labor and ancillary costs, Stantec will explore the most efficient and cost effective way to deliver sewer services to the greater Sunset Area.

Placer Ranch would host a 300-acre satellite campus for California State University, Sacramento which could support up to 25,000 students and 5,000 faculty and staff along with a Sierra College transfer center that would serve an additional 5,000 students. With the proximity to William Jessup University, Sierra College and eventually the University of Warwick, which is currently preparing to offer graduate-level classes as soon as 2018, together these projects would form an unmatched higher education cluster that offers countless connections to the technology and research sectors.

Placer Ranch is a critical component to the overall success of the Sunset Area Plan and is envisioned as a catalyst for development for the rest of the Sunset Area. Placer Ranch will also provide critical backbone infrastructure and support the development of Placer Parkway as a planned alternate to Interstate 80 for traffic to Sacramento, eventually connecting Highways 65 and 99.

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