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Extracted from Consolidated Report
This investigation was originally published as part of a larger consolidated report containing multiple investigations. View the consolidated PDF for the complete document.
El Dorado County Grand Jury
• 2013-2014
El Dorado County Grand Jury 2013-2014 Golden Center Plaza Approved in Violation of Legal Requirements
⚠️ Translation Notice: This content has been automatically translated. The original English text is the official version. Translation may contain errors.
⚠️ Este contenido ha sido traducido automáticamente. El texto original en inglés es la versión oficial. La traducción puede contener errores.
Findings 4 findings
F1
Both the Planning Department and Commission failed to properly review the Golden Center Golden Center Plaza design based on County Zoning Ordinances and accepted standards. a) The shopping center has significantly fewer parking spaces provided than are required by the Zoning Ordinance. b) There is no loading zone on site as required by Zoning Code 17.18.080. c) There are no recreational vehicle spaces as required by Zoning Code 17.18.060 d) No internal operations analysis was performed resulting in a highly congested shopping center which does not function well for pedestrians, vehicular traffic or tenants.
F2
The lack of professional review by the Planning Department and Planning Commission along with failure to require proper parking, loading zones and recreational vehicle parking resulted in material benefits to the developer in terms of increased building coverage.
F3
The action of (now) former Board of Supervisors member Jack Sweeney, interceding with the Director of Transportation to have a loading zone approved on Golden Center Drive, a public right of way, for the benefit of a private development, was inappropriate.
F4
When deficiencies in the project became apparent no action was taken to require the developer to fix the deficiencies and bring the project into compliance with mandatory legal requirements.
Recommendations 5
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R1The Planning Department and Planning Commission need to reevaluate Golden Center Plaza parking as built based upon County ordinances and standards and report to the Planning Commission and Board of Supervisors detailing any shortfall of parking based on County requirements.
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R2If it is found by Planning Department and Planning Commission that any shortage of parking exists of any type at Golden Center Plaza, the Director of Development Services should notify the developer of the violation and require the developer to correct such zoning violations through site modifications to parking or other mitigation.
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R3If the developer fails to correct the violation, the Director of Community Development or District Attorney should proceed with actions defined under Paragraph 17.12.030 Penalty of Violation of the Zoning Ordinance.
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R4The Department of Transportation should not allow private citizens to perform painting of public curbs and erection of signage in a public right of way
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R5The Planning Services Discretionary Review Process should be modified to include review of projects by the Department Director as well as the Principal Planner. RESPONSES Responses to both findings and recommendations in this Report are required by law in accordance with California Penal Code §933 and §933.05. Address responses to: The Honorable Suzanne N. Kingsbury, presiding judge of the El Dorado County Superior Court, 1354 Johnson Blvd., South Lake Tahoe, CA 96150. This Report has been provided to the Planning Department, Planning Commission and Board of Supervisors. The Presiding Judge of the El Dorado County Superior Court additionally requests that the responses be sent electronically as a “Word” file or “PDF” file to facilitate the economical and timely distribution of such responses. Please email responses to the El Dorado County Grand Jury at: [email protected]
No Responses Found 1
Government entities assigned to respond to this report. No response documents have been linked in our database.
El Dorado County Board of Supervisors
Elected County Office