January 24, 2007

Dear Honorable Supervisor Nottoli,

The revised Draft Environmental Impact Report (DEIR) for the Elverta Specific Plan was released January 9, 2006, with comments due by February 22, 2006.  However, the Dry Creek Parkway Advisory Committee (DCPAC) had lingering questions regarding the DEIR as it relates to the Dry Creek Parkway.  To address this issue, the Department of Regional Parks invited Department of Environmental Review and Assessment staff to attend the June DCPAC meeting to answer questions.  At that meeting, the DCPAC made the following motion:
Recommendation to re-instate the option of not extending 16th Street to the Placer County line or south through the Dry Creek Parkway.
This was based on the understanding that although the north/south transportation alternatives were included in the traffic study for the DEIR, these alternatives were not included in the full environmental impact study, and as such, could not be acted upon by the Board of Supervisors during the hearings for the Elverta Specific Plan DEIR.  This action should not be construed as de facto support of the Dry Creek Road expansion option, but rather concern that not enough information was available in the environmental impact study to make an informed decision in the best interests of the Dry Creek Parkway.
The Recreation and Park Commission received testimony from the public and members of the DCPAC regarding the DEIR, however, the Recreation and Park Commission felt that because the north/south transportation alternatives were not addressed in the full environmental impact study, that there was not enough information to support the motion of the DCPAC.  Rather, the Recreation and Park Commission approved a motion to send a letter to the Board of Supervisors respectfully requesting that the Board consider that the DEIR does not thoroughly address the impacts of traffic/transportation to the Dry Creek Parkway.
Should you have additional questions regarding this matter, please feel free to contact me at (916) 991-2484.

Cordially,

Bob Bastian, Chair
Recreation and Park Commission

cc:                    Members, Board of Supervisors
                                    Robert Shanks, Interim Administrator, Municipal Services Agency
                                    Steve Pedretti, Deputy Administrator, Municipal Services Agency
Gary Kukkola, Director, Department of Regional Parks
          Joyce Horizumi, Director, Department of Environmental Review and Assessment
         Tom Zlotkowski, Director, Department of Transportation
          Debbie Byrne, Chair, Dry Creek Parkway Advisory Committee