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What is Keep It Rural, Calaveras (KIRC)? How did KIRC form?
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What gives KIRC the right to speak out about Trinitas?
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Who are KIRC’s supporters? What’s in it for you?
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Why name the group “Keep It Rural, Calaveras”? Doesn’t it imply your group is anti-growth?
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Is KIRC a business or a non-profit organization? Why not?
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What is Keep It Rural, Calaveras? How did KIRC form?
KIRC is a grassroots group of western Calaveras County residents who organized in July 2007 in response to the release of the Ridge at Trinitas Draft Environmental Impact Report. We shared concerns that the project would bring harmful changes to our rural community and way of life.
For some, it already had - bringing noise, dust, traffic, water issues and aggravation, beginning in 2001, when the developer first began building his ‘personal’ golf course – without any environmental review – on Agricultural Preserve land protected by Williamson Act contract, violating county, state and federal laws.
For more on this topic, see: “Keep It Rural, Calaveras – Why we Formed”, Lew Mayhew, Guest Editorial, Sonora Union Democrat, October 19, 2007
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What gives KIRC the right to speak out about Trinitas?
California law entrusts the public with the ultimate oversight responsibility to stop or mitigate projects creating significant negative impacts on the environment, and to ‘encourage’ public agencies to protect the environment and the state’s agricultural and open space resources.
The California Environmental Quality Act (CEQA) requires that public agencies entrusted with compliance with CEQA and its provisions must provide the public with the opportunity to voice their concerns about the adequacy of the Draft EIR. Their questions and recommendations are required to be considered and addressed in the Final EIR. CEQA provisions are “enforced, as necessary, by the public, through litigation and the threat thereof.”
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Who are KIRC’s supporters? What’s in it for you?
We’re your neighbors. We are young and old, parents and grandparents, working and retired. Some have lived here all their lives. Others moved to Calaveras County because it offered an alternative to the cities we left – open spaces, less traffic, a slower pace, a safer community to raise families – or to fulfill dreams of retiring to “the country.” It’s a place where many can still afford to live on a fixed income, away from the noise and crime of crowded cities.
We are speaking out to protect both our way of life and our property rights. We are stakeholders in this issue just as much as the Trinitas developers are. We too have invested in our homes and properties, and did so with expectations that the zoning codes would protect us from area-changing developments. We are law-abiding taxpayers throughout the county who believe that HOW the golf course got there DOES matter and how the County conducts its business affects ALL of its citizens.
See “Why you should care about Trinitas.pdf” by Kathy Mayhew, Guest Editorial, Sonora Union Democrat, October 19, 2007
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Why name the group “Keep It Rural, Calaveras”? Doesn’t it imply your group is anti-growth?
Not at all. The name reflects widely-held core values often repeated during County General Plan Visioning Sessions from Wallace to West Point. It echoes the belief that Calaveras County’s unique assets and economic viability are closely tied to its rural atmosphere, open space, working ranches and farms, oak woodlands, forests, lakes and rivers.
We’re not against growth. We support growth that is smart, planned and sustainable, as outlined in the eleven Land Use Principles adopted by the member groups of the Calaveras Planning Coalition, which KIRC joined in early 2008. (See sidebar)
We support growth that follows the policy adopted by the Board of Supervisors November 27, 2007,* setting forth advisory criteria for discretionary development project applications which encourages projects served by public surface water and public sewer, which protect onsite open space and habitat, provide onsite roads built to the County standards, and make efforts to offer affordable housing options. (Policy Resolution 07-242)
There are already hundreds of vacant, buildable parcels available for future growth in the west county without splitting and converting additional agricultural acreage. We don’t want Calaveras County to become merely a bedroom community for Stockton and Lodi. We need growth that preserves the county’s rural assets and balances “jobs” and “rooftops” for a healthy economy.
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Is KIRC a business or a non-profit organization?
Keep It Rural, Calaveras is neither a for-profit business nor a non-profit organization, but simply a grassroots citizens group with the legal right to organize and participate in the CEQA process by commenting on the impacts of the proposed project. We organized to further this goal: to speak out – and, hopefully – to have our voices heard.
No product is sold; no benefits are promised; no dues are collected; no profit is made; no tax deductions are sought. All contributions towards KIRC expenses are deposited in an account used exclusively for that purpose, and are NOT tax deductible.