Mosaic
Single-story • Up to 3 beds & 3 baths Priced from high $600s
at Heritage El Dorado Hills
Clubhouse, pool, tennis & more 4975 Del Mar Drive, El Dorado Hills, CA 95762 916-304-9711 | Lennar.com/Sacramento Pursuant to the Fair Housing Act, this housing is intended for occupancy by at least one person 55 years of age or older per home. Plans to build out this neighborhood as proposed are subject to change without notice. Features, amenities, floor plans, elevations, and designs vary and are subject to changes or substitution without notice. Items shown may contain options that are not standard on all models or not included in the purchase price. Availability may vary. Prices do not include closing costs and other fees to be paid by buyer (including a builder fee as described in the purchase agreement) and are subject to change without notice. This is not an offer in states where prior registration is required. Void where prohibited by law. Copyright © 2022 Lennar Corporation. Lennar and the Lennar logo are U.S. registered service marks or service marks of Lennar Corporation and/or its subsidiaries. Lennar Sales Corp., CA DRE Broker #01252753 (Responsible Broker: Joanna Duke). BMR Construction, Inc., CA CSLB #830955. CalAtlantic Group, Inc., CA CSLB #1037780. Lennar Homes of California, Inc., CA CSLB #728102. Date 09/22
New Homes for Active Adults 55+
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C ALI FORN IA’S OLDE ST NE W SPAPER
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VOLUME 173 • ISSUE 34 | $1.00
mtdemocrat.com
MONDAY, MARCH 25, 2024
State files suit over needle exchange bans Odin Rasco Staff writer
As part of an ongoing dispute between some county officials and the Sierra Harm Reduction Coalition, a nonprofit that distributes clean needles, Narcan and offers other services, Placerville’s City Council and the El Dorado County Board of Supervisors both recently passed bans on the operation of needle exchange programs. Following on the heels of the latter of the two bans, passed by City Council in late February, the California Department of Public Health
filed a lawsuit against the two governing bodies and their elected officials. The lawsuit, filed March 8 in El Dorado County Superior Court, seeks a writ of mandate that would compel the local governments to remove their ordinances regarding syringe services programs. The CDPH suit claims the bans are unlawful as they overstep state laws that take precedence. El Dorado County District Attorney Vern Pierson released a statement Tuesday responding to the news of the state’s lawsuit, saying in no uncertain terms that policy
set by the state government regarding drug use was one that led to failure, crime and death. “This is disastrously dangerous and I am furious at our state leaders,” Pierson states. “Don’t come into our county and double down on your failed policy. Allowing addicts to use fentanyl and other hardcore drugs is exactly what has caused other California counties to experience a death rate that is out of control and getting worse. “This road to hell via good intentions has been paved over the past several years by California’s governor and his
“Don’t come into our county and double down on your failed policy. Allowing addicts to use fentanyl and other hardcore drugs is exactly what has caused other California counties to experience a death rate that is out of control and getting worse.” — Vern Pierson, El Dorado County District Attorney in response to CDPH lawsuit administration’s insistence on normalizing hardcore drug use,” Pierson continued. “The consequence has been increased overdose deaths, drug addiction, homeless-
ness and rampant property crime. We have tried to chart a safer course, but now the governor and attorney general are suing El Dorado County ■ See LAWSUIT, page A6
County sows SEEDs of economic growth Eric Jaramishian Staff writer
Courtesy photo
Some 31 acres along the Upper Truckee River in South Lake Tahoe will be owned and managed by the California Tahoe Conservancy.
Tahoe Conservancy to acquire Motel 6 ‘environmentally sensitive’ property Tahoe Conservancy News release
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The California Tahoe Conservancy joins with its funding partners — the California Wildlife Conservation Board, Tahoe Regional Planning Agency, California Department of Fish and Wildlife, Tahoe Fund and League to Save Lake Tahoe — to announce the conser-
vancy is acquiring 31 acres of environmentally sensitive land along the Upper Truckee River in South Lake Tahoe. “This environmental acquisition may be the most important in a generation to protect Lake Tahoe,” said California Natural Resources Secretary Wade Crowfoot. “By reconnecting the most important wetland that filters water flowing into the Lake, this investment protects the lake’s precious water quality and also provides an important corridor for local wildlife. This project demonstrates the great value of the California Tahoe Conservancy, to work diligently over years — sometimes decades — to see important environmental improvements to
fruition.” “We are grateful to our funding partners for making this possible,” said Conservancy Board Chair Adam Acosta. “This historic acquisition of the Knox Johnson and Motel 6 property achieves a decades-old goal and brings one of the last privately held sections of the river corridor under public ownership.” The acquisition includes 25 acres of mountain meadow and wetlands, a 2-acre single-family homesite and 4 acres of former floodplain. Lake Tahoe lost nearly 30 feet of its famed water clarity following the development boom of the 1950s and 60s and damage to the lake’s natural water filters. The four acres of floodplain is now
occupied by Motel 6, a vacant restaurant building and a paved parking area. The property also abuts the conservancy’s 560-acre Upper Truckee Marsh property to the north. Tahoe Resource Conservation District’s 206-acre Johnson Meadow property lies across Highway 50 to the south. The conservancy will remove the 1970s-era motel and vacant restaurant and retire or transfer the property’s development rights and coverage for future use on town center redevelopment. The conservancy will preserve the surrounding mountain meadow and wetlands. The acquisition presents opportunities to restore wetland habitat on the ■ See CONSERVANCY, page A6
The Community and Economic Development Advisory Committee for El Dorado County is being restructured to better advise the Board of Supervisors on all matters relating to economic growth. Sprouting a fresh start, the commitee will now be called Strategic Economic Enhancement Development, or SEED. The name was proposed by CEDAC members, who voted unanimously to take the name change to the Board of Supervisors’ March 19 meeting. SEED’s mission is largely the same. It’s comprised of appointed volunteers who advise the Board of Supervisors on matters relating to economic development and the business industry. To ensure the group does this effectively, and to create more structure within the advisory committee, the group has created a set of bylaws that previously did not exist, according to the group’s elected chair Gina Posey. “It just wasn’t strong enough to determine or say what would happen if somebody left, how (and when) to fill the position and
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“I look forward to being able to see a reformatted CEDAC organization that is really going to help us be strategic in placing new businesses and new (economic) growth opportunities in El Dorado County.” John Hidahl, District 1 supervisor how to know what (we) are looking for when you’re filling that position,” Posey said. “So what we did is fleshed out all of those ideas, so that we could have a stronger organization.” The bylaws consist of a number of regulations involving officer duties, meeting decorum and membership. The main emphasis of the group and its new bylaws is to appoint 11 members to the advisory committee, each representing an economic sector. Those could include, agriculture, healthcare, real estate, tourism, wine making and other prevalent industries in El Dorado County. “We think this is going to help get us the expertise within the group on how to best drive it forward ■ See SEED, page A3