Thanks to those of you who have stated you will attend the board meeting tomorrow. Please try to attend if you can, even if you don’t want to speak! We all will have a chance to present to the board during the “Public Comment” section of the meeting, which is targeted to begin at 1 pm. Each presenter will have 2-3 min to present. There may be others there to add different public comments, so let’s all be respectful of each other. Here is the link to the meeting details for physical location and Zoom meeting details. Please try to be at the room, or in the zoom call, a few minutes prior to 1 pm.
Here is a draft of what I (Chris Silva) plan to present. Feel free to use it as a template, and also feel free to add your own voice to this.
- I am a spokesperson for Rescue Deer Valley. We are community group that opposes the proposed commercial Substance Use Disorder facilities that are being planned on residential parcels in Rescue by HomeCA and Native Directions. We are also opposing similar proposals from the same developer in Shingle Springs.
- In Rescue, these two proposed commercial facilities would place up to 80 people a day on two single family parcels in the highest severity fire risk zone in California, off dirt roads, and accessible only through Deer Valley Road, which has multiple single lane areas and is already dangerous with the current traffic level. We presented a wide range of environmental and safety concerns to this board on Jan 30th and we want to see these proposals stopped, and optimally moved to more appropriate urban locations close where the patients will originate from.
- We have been closely following county engagements pertaining to these projects through Supervisor Parlin’s website, as these projects are in District 4. Supervisor Parlin has committed to transparency, and she has made all county communications to/from these developers publicly available through her website.
- Recently the Rescue Deer Valley group was made aware of meetings occurring between Supervisor Hidahl and Supervisor Laine with HomeCA and Native Directions regarding these developments and county engagements. It seems at least one of these meetings happened on July 22nd with Supervisor Hidahl and Patrick Prado from HomeCA and Ramona Valdez from Native Directions. We only discovered this meeting through a published response from HomeCA/Native Directions that was forwarded to Assemblymember Patterson, well after this meeting occurred.
- HomeCA has demonstrated through prior communications that they misrepresent items, downplay stated purposes of their facilities, and overstate their “cooperation” with various entities so we rely on written accounts from other meeting participants to truly understand what transpired in these discussions.
- We ask that all county officials that engage with HomeCA and Native Directions related to their proposed substance use disorder facilities document their engagements and utilize Supervisor Parlin’s existing publication methods to ensure transparency.
- We especially ask this board to ensure Supervisor Parlin is aware of any of your interactions, and you all work together to ensure a consistent county engagement with all parties.
- This is only the first of many future projects this developer has planned for this county. We need to set a consistent tone of transparency to ensure the community has full and transparent understanding of the county’s position on these issues.
- Supervisor Hidahl and Laine, will you commit to us right now that you will be fully transparent in your engagements with HomeCA and Native Directions and that you will fully involve Supervisor Parlin so she can accurately guide the county on these critical projects being proposed for her district?
- Thank you.
The most helpful thing all of us can do is be consistent in our requests tomorrow. If I have an opportunity to present this prior to your turn to talk, you can simply state that you are here to request the same transparency I asked for. This will give you a little time to add any other critical item you want to emphasize to this board concerning these proposed developments.
Remember that as of this moment the county is aligned with us that these developments do not warrant rubber stamp approval, and in fact the county has significant concerns about these facilities being developed in Rescue CA. The county is awaiting a legal response from HomeCA/NDI to a range of issues they highlighted in their letter on June 7th of this year (full letter here). Here is my summary of county’s request to HomeCA/NDI:
- Zoning Compliance Inquiry: The County is seeking clarification on how the proposed project complies with local zoning requirements, referencing a statement from DHCS and CDSS directors.
CEQA Exemption Concerns: The County questions whether the project meets the conditions for a CEQA exemption, particularly regarding the increase in onsite development footprint and the requirement for a letter of support from a local public entity.
Nonprofit Status Clarification: The letter clarifies that Native Directions and HomeCA, being nonprofit corporations, do not qualify as “local public entities” as defined in the Government Code.
CEQA Review Process: The County cannot concur that the project is exempt from CEQA based on the current information and suggests initiating the CEQA review process.
Keep this in mind as you craft your comments for tomorrow. On the one hand we should be grateful that the county is taking our concerns seriously and not “rubber stamping” these permit requests. On the other hand, we need to be diligent in understanding the facts surrounding these proposals, and continually keeping the county honest in their engagements with HomeCA/NDI.
Your support tomorrow will help ensure the county knows the public is watching them and we all passionately care about the outcome of these proposals.
Rescue Deer Valley! 