Over the last month there has been a flurry of legal activity, culminating in the court ordering El Dorado County (EDC) to move forward on permits for two of the four Native Directions projects.
Bottom line: the 30-bed Substance Use Disorder (SUD) Adult Residential Facility (ARF) at 3480 Deer Valley Ct and the 40-bed SUD ARF at 966 Best Life Way are now on a fast track toward possible building permit approval.
You can read our current summary of the court ruling here.
So far, our collective efforts have successfully delayed construction of the Rescue projects for more than two years. In light of the court’s decision, we expect EDC to move relatively quickly on permit approvals for these two Community Care Expansion (CCE) projects.
RDV has formally notified EDC Planning that Deer Valley Road does not provide adequate emergency access and that the developer should be required to upgrade the road to modern standards before any permits are issued. You can read our email to Planning here. It is unclear whether this will affect the permit process, since the Rescue Fire Protection District has already issued approval per the county’s permit-tracking system.
Our next step is to investigate legal options. Thanks to your support in earlier fundraising, and in partnership with Concerned Citizens of the Tri-Counties, we raised about $5,000. We are now using those funds to engage a national law firm to evaluate whether we have a viable legal path to stop the Rescue projects. Over the next few weeks, we expect to learn whether we have the legal standing and grounds to proceed. If the attorneys believe we can win, RDV will launch additional fundraising efforts.
To date, EDC, and especially Supervisor Parlin, have been transparent with us and have listened to community concerns. We have previously received support from Assemblymember Joe Patterson and Senator Marie Alvarado-Gil, and we will be re-engaging their offices to see how they may be able to help prevent these projects in Rescue from moving forward.
Over the next few weeks, we expect to have a clearer action plan to continue opposing construction of these commercial facilities in Rescue. Our next blog post will outline specific ways you can help.
Thank you for your continued support.
Rescue Deer Valley! 