By admin 
The Rocklin City Council voted 3-2 Tuesday night to approve the proposed Sierra Wilds affordable housing project next to Maria Montessori Charter Academy, ending months of public hearings over traffic, emergency access, construction impacts and the project’s proximity to the school.
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The council approved both the project’s environmental determination and design review, with Councilmembers Greg Janda, Jill Gaaldo and Ken Broadway voting in favor and Mayor Dave Bass and Vice Mayor Bill Halden voting against.
The approval includes a condition requiring a deceleration taper lane at the Sierra Wilds entrance on Wildcat Boulevard. The lane must be designed and incorporated into the project before improvement plans are issued.
The 120-unit apartment project is planned for approximately 4.67 acres of a 6.34-acre partially developed site at 1800 Wildcat Blvd., next to Maria Montessori Charter Academy and St. Augustine of Canterbury Episcopal Church.
The development would include four three-story apartment buildings, a community center, swimming pool, parking, landscaping and related improvements. Of the 120 units, 118 would be affordable to lower-income households. The remaining two units would be designated for managers.
The council first considered the project May 12 and continued the hearing to Aug. 11 after receiving extensive public comment and requesting additional information.
At the Aug. 11 meeting, council members again continued the hearing, this time to Tuesday’s meeting, seeking additional information on five areas: emergency vehicle access, construction management, a possible taper lane on Wildcat Boulevard, construction noise and air quality, and communication with the adjacent school and church.
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Emergency access concerns
Emergency vehicle access was among the issues examined before Tuesday’s vote.
The Rocklin Fire Department conducted a field evaluation using a tiller truck to test the required turning movements around the existing school access area. Based on that evaluation, the Fire Department determined that a proposed fence immediately south of the emergency vehicle access hammerhead would need to be relocated at least eight feet into the Sierra Wilds property to provide adequate clearance for fire apparatus.
That requirement was incorporated into the project’s conditions of approval.
The developer, Pacific West Communities, also said it was working with city staff on a potential modification to the fence after the fire truck test indicated the vehicle could collide with the fence while maneuvering through the school’s gate.
Construction impacts
The developer provided additional construction measures in response to council concerns about the project’s proximity to the school.
Those measures include a protected walkway between the church parking lot and the school, screened fencing around the construction area, off-site construction parking and additional dust and noise controls.
The developer estimates grading would take approximately three to four months. It also said that if construction begins in February, much of the framing work could occur during the summer.
City documents say that the council had requested more detail about construction hours, truck routes, deliveries, school drop-off and pickup periods, staging, worker parking, dust and air-quality controls, noise reduction and communication with school officials.
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The applicant also was asked to make a good-faith effort to meet with representatives of the adjacent school and church regarding private access agreements, easements, property rights, emergency access and circulation.
The developer said discussions with the school remained unresolved.
The developer also said it remains willing to contribute $10,000 toward a proposed community garden that would be removed because of the project, although discussions with the adjacent school have not been resolved.
Taper lane becomes condition of approval
The most significant change from the developer’s position involved traffic at the project entrance.
Pacific West Communities told the city it was not proposing a deceleration or taper lane on Wildcat Boulevard. After consulting with its traffic engineer, the developer said there was insufficient evidence that the lane was necessary and argued that a taper could create an additional conflict with bicyclists.
The City Council nevertheless made the taper lane a condition of approval.
A deceleration taper lane would provide vehicles entering Sierra Wilds with additional space to slow down and make the turn rather than stopping or slowing in the through-traffic lane.
During Tuesday’s discussion, council members noted that the lane could potentially extend beyond the Sierra Wilds property and into the area around the existing church and school driveway.
The council did not establish the lane’s final dimensions, exact footprint or construction cost Tuesday. It also did not determine whether an off-site property owner would need to provide land for the improvement.
Councilmember Gaaldo, who voted for the project, said safety, particularly children’s safety, was important to her decision-making.
“I think a taper lane is a reasonable request to mitigate the safety concerns that we have,” she said.
Council members divided over project
Halden, who voted against the project, raised concerns about potential public-health impacts associated with construction near the school.
“I think for us to take time to get somebody independent, just to make sure that the health impact here, when we have 300 young children, sensitive receptors, technically called, that it’s worth an extra step for us just to make sure that this is not going to be the adverse impact on public health that we are supposed to be looking out for,” Halden said.
Councilmember Broadway, who voted for the project to pass, said he did not particularly like the idea of the project but said his focus was on ensuring that an approved development would be as strong as possible.
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