Clover Valley Initial Phase
Grant of Open Space Easement
Tree Preserve
SD98-05, SD-2004-03, TRE-2004-26
Rocklin City Council
October 10, 2023
Lynn Toth, Associate Civil Engineer
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4 • Per the 1997 Development Agreement (DA) a maximum of 25% of the total oak trees in the Clover Valley Lakes project area (not counting trees removed to accommodate construction of major roadways) may be removed subject to the placement of an open space and conservation easement (OSE) over portions of the project area and construction of bike trails. The OSE for tree mitigation did not encompass all of the open space proposed in the project but was mainly focused on the hillside areas, per attachments in the DA.
• In the Arborist’s Report, in the Clover Valley EIR, there are a total of 28,246 oak trees in the project area, 25% of those would be 7,061 oak trees. • The proposed development areas 4A (Westridge) and 4F (Montreo) would result in removal of 1,839 oak trees (about 6.5% of the oak trees in the project area).
5 • Improvement plans have only been prepared to the 4F (Montreo) development area to date.
• The proposed open space easement area would preserve about 6.4% of the trees in the project area, nearly equal to the number being removed. • The DA did not specify a percentage or ratio of preservation easement area to trees removed in a given phase of development.
• The DA mitigation measure requires that each development phase be evaluated based upon the cumulative impacts of that phase and any prior development phases against the Clover Valley project as a whole.
6 • Given the above, the proposed open space easement area provides adequate mitigation for the two proposed development areas 4A (Westridge) and 4F (Montreo).
• No further development of any portion of the Clover Valley Lakes project area could take place unless and until improvement plans were approved (including Westridge) at which time the City would review the oak tree mitigation status of the additional development against the project as a whole to ensure compliance with the mitigation requirements as set forth in the DA. Therefore, over 90% of the project area would remain undisturbed and in its natural state at this time.
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