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Old Sugar Mill Project denied by the Delta Protection Commission In the early morning hours on Friday January 26, environmentalists and Concerned Citizens of Clarksburg scored a victory. The Delta Protection Commission (DPC) blocked what could have been the first urban development in the primary zone of the delta since the Delta Protection Act was passed in 1992. After hours of testimony on both sides of the issue, the Commissi The Commission found that the project did not meet requirements for flood protection or for adequate buffers between urban and agricultural areas. The Army Corps of Engineers recently released new maps of locations where levees are in the greatest need of repair. According to these maps, there are three “Order 1” (the most serious) sites on the west levee on the Sacramento River right next to the proposed Sugar Mill site. The Delta Resource and Land Use Management Plan also requires 500 to 1,000 foot buffers between urban and agricultural zones. The Old Sugar Mill plan contains only a 300 foot buffer between the project and near-by vineyards. The Sugar Mill project had been approved by the Yolo County Board of Supervisors (Supervisor Mariko Yamada was the only dissenting vote) late last year, despite concerns regarding inadequate levees and flooding issues. Two appeals to the DPC were filed shortly after. The project would have more than doubled the size of the small town of Clarksburg and was opposed by many of its residents. One of the major concerns was the potential for setting a precedent for further urban development in the primary zone of the delta in violation of the Delta Protection Act. The DPA prohibits dense residential development in the primary zone of the delta, and Clarksburg is in the primary zone. The Commission denied the project and sent it back to the county for reconsideration. The county could try to redesign the plan or challenge the DPC's action in court. However, it appears that as long as residential development is included along the winery, grape processing and reception facility in the Sugar Mill proposal, it will be difficult if not impossible to get it approved. |
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on concluded that the Old Sugar Mill Project violated parts of the Delta Protection Act and Delta Management Plan. This decision marked the first test of the Delta Protection Act, a 15-year old law designed to protect about 500,000 acres of delta open space from urban development.