AUBURN, Calif. – The Placer County Board of Supervisors held a public hearing and approved actions, including rezoning, regarding the planned Sierra Family Meadows Subdivision in Olympic Valley at their meeting on Tuesday.

The project site, at the corner of Olympic Valley Road and Resort Road, is slated for eight single-family residences on lots ranging from half an acre to over two acres.

The board considered and approved a request to rezone, subdivide and modify the land use designation on a portion of the property to allow the construction of residences on lots smaller than the current zoning and land use regulation of three acres.

The action will ultimately reduce the density allowed on those parcels, county staff explained. The Olympic Valley General Plan defines density as bedrooms per acre, and according to the use and designations on the subject lots, the buildable area is allotted 377 beds. However, the project proposes 80 beds, or 10 beds per lot or residence.

“They are downsizing the intensity that was going to be potentially developed at this site,” District 5 Supervisor Cindy Gustafson said. Gustafson also spoke to the vision of the late property owners, valley pioneers Sandy and Wayne Poulsen, who once envisioned the property as a family compound, she said.

“I think it lives with that historical integrity that the family envisioned,” Gustafson added, “as well as reducing the size and impacts for the community.”

The lots and residences will be built in two phases. Plans incorporate an already existing single-family residence located on the site.

The entire property totals 32.02 acres and contains sensitive resources, including Washeshu Creek, meadow habitat, and cultural resources. A conservation easement will preserve these resources in perpetuity, staff explained. One of the board’s actions included adopting environmental reports.

During the public hearing, a neighbor in the area expressed concern over what precedent these actions, including rezoning, set for the valley.

In response, county counsel Clayton Cook explained rezone requests are considered on a parcel-by-parcel basis and each requires a formal application and consideration.