The recent development plan filing by Morgan Creek LLC has stirred up a firestorm of comments from our community. While most are heartfelt and show an accurate grasp of the history and facts, many are inaccurate and misleading. This can be counterproductive and provide ammunition to supporters of the golf course development..

There are currently two community sources of accurate information; One is from our elected officials usually via Town Square. The second is through this independent BLOG. The former is one way. The BLOG is two way allowing your thoughts to be heard. Most of the community are subscribers. Please use it. Have your neighbors sign up if they haven’t. http://www.mcowners.com. Use the registration page.

The following was posted on Town Square recently. We support it’s intent. If we are to be successful in trying to keep the golf course open and preventing housing development, we need a strong, fact based, united voice. As always, you are welcome to share your thoughts.

“In response to the postings that have been made because of the email originally sent by Mark Baker.

The golf committee has been involved for nearly three years in preparing for virtually every action suggested in these posts. To reiterate what was posted on Town Square, the HOA has retained the services of a highly knowledgeable and experienced land use attorney and development consultant. The Board and golf committee have consulted with them continuously and the Boards approach is based largely on their expert recommendations.

The LLC has filed its third predevelopment plan in as many years. The latest and most complete plan was posted on Town Square where official information from the Board is posted. No actionable developmentplanhasbeensubmittedtotheCounty. TheHOAwillknowwhenthathappens.This latest action by the LLC appears to have been an update of a former submission but was in response to a new CA law passed late last year (SB330). This law affects many timeframes which must be met by a potential developer, the governmental response to such developers, and the response and meetings allowed by the law for community input.

We need to be unified in our response, and the timing to act will be when there is something that can be acted upon, the actual “Development Application” to the County.

For those of you who think you know what has been going on between the Homeowners Board, the Golf Course Committee, the County, the owners of the golf course (LLC) and the legal and land development advisors for the past several years and can jump in at this point and act without any authority to negotiate on behalf of the Homeowners, you may want to brush up on the structure of HOAs. While anyone can speak for themselves, self-appointed or self-proclaimed representative of the community have no authority to negotiate on behalf of or speak on behalf of the community, only themselves. The structure of the HOA is established by law, not some ad hoc group of individuals. Many of the comments posted reflect that the posters have not been paying attention for the past few years as the Board has, with some restrictions for negotiation and legal purposes, been trying to keep the community informed as much as possible without violating any of the rules, regulations, and confidentialities. While some may not agree with the tactics or strategy of the Board, they have been receiving input and advice from professionals in the respective fields. Most of the points raised in the postings have been explored by the Board. It is not like no one has ever thought of them, and some have been discussed with the LLC owners and explored in other fashions. While the posters focus on one supervisor, there are a total of 5 supervisors who may vote on the proposal if it passes through the planning department and planning commission.

Some of what has been posted reflects a lack of awareness of the structure and circumstances we find ourselves in. The golf course has been a separate entity since its inception. The HOA has never owned it and therefore could never transfer ownership. The HOA has never maintained the golf course. There are agreements in the CC&R’s about some of the perimeter maintenance. The golf course has some easements over owner’s lots which are on the course and at other locations. If you have not read the CC&R’s, which you should have received upon purchase of your home, you are encouraged to do so. Also please note that the proposal is being submitted by Morgan Creek LLC, the partners are Joe Syufy and Charlie Gibson.

If you want to continue to receive accurate information, please sign up on Town Square. This can be done by calling Sarah at 916-474-5627. Comments can be made on the mcowners.com blog which is a homeowner driven bulletin board. “

The HOA has published on Town Square an update to the Golf Course development status. See the following PDF.

One of our owners wrote to our Placer County Supervisor, Bonnie Gore, with his concerns about golf course development. His full letter and Bonnie Gore’s response can be found as a comment to our last Post, GOLF COURSE CLOSURE THREAT – WE NEED YOUR HELP NOW. Her office’s response is repeated below.

“Reply from Bonnie Gores Office:
Thank you Ken for reaching out to express your thoughts on this project. Supervisor Gore is also very concerned about the potential development of the Morgan Creek golf course. Supervisor Gore has reached out to the project developer and requested that they hear out the residents’ concerns.

If you have any neighbors or friends who would like to opine about the issue, please have them reach out as well.

I hope you have a good rest of your week. Thanks again.

Regards,
Landon Wolf
District Director
Supervisor Bonnie Gore
Placer County District 1”

Her office wants to hear from us. Please, everyone who has concerns about closing the golf course to build 79 homes, WE URGE YOU TO EXPRESS THOSE CONCERNS NOW. If possible be specific about how it would affect you (e. g. Traffic access, loss of green belt, wildlife, etc. ). This is a chance to be heard. Her email is

SupervisorGore@placer.ca.gov

If you prefer snail mail, her mailing address is in the above PDF.

For those of you unfamiliar with Morgan Creek, LLC’s plans, you can find them detailed in our Post from August 7, 2020 in this BLOG.

With the golf course owners now moving forward with plans to build homes on the golf course your support is needed more than ever. We will need as much as possible to be informed so we can act as one voice. 

This BLOG is nearly 3 years old. It is a primary way of communicating with Morgan Creek owners. It not only provides information, but also allows you to comment.  As you know, no ads. Nothing to buy. We will never sell our email list. We just provide  information solely directed at Morgan Creek. 

We have many new homeowners who are not aware of our existence and charter. Although we report on other items of community interest, our main focus is on the future of the golf course and what we can do to help guide it. While our elected HOA Board’s communications carry strong legal constraints, ours do not. We can call it like it is. We need both. 

To maximize our reach, We are urgently asking your help in adding new subscribers to our list. Please contact your friends or new neighbors now and urge them to sign up. You can do this personally or by forwarding this post. 

Sign up is easy. On the web go to mcowners.com. Go to the Registration page,  fill in the requested information, and submit. That’s it. 

Thanks, and stay tuned. 

The following notice was recently posted on Town Square concerning the intention of the golf course owners to try to develop the golf course land for houses. The community will now need to prepare to mobilize. We will keep you informed as to what actions are being taken and what you can do. Stay tuned.

“HOMEOWNERS REGARDING PRELIMINARY APPLICATION FILED BY GOLF COURSE OWNER ORGAN CREEK COMMUNITY ASSOCIATION BOARD OF DIRECTORS NOTICE TO MORGAN CREEK MC 

Your Board of Directors has learned this week that Morgan Creek, LLC, the owner of the golf course, has recently filed a preliminary application with Placer County for developing the golf course with 79 residential lots and associated open space areas. The entire golf course would be utilized by the proposed housing project. The Board of Directors opposes the development of this valued community recreational and green space asset which was a fundamental part of our Morgan Creek community’s original approval and subsequent buildout, and a key reason why so many of our residents chose to move to our special community.

A new State law that was put in place last year allows a property owner to file a preliminary applicationwithacityorcounty. Uponthatpreliminaryapplicationbeingdeemedcomplete,thisnew Statelawallowsapropertyownertothenfileaformalapplicationinanexpeditedprocess. Twoweeks ago, the County deemed that preliminary application to be complete. The preliminary application must merely provide basic property information that is set forth in the new State law, and the County c annot ask for more information in that preliminary application than what the new State law provides. The preliminary application being deemed complete by the County does not imply or insure that the project will be approved, but rather just that the information required by the State legislation has been fully submitted.

The golf course owner may now file a formal application with the County, and again, under the new State law, the processing of that application by the County is expedited, with a limit o f 5 public hearings or meetings that can be held by the County, its departments and hearing bodies, including any hearing or meeting conducted by the West Placer MAC, once the formal application is deemed complete by the County.

We understand that the County is requiring that an Environmental Impact Report (EIR) be prepared for the project. The new State law does not affect the timing of the preparation of the EIR, or theanalysisthatwillbeundertakenintheEIR. YourBoardofDirectorsfeelsthatitisimportantto advise you not only about the latest information on the proposed removal of the golf course and the proposed residential project in its place, but also of the need to get the Morgan Creek community fully engaged in the near term to discuss how to address this proposed development of the Morgan Creek Golf Course into a residential subdivision. To that end, the Board of Directors will be in contact w ith the community in the next week to 10 days to schedule a community-wide meeting to discuss the proposed project and our strategy as a community to address it with the County and its officials.

Morgan Creek Board of Directors”