Once again Morgan Creek, LLC has responded to Placer County’s planning Department contention that their application does not conform to existing zoning and land use regulations and that SB330’s expedited project approvals do not apply. Your Board has commented on the submission’s status, presumably after legal review. A copy of their comments and the attached Morgan Creek, LLC’s letter is included as a PDF below. The County response is due August 23. And so the legal wrangling continues!

An event is planned for August 1 for Morgan Creek and Morgan Greens. Called National Night Out, it is sponsored by a non-profit operating since 1986. It is designed to bring together the community and the police to foster a better understanding. It is being held at Parkstone Park on the south side.

While we are in no way sponsoring the event, it does sound worthwhile so we are posting the announcement as a community service. Sounds like a fun and informative event.

Vineyard Gate change: The change to Blue Knight has brought a significant policy change to how the Vineyard gate operates.   The old scheme provided manned gate coverage from 6 am until 10 pm.  Under the new scheme the gate is manned from 6 am only until golf course closing. Though this can vary, it is published as 6 pm.  After that, there is NO ONE at the gate.  There is still one roving patrol vehicle which is now supposed to run from 6 am until 10 pm.  Their major marching orders are to ticket illegal parking, tag garbage cans left out too long, and report suspicious activity.   After golf course closing, the CALL button is not answered for help or to report issues.  If guests need access and can’t work the call box, the only way in is to call a resident’s cell and hope things work as they should, or call the roving patrol (either 916-715-4879 or 916-715-5079) and hope for assistance.

We’d like your thoughts/comments on this new policy; like it, hate it or don’t care. Click on the “Comments” button at the top of this post.

Golf Course Update: Another letter exchange has taken place between Placer County and Morgan Creek, LLC. The County Planning Department has taken the position that their application does not comply with SB330, and various land use and zoning provisions. The County has given Morgan Creek, LLC until July 24 to reply. Until then, their application is deemed incomplete. So the project continues to slog onward with no resolution yet in sight.

For those of you interested in the details, we have included copies if the letter exchange below.

The HOA open meeting was held Tuesday at Creekview Ranch School plus Zoom. About 26 attended in person and another 15 via Zoom. The following are some highlights from the meeting.

• The golf course missed their deadline to respond to the County’s issues/questions. That hasn’t stopped them in the past. We’ll see. For now, no community action is needed. Stand by for more. A plea went out for more volunteers for the Golf Course Committee (or any other committee). If you’re interested, please contact Machelle at FirstService.
• Lots of landscape activity recently treating for grubs, repairing lawns, IDing trees for removal. The second growth spurt of weeds/grasses is also being addressed. If you have landscaping concerns the Board encourages you to start a work order on the HOA website so they can track it and address the issue.
• The ARC reported 26 new applications since the last meeting with 18 approved. The board also approved the revised list of paint colors for the Villas.
• For safety issues, the Board approved installing backup hardware for the Vineyard cottage monitors as well as repairs to deficient gate cameras (new domes, etc.). A community wide survey is being considered concerning additional speed bumps.
• Current compliance status is that there are 297 open cases, 8 have been called to a hearing, and 3 were resolved. The most common issues are trash cans in street, parking violations, and trees overhanging the roads and sidewalks.
• Three bids have been received for the security company contract and a change is being seriously considered. We’ll have more on this in a week or so.
• A suggestion was made that we establish a recreation committee which could coordinate community wide events such as Fourth of July, Labor Day, etc. The Board was enthusiastic and will consider how to proceed with this.

Kudus to the Board for a well run and informative meeting. As always, your comments and questions are welcome.

Placer County has responded to the newly reinstated Preliminary Application from Morgan Creek, LLC to develop homesites on the golf course. The response contains 11 pages of comments and questions. Among many other issues, in essence the County Planning Department is disputing the claim that the project falls under SB330, and is also claiming it is inconsistent with the original Morgan Creek Project approved in 1999 as to zoning densities and allocation of open space. The applicant has 10 days to appeal the findings. So the process slogs on.

The HOA Board posted the detailed County response on their website and distributed it via email. Accolades to the Board for keeping the community informed. For those of you who missed it or are interested in the details, the full County response appears below.

As always, comments are welcome.

A few days ago Morgan CreekLLC resubmitted an application to the County to develop the golf course property with homes. The HOA Board in an email blast suggested this new application under revised SB 330 rules is deemed complete. We have some conflicting information suggesting that this is a resubmission of the Preliminary application which the new rules allow, and not a new one.

The County has 30 days to continue its review and determine if it is sufficient to proceed to the next step of a Final application. There are still many steps before approval as a project such as environmental impact, consistency with the overall county plan, etc.

Our understanding is that the resubmitted application is deemed complete but not yet approved. We should have more information on this by the end of next week. Stay tuned.

An open meeting of the Morgan Creek HOA Board will be held at Creekview Ranch School at 6 PM Tuesday, March 21. A copy of the agenda is included below. As indicated, a Zoom option is available for those who cannot attend in person.

Show your support for our community. All homeowners are encouraged to attend.

Morgan Creek , LLC, the golf course operator, has allowed their preliminary development application to lapse. The County sent them a letter today advising this. Should they wish to continue, they will have to file a new application. Good news for now! We’ve enclosed a copy of the letter below.

The Meeting was held at Creekview Ranch School. About 35 people attended. Two mew Board members were introduced. Committee reports were made, including discussion of issues. Highlights follow.

• Landscape: 4 proposals are being reviewed. The committee is focused on prioritizing needs. Concerns were expressed about the dangers of old trees falling. An arborist has been hired to identify dangerous ones and arranging removal per First Service. The trellis at the bocce ball court will be fixed. Updating/renovation of front yards in the Villas is under review,
• Safety: Again, concern was expressed over people tailgating in the Vineyard gate without vetting. A proposal to be tried is the greeter using a cone between each car while verifying cars and noting license plates. Speeders continues as a priority concern. People continue to discuss adding speed bumps in spite of the Fire Departments clear policy of allowing no more. The Board is working on a policy to fine speeders. Residents will be encouraged to report speeders. There was concern over what evidence would be required to avoid vindictive reporting. Anonymous reporting would not be allowed (per protections afforded by Davis Stirling governing law). Once verified the speeder would be called to a Board meeting for warning. A second violation would carry a fine. After considerable owners questions, the Board decided more work needs to be done on this prior to roll out.
• ARC: The committee recently reviewed 16 applications, approved 11, 4 sent back fore more information, and one denied. Violations are continuing to be pursued.
• Welcome: 14 new residents were welcomed into the community.
• Golf Course: No new activity. The current preliminary application for homes plus an executive 9 hole golf course on the south side is still in review at the County. The Committee is actively looking for new members. A discussion ensued over whether SB330 and it’s expedited permitting process applies to Morgan Creek LLC’s application. This is an open question which will undoubtedly be litigated at the appropriate time.
• Vendor verification/review: Dissatisfaction with recent changes made at our security vendor have prompted review and possible change. Contracts with our architect and our golf course attorney are under review.
• Power outages and stuck gates: An owner reported that during the storms the gates were stuck.. inquiring at the cottage, it appears that security people were not informed/trained in how to manually open them. First Service said they were working with the security company to fix this issue.
• Complaints continue on the use of the roving patrol and the time spent not patrolling. This discussion is ongoing.

Special thanks to Deb Mc sherry and Robyn Dahlgren for helping gath information for this post.

As always, your comments are encouraged.

The Morgan Creek Board will hold an open meeting on Tuesday January 17 at 6 pm at Creekview Middle School , 8779 Cook Riolo Road. A copy of the meeting agenda follows.

We strongly urge those of you who can make it to participate.