Thunder Valley owners plan formal proposal to stop ancestral lands' development
By Mark Anderson Sacramento Business Journal
Updated: 7:00 p.m. ET
The Buzz Oates Group of Companies wants $90 million if it is to sell
rather than develop Clover Valley, the last large undeveloped tract of
land in Rocklin and known for its wealth of ancient Native American
artifacts.
The tribe that owns Thunder Valley Casino wants to buy the 622 acres to
preserve its village sites, relics and burial grounds.
In informal discussions this year, the United Auburn Indian Community
has repeatedly asked the Oates Group for a price. That price has gone
up every time the tribe inquires, sources say, from $20 million at
first to $90 million now.
Rick Massie, the general partner in charge of Rocklin 650 Joint Venture
-- which includes Buzz Oates Group and partners -- confirmed the $90
million price, but he said the partnership has never had formal
discussions with the tribe. The venture wants to build 689 custom homes
on the property.
"There have been some informal discussions and certainly they are aware
of the tribe's interest in preserving that land," said Howard
Dickstein, attorney for the tribe. "Any development in that valley
would be tragic. There will be a more formal proposal, and there will
be more developments on this front."
Told that Oates wants $90 million, Dickstein said, "We'll see. It's
subject to negotiation."
Clover Valley is the last and the largest unspoiled site of Miwok
Indian land, Dickstein said, the ancestors of the United Auburn tribe.
"It is really a pristine site. It is breathtaking. You just kick the
dirt, and you find tools or human remains."
The valley is part of the former pioneer Whitney Ranch, which used to
range from Rocklin to Lincoln.
The valley was a Native American center for at least 7,000 years, said
Grayson Coney, a local historian and lecturer on Stone Age culture.
Miwok people lived on the site for centuries, trading with tribes from
all over the state. At least three cultures inhabited the area.
"This is the last best village site in California bar none. It might be
the last great site this side of the Rockies," Coney said, adding that
archaeological digs in the area are based on excavations 3 feet deep.
More work could show a longer history.
"The best thing to do there is to leave it how it is and let some
smarter future relatives decide what best could be done out there for
education and preservation," Coney said.
Old powers, new powers The Buzz Oates Group has been working on
the development for 18 years and doesn't want to sell.
The Rocklin 650 partnership bought the land in 1986 and worked with the
city to get the site annexed in 1997. The partnership also has been
working to get permits for development.
The partners include some of Greater Sacramento's longtime power
brokers, especially Oates, one of the leading developers of retail,
commercial and industrial projects in the area for five decades. His
empire includes development companies, banks, construction companies,
mortgage companies and property managers. All could be involved in the
job of developing Clover Valley's custom home development.
The United Auburn Indian Community has become one of the region's
newest power brokers thanks to its Thunder Valley Casino near Lincoln,
which opened in 2003 and draws gamblers from across the state. It has
made the tribe one of Placer County's largest employers.
Many of the tribe's members were poor until the casino opened. The
tribe doesn't discuss its finances, but the casino business has been
extremely lucrative. In the casino's first full quarter alone, the
tribe pocketed $57.6 million.
That new wealth has put the tribe in a position to keep Clover Valley
undeveloped, giving the tribe influence it lacked as recently as two
years ago.
Twenty years of work The development plan for Clover Valley calls
for 689 lots for homes, some 350 acres of open space, and two parks
with a total of 11 acres. The original plan sought 974 homes.
The latest proposal preserves the creek corridor and retains 80 percent
of the oak trees out there now, said Gerry Kamilos, project manager for
the developers. The site has 28,600 oaks, and 5,720 would go.
"There have been many millions of dollars spent and 20 years of work to
get this land to this point," Kamilos said. "These projects don't
happen overnight."
The land is just south of Twelve Bridges in Lincoln and just north of
Sunset Whitney. The southern half of the valley was developed decades
ago with houses and a golf course.
Kamilos added that he is working to put together a comprehensive
cultural resources management plan that protects the archaeological
sites.
"We have done more work of this nature on this land than any project in
this region," he said.
That won't be enough, Dickstein said. "It is difficult to imagine
segregating the valley between sites that are important and sites that
are not," he said.
The development agreement protects the rights of landowners to develop
the land as long as they follow the state and federal guidelines,
Kamilos said. "You cannot cut corners in this process, but you can
develop the land if you follow the state and federal guidelines."
Negotiating with environmental interests and agencies is "all part of
the EIR process and the California Environmental Quality Act process.
The project doesn't go away. It is improved," he said.
One result, he said, is that Clover Valley will cost more to develop
than almost any other neighborhood in Greater Sacramento -- maybe more
than every other neighborhood.
The site is beautiful, Kamilos said, and more than 300 people have
signed up for a crack at homes that would be built there.
Nick Alexander is principal of The Alexander Co. in Roseville, which
gets approvals for land development. He estimated that the lots in
Clover Valley could easily fetch more than $100,000 each -- that's a
ballpark figure, he stressed -- if they can be delivered ready to build
and clear of litigation. Many custom-home lots in the area sell for far
more than that.
Also, the area is short on land available for developing. That boosts
its value too.
'Potential conflict' For five years, the Sierra Club and the
Clover Valley Foundation have been trying to preserve Clover
Valley.
The area is a riparian wetland and a woodland, both of which can be
protected habitats. They are also habitats that can be developed with
mitigation, said Marilyn Jasper, chairwoman of the Placer Group Sierra
Club.
"The strongest angle for saving Clover Valley are the prehistoric
sites," she said. "What (Oates) wants to find out there is nothing. ...
When they do digs, they are supposed to have an archaeologist on site,
but the developer hires the archaeologist, and that means the developer
pays the archaeologist. That sets up a potential conflict."
An earlier environmental report on the cultural resources was completed
two years ago. The information in that draft report will be explored
more deeply in an EIR that might start as soon as next month.
The tribe's main goal is to preserve the valley, Dickstein said. It's
premature to say what uses the tribe might allow if it owned the
property, he said, but it would allow nothing to interfere with the
artifacts.
