Rocklin gathering backs preservation of the pristine acreage.
By Dirk Werkman -- Bee Staff Writer
Published 2:15 am PDT
Fifty people rallied in a Rocklin city park during nearly three
continuous hours of rain Saturday, campaigning to save 622 acres of the
pristine Clover Valley from development. "I would be happy if the
valley were saved," Rocklin Mayor Peter Hill said Monday in an
interview.
Clover Valley could be preserved, Hill said, if residents put their
efforts, their votes and their money behind an idea like one that
voters of Monrovia in Los Angeles County used several years ago to
preserve hundreds of wilderness acres at the base of the San Gabriel
Mountains. Hill and his fellow council members, who may someday decide
whether hundreds of homes will be built as part of the proposed Clover
Valley Lakes project, didn't attend Saturday's rally.
"It would be inappropriate for the council members to attend an event
like that," Hill said.
Development opponents want to preserve Clover Valley because it
contains at least 33 historic and sacred American Indian sites and
numerous species of plant and animal life.
Any council resolution of the issue is months, if not years,
away.
If, however, there are enough people inside and outside the city who
want to preserve the valley, it can be saved, Hill said.
Hill said Rocklin residents could, as their counterparts in Monrovia
did several years ago, circulate a petition and approve a ballot
measure forming a nonprofit corporation and establishing a tax to raise
money to purchase Clover Valley. He has heard land value estimates
ranging from $50 million to $90 million, Hill said.
Members of the group "Save Clover Valley" this week mailed 21,500
brochures about the valley to Rocklin residents in an effort to halt
construction of what the document said would be up to 933 homes and 5
acres of commercial development.
Allison Miller, chairwoman of a coalition of groups seeking to preserve
the valley, said 7,000 of the 28,000 oaks in the valley could be
removed if the land is developed.
Placer County Supervisor Robert Weygandt addressed the rally Saturday
and talked about Placer Legacy, a county program where money is raised
to purchase and preserve areas such as Clover Valley.
Money in the program is used to buy land from "willing sellers,"
Weygandt said.
Miguel Ucovich, a Loomis town councilman, told the rally that years ago
residents of the San Jose area preserved hundreds of acres of parkland
similar to Clover Valley.
"We need to work together," he said.
Lincoln Mayor Tom Cosgrove told Clover Valley supporters that "we need
to strike a balance" in protecting the environment and property rights.
He said the issue ultimately "is going to be resolved in
Rocklin."
Hill said Monday that if officials of other cities are concerned about
finding a way to save Clover Valley, "maybe they ought to ask their
residents if they want to be part of this."
He said there is an option to development, adding, "Monrovia has
clearly shown the way, and if people are serious, they need to look at
that as an example."
Doug Elmets, a spokesman for United Auburn Indian Community, the owners
and operators of Thunder Valley Casino, said in an interview at the
rally, "The tribe would at some point be interested in purchasing the
property (Clover Valley) ... after all other avenues had been
exhausted."
Standing in Boulder Ridge Park, where the rally was held about 100 feet
from Clover Valley, Elmets looked at hundreds of nearby Rocklin homes,
declaring, "Look at the sea of rooftops, and you have to ask: When is
enough enough?"
Hill said numerous court cases have demonstrated that developers have
rights and can't be prohibited from developing their land.
However, development could be regulated as to the number of units built
and other requirements, but it can't be blocked, the Rocklin mayor
said.
"You don't have to go with what they want," he said. "You can reduce
the development."
Grayson Coney, who has tracked sacred sites in Clover Valley, said some
of the sites are more than 5,000 years old.
He said "the last great representation of indigenous people's culture
that remains untouched is in Clover Valley."
At one point in his speech, Coney startled the crowd by loudly popping
a balloon, then comparing it to Clover Valley. "Now you see it, now you
don't," Coney said.
