Placer Planning Commission hears contentious Hope Way apartments plan; commissioners split on traffic, safety waivers

The Placer County Planning Commission on Oct. 16 took up the Hope Way Apartments, a proposed 240‑unit, 100% affordable multifamily development on an 11.43‑acre site at 3130 Penryn Road in unincorporated Penryn.

The hearing, which drew hundreds of in‑person attendees and more than 200 written comment letters, included a staff presentation, technical testimony on traffic and public safety, a developer presentation and nearly four hours of public testimony. The commission approved the project's CEQA conformity determination and most of the applicant's requested concessions and waivers under state density bonus law, but tied on a waiver that would have allowed the project to exceed a community plan circulation policy (keeping an intersection at LOS C), producing no majority to approve the overall design review agreement.

Why it matters: The project is one of the county's sites targeted to meet its housing element goals and uses state streamlining and density bonus provisions that substantially limit local discretion. Commissioners and residents spent the day focused on traffic and emergency evacuation, school impacts and site design, in a dispute that illustrates the tension between state housing mandates and local infrastructure and safety concerns.

What the project proposes: USA Properties Fund, the developer, proposes 12 residential buildings totaling 240 apartments (including two manager units), two community buildings, 463 parking spaces and on‑site amenities such as play areas, a fitness area and outdoor common space. Staff estimated an anticipated resident population of about 792 people based on county zoning occupancy assumptions; the applicant emphasized the project would be income‑restricted to households at 30% to 70% of area median income and financed largely with federal low‑income housing tax credits.

Key approvals requested: The commission was asked to (a) approve a design review agreement under county standards, (b) approve nine concessions/waivers…