Board accepts planning division update; directs staff on ADUs, cannabis setbacks, Dixon parcels and Pine Hill Preserve

The El Dorado County Board of Supervisors on May 13 received an update from the county’s Planning and Building Department on accomplishments in fiscal year 2024–25 and key priorities for 2025–26, and unanimously directed staff to return with follow‑up work on several specific items.

Planning deputy director Rob Peters and division leadership described staffing levels, recent process changes and multiple multi‑year planning efforts. Peters said the planning division has reconfigured units to reduce internal silos, updated CEQA initial study templates, developed interim objective design standards for certain multifamily and mixed‑use projects, and cleared a plan‑check backlog in the Tahoe office. The presentation listed roughly 21 full‑time positions on the West Slope and three in the Tahoe office and identified several current vacancies and frozen positions.

“We decided to take a broader approach to this presentation and include other units within the planning division’s work,” Peters said, explaining the division’s intent to provide more frequent updates to the board and to focus preparation for a comprehensive general‑plan update covering land use, transportation and housing.

Director Karen Gardner and other staff described a range of accomplishments: adoption of interim design standards, completion of the 2024 housing element annual progress report, establishment of a permit center triage system for tenant improvements and wireless permits, and adoption of streamlined review templates for ADUs and other housing. Staff told the board they have committed to meeting state law deadlines for updates to the conservation and open space element required by recent legislation and to continuing work on the Tahoe‑El Dorado Area Plan.

Supervisors asked about compliance with evolving state housing laws, the timeline for ADU reviews, and staffing needs. Karen Gardner said ADU ministerial reviews generally must be resolved within 60 days when state streamlining rules apply, and that Caldor Fire rebuilding (Title 25) applications for Grizzly Flats are prioritized with a goal of very rapid review for complete filings.

After discussion and public comment, the board gave staff four formal directions by a 5‑0 vote: 1) return with a review of county ADU rules as they relate to use of ADUs for short‑term rentals on the West Slope; 2) return with a resolution of intent to consider removing or narrowing options for setback‑exemption language in the county cannabis ordinance; 3) return with a resolution of intent to consider a rezone request for the Dixon parcels in the historic downtown El Dorado area (applicant request); and 4) provide an update on Pine Hill Preserve properties and related recreational‑trail and management issues. County staff said each item would be brought back as a formal ROI package so the board and public would have the opportunity for more detailed hearings.

Several members of the public urged greater transparency and asked that the long‑range planning matrix be agendized separately in future so citizens can track changes to the county’s multi‑year work plan. Staff responded that monthly and quarterly metrics are available online and that the division would continue to expand public metrics and routine reporting.

The board voted 5‑0 on the package of directions. Supervisors also asked staff to return to the board with specific cost and timeline estimates in follow‑up reports.