Loomis Planning Commission finds five-year CIP in conformance with General Plan, directs staff to file CEQA notice of exemption

The Loomis Planning Commission unanimously found that the town's proposed five-year Capital Improvements Program (CIP) conforms with the Loomis General Plan and directed staff to prepare and file a notice of exemption under the California Environmental Quality Act (CEQA).

Merrill Buck, who presented the CIP to the commission, said the commission's role is not to approve the CIP budget but to determine whether the projects listed conform with the General Plan. "We're asked to do today is to not approve the CIP because the council already did that. What the planning commission is being asked to do is to make sure that the projects conform with the general plan," Buck said. He walked commissioners through near-term, funded projects (the first two years of the five-year program) and longer-term planned projects in years three to five.

Staff highlighted several funded and proposed projects: Brace Road STBG paving (a grant-assisted overlay that will add bicycle facilities), a Humphrey Road school-route sidewalk gap closure, replacement of the Blue Anchor Park playground surface, regrading and stabilization of the Sierra De Montserrat horse trail (funded by the maintenance district), and a downtown civic parking feasibility study. The parking study was described as an $80,000 program; staff said they are pursuing a SACOG grant to expand the study and incorporate multimodal and civic-use planning.

Commissioners and members of the public questioned recent resurfacing work on Sierra College Boulevard and other streets. Buck explained the town used a lower-cost rubberized chip-seal treatment as a stop-gap because full overlays are substantially more expensive, and he said the town will update its five-year pavement-management assessment and prioritize larger resurfacing needs when funding allows.

On a separate but related matter, staff reported work on the Horseshoe Bar I-80 interchange project. "Congressman Kevin Kiley is putting forward a $5,000,000 earmark for that project," staff said, and added that accumulated developer mitigation fees of roughly $3,000,000 also help the town move forward. Staff stressed the interchange work is framed as safety improvements rather than a capacity-increasing project and that additional coordination with Caltrans and the CPUC will be required.

An unidentified commissioner moved to: find the CIP categorically exempt from CEQA (citing CEQA Section 15061(b)(3)), file a notice of exemption, and adopt Resolution No. 24-03 finding the funded projects in conformance with the Loomis General Plan for fiscal years 2024'25 through 2028'29. The motion was seconded and passed on unanimous roll call: Commissioners Kelly, DePelho, DeMartini, Wilson and Chairman Underco voted "Aye." The commission's finding makes the effective adoption date of the CIP coincide with the commission's determination.

Next steps identified in the meeting record include staff filing the CEQA notice of exemption and continuing project-level environmental review and design for individual projects as required.