On Wednesday Afternoon longtime local developer, Dick Smith sat to watch his daughter Kim and son Kyle present the plans for the Cambridge Pavilion to the Shingle Springs – Cameron Park Chamber of Commerce.
Dick Smith and his Dorado Land & Development Company are well known to area residents. When Dick first started development in Cameron Park, there was no Cameron Park and there were only a few people even living in the area.
His company sold the land to Larry Cameron, which latter become Cameron Park. He also sold the property to Sam, of Sam’s Town fame. Additionally, over 325 acres of the rare plant preserve in Cameron Park was Dick Smith’s land.
Dick has since retired but he remains a local icon and his children have remained in the county. Both children Kim & Kyle are involved with the management of the Dorado company. They are raising their children here and are most concerned that El Dorado county remains a wonderful place to raise children for generations to come.
The Cambridge Pavilion is situated northeast of the Cambridge exit from Highway 50.
Many people might recognize the property by the retired open sewage treatment evaporation ponds. The development is to be anchored by Home Depot and will include a number of other businesses including financial services and high-end restaurants that will be situated overlooking the open space of the deer creek which is located on the eastern side of the property. Smaller specialty grocery stores are also planned.
Erik Pilegaard spoke about assembling several pieces of
land into a master planned project to avoid a piecemeal approach.
Erik explained that some of the goals of the project was to reduce trips
on 50 both to the east and west for goods and service available in the new
center. Reducing traffic congestion
on the highway and generating revenue to the county are community benefits that
the project is intended to provide.
Representatives
Scott & Beverly, from Home Depot, also spoke and took questions from the
audience. Scott talked about the
application process and that they are currently investigating all of the
environmental issues and plans to submit a formal application to the county in
March. He estimates that the EIR
and public hearings will take the better part of a year. He also mentioned he’s appreciation for the “walkable”
plan, open space, and pleasant flow of the development’s design.
Another HD representative, Beverly, talked about the
importance of community involvement to Home Depot. Home Depot budgets between $25 and $30 million dollars every
year for community charities. The
Placerville Home Depot has proved to be a valuable contributor to the Boys &
Girls Club of El Dorado County Western Slope. They have been generous in contributions of materials and
manpower at the Club. In many communities, HD is also involved in developing
affordable housing. Beverly also
mentioned that even though over 30% of the workforce are part-time employees,
even those employees receive full employee benefits.
After a short presentation, the Chamber opened the floor up
to audience questions, which were answered in a strait-forward and unflinching
manner.
Q. Why another store when there are stores in Placerville
and Folsom?
A. Not only has the Placerville store exceeded expectations, but our research has
shown significant leakage in sales from the Cameron Park area to both
Placerville and Folsom. They know
that their competition is also aware of the great demand in the area.
Although they would not disclose internal numbers, they did say that an
average store sells over $45 million in goods and contributes about half a
million dollars into the local economy every year.
Q. How big is the store and what will it look like?
A. This store will be a typical “modern” Home Depot and will look similar to
the Placerville store with 105,000 sq.ft. Another
105,000 sq.ft. will be used by the other enterprises in the Pavilion.
Q. Are you looking at other sites in the area?
A. No, Home Depot is not looking at any other sites in Cameron Park.
Q. How many jobs will be generated by Home Depot and the
other businesses in the Pavilion?
A. This Home Depot will generate 175 jobs and the remaining businesses will
generate about 125 jobs for a total of 300.
Q. Traffic is already bad at the Cambridge and Country Club
Intersection, how bad will it be with all of this new traffic.
A. It is true that this intersection is already rated a F and that the county
has no plans in the five year DOT CIP to fix it, but as part of the development
and EIR process, the Developer must improve the intersection.
Not only for the first year of the new development, but even 20 years
into the future. It is part of the
process of development in El Dorado County that development can only take place
if the roads are less congested then level F.
The real effect of this development is that road conditions will improve.
Q.
This area is predominantly residential and the commercial buildings may not be appropriate for the area. [More of a comment then a question]
A. The General Plan for the county already has planned this area to be
commercial. The project is
surrounded be high-density residential multi-family housing that is the planned
transition buffer between single family residential and retail. Not only is this the right kind of development for this land,
it will actually reduce freeway noise to the existing homes.
As the Luncheon wrapped up, community members were invited to stay and ask more questions or to follow up later with the speakers. For more information contact the Shingle Springs – Cameron Park Chamber of Commerce at (530) 677-8000 or online at http://www.sscpchamber.org/
Home Depot