Robert Weygandt
Placer County Supervisor, District 2

We all enjoy the amazing quality of life Placer County has to offer, which is due in large part to the majestic natural landscape and outdoor opportunities that surround us. This lifestyle makes our region a highly-sought-after place to live, work and play.

For decades, municipalities have struggled to balance the competing interests of economic development and land conservation, but Placer County may have found that middle ground with the Placer County Conservation Plan, or PCCP. The PCCP provides a way to balance growth and preservation by conserving more land than would typically be required of land development projects, while at the same time streamlining the permitting process for those who want to develop responsibly.

The PCCP, more than 15 years in the making, conserves more than 47,000 acres of land in Placer County, while simplifying the multi-agency Federal and State permitting process into one single process at the local level.

The program preserves open space by using grant funding and mitigation fees paid by developers to either purchase property outright or purchase a conservation easement.  A conservation easement restricts development on a parcel while compensating property owners for the removal of development rights to their land but still allows them to retain ownership of the property. In either case, any land or conservation easement secured through the PCCP is negotiated only with willing sellers.

There is so much more to the PCCP, too much to share in a newsletter, but I am incredibly excited about the future benefits the PCCP will bring to Placer County and its residents. If you'd like to learn more about the PCCP, you can read more here, and stay tuned for more updates in the near future!

Robert