Foskett Ranch and Beyond: The MRNC Scope of Work Expanding Beyond the Borders of the Teal Hollow Branch of the Markham Ravine

The original focus of the Markham Ravine Neighborhood Committee was on the branch of the Markham Ravine located within the Teal Hollow / Meyers development area. As we have evolved it has become clearly evident that the successful preservation of the Markham Ravine riparian habitat requires that we look at the total Lincoln ecosystem picture, including those open space areas encompassing the Auburn Ravine, Clay Creek and Coon Creek. 

The Foskett Ranch property is located adjacent to the Eastern boundary of the proposed Markham Ravine Corridor Expansion Project. It is located north of Nicolaus Road and along side the western boundary of the Sierra Pacific lumber mill. The area is rich with vernal pools and riparian habitat. The Foskett Ranch property contains one of the largest Mehrten vernal pool complexes remaining within Placer County. Vernal pools and riparian habitats are protected by federal and state environmental regulations. Any development encroaching upon such a habitat must pass through a rigid permitting process, including the acquisition of negative declarations assuring that the vernal pools and riparian habit will not be damaged. The acquisition of negative environmental impact declarations and conservation easements within Foskett Ranch has been on-going for the past three years and the necessary permits to proceed with development have now been obtained.   

A tentative parcel map plan for development of the Foskett Ranch area had already been approved by the City of Lincoln, which was pending the recently acquired environmental permitting approvals. The conceptual architectural plans include three major development projects. The first development to the northeast includes a regional park with an aquatic pool complex, soccer and baseball fields, basketball hoops, and picnic areas. The second development in the northwestern portion of Foskett Ranch will be a new elementary school for the rapidly growing City of Lincoln. The third development within the Southern portion of the Foskett Ranch property will be single family residential housing. Our website will keep you apprised of any changes in each of the three project development concepts.

The Markham Ravine originates in the foothills to the east of Lincoln and runs westward through the lumber mill and the Foskett Ranch area. Whatever happens to Markham Ravine within Foskett Ranch will impact all of the Markham Ravine. As part of the the City of Lincoln policy commitment to open space the Foskett Ranch area development plans incorporate the concept of open space preservation. In fact, 119 acres within this parcel has been designated by the City solely as open space. In addition, there is proposed that multi-use trails will be located throughout all of the Foskett Ranch property. These trails will connect to the projected east-end trailhead of the Markham Ravine Corridor Expansion Project, within the Teal Hollow branch of the ravine.

During the past two years The City of Lincoln Planning Commission and Office of Community Development has been involved in the process of updating the Lincoln General Plan , with specific provisions for preserving all of Lincoln's open space, and the development of multi-use trails. During this same two year period of time the City has concurrently been negotiating requirements with residential developers, that they preserve a minimum of 35% of the development property as open space, and incorporate multi-use trails into their planned residential village neighborhoods. The Lincoln City Council has labeled their philosophy of mixing preservation of open space and promotion of residential community growth as "Smart Growth." They envision each residential community area as a "village," all linked together by trail systems.

Evidence of this policy can already be seen within Sun City - Lincoln Hills, as well as within the newly developed Twelve Bridges community and the Lincoln Crossing community. Each of these residential village communities includes open space with miles of multi-use trails. This open space policy commitment was again expressed by Mayor Spencer Short during his State of the City 2004 speech before the Lincoln Chamber of Commerce on May 26th.  New City Mayor, Tom Cosgrove, emphasized the City commitment to the preservation of open space during his State of the City 2005 speech on May 18th.

Within Foskett Ranch,  Meritage Homes, Standard Pacific Homes, DR Horton, and Morton & Pitalo are four of the key players with whom the City has been negotiating the use of open space and development of multi-use trails. Meritage, Standard Pacific and DR Horton are the developers of the planned residential housing, and Morton & Pitalo has the lead role in civil engineering and land use planning.

Another key player is ECORP Consulting, Inc. Ecorp was the environmental consulting firm who was initially contracted by Meritage Homes to pursue the specific environmental and design permitting still necessary to be obtained prior to the actual construction of the trail system within the Foskett Ranch property. As of April 26th, 2005 this responsibility was shifted to Foothill Associates by the Lincoln City Council. This was done in part so that Foothill Associates would be contractually responsible for all environmental studies and design work associated with the Markham Ravine Corridor Enhancement Project as a whole.

Ecorp is the environmental consultant firm who was also contracted within the Lincoln Crossing property to pursue the environmental studies and permitting necessary for construction of the trail system which is now present throughout it's planned village communities. The City of Lincoln itself has now established a contract with Ecorp to manage and maintain all of the open space areas within Lincoln, outside of the Markham Ravine sphere of influence, which do not already have such a management contract in place.

There are also several other residential village areas being developed within the westside of Lincoln, or planned for development, outside of the Foskett ranch property, which impact upon the Markham Ravine and it's tributaries. The Brookview # 4 development is located West of Joiner Parkway and North of 5th Street. It is presently being developed by Arnaiz Development Co, Inc.   Arnaiz has already preserved a large section of this residential village development as open space. Many of these homes back up to the Markham Ravine. A large number of the oak trees were left intact. Please visit our website photos gallery for glimpses of how all developers could better treat the Markham Ravine natural habitat resources while building homes.

Just as within the Meyers and Centex home developments which surround the Teal Hollow branch of the Markham Ravine, multi-use trails were not required by the City of this Brookview # 4 developer. These three home developments were first negotiated prior to the City's open space and trail requirement policy was clearly established. The City, however has stated it's intentions to develop a trail system through the existing Brookview area open space, although it's configuration and exact location has not yet been determined due to the nature of the area's topography. The Brookview area trail system will become a planned component of Stage 4 - Phase 3 of the Markham Ravine Corridor Enhancement Project.

The proposed Lincoln Village residential community, located at the northeast corner of 5th Street and Joiner Parkway, will be developed by Beazer Homes . It is located nearby the Western boundary of the existing Joiner Park complex. Joiner Park is thirteen acres in size, including four acres of designated wetlands with vernal pools. They also have baseball and soccer fields.

As presently designed, however, there is no specifically designated open space planned by the developer within the Lincoln Village project. It has been designed for high density detached single family homes, with only five feet of space between each home and a very small lot size. The cost of housing has risen dramatically within the Lincoln area, so developers are attempting to build as many houses as possible within their parcel lots.

City Council members have stated that while open space is desired and a policy commitment, it is also desirable that new houses being constructed should be affordable. The majority of houses now being constructed in Lincoln are no longer affordable to the average new potential home buyer. Developers state that open space requirements reduce the number of houses they can construct, thereby increasing the cost of each house for the prospective homebuyer. The City Council is presently debating the conflicts between open space and affordability.

This is the future of planning for residential village developments in Lincoln. Creative design will have a significant impact on the future of the Markham Ravine Corridor and the preservation and enhancement of Lincoln's open space.

Any trails which are created through the above mentioned two land parcels along Joiner Avenue will further expand the total Markham Ravine Corridor trail system, and will allow trail users access to an additional park (Joiner Park).  There is yet another presently undeveloped parcel of land, which is located on the northern boundary of Markham Ravine, along Venture Parkway and next to the present Air Center Industrial Park. This property is owned by Buzz Oates , and is presently on the sales market for residential development. A Markham Ravine tributary, Clay Creek, runs adjacent to this property. This area, when developed, would ideally include additional trails with direct access to the proposed Foskett Ranch Regional Park to the East, and the Markham Ravine Corridor Enhancement Project trails to the West.

The Markham Ravine Neighborhood Committee will keep you informed regarding all plans for the development of the Foskett Ranch area, as well as all other nearby areas designated for residential development or roadway construction which would impact on the Markham Ravine. We encourage community involvement in discussions about these planned developments. We encourage community input regarding creative designing which fosters both affordability and preservation of open space within these new residential village developments. We especially encourage community involvement in the discussions concerning trail design and placement. 

If all of these developments evolve as discussed above, the end result would be approximately ten miles of trails throughout the Markham Ravine Corridor and its tributaries, connecting three parks, and thereby enlarging even further a multi-use trail system throughout all of western Lincoln. Future plans even envision connections to trails along the Auburn Ravine and to the existing trails within the Lincoln Crossing, Twelve Bridges and Sun City-Lincoln Hills home developments. This connectivity will result in a total Lincoln trail system of close to twenty-seven miles. Even more importantly, however, we will have preserved valuable wetlands riparian habitats. And, we will have created an open space mecca within the midst of residential development. 

There is also another nearby proposed construction project which will have an impact on the Markham Ravine. The City is proposing the building of a SR 65 over-crossing at Gladding Road. As presently conceived the reconfiguration of Gladding Road will parallel the Markham Ravine. Environmental impact reports will be required prior to construction of this overpass. The MRNC will monitor this permitting and construction process.

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