City of Auburn accepts grant for Placer County domes site planning

The Auburn City Council last week approved the acceptance and use of a $650,000 grant which aims to reimagine one of the city's few infill properties. Placer County currently owns the site at 175 Fulweiler Avenue where it houses its dome-shaped government services buildings. Community and Economic Development Director Jonathan Wright said the county has begun to relocate its services it provides there and, "At some point, the facilities will no longer be used by the county." It's that potential reuse that prompted the city to take action in applying for this particular grant so it could craft a new master plan for the site. The location of the 17.5-acre property, which also includes the Auburn Library, is at the city's transit hub and is located close to Interestate 80 and the city's commercial core. The land's prime location made it particularly attractive to the Sacramento Area of Council Government's Green Means Go grant funding. "We have very little infill sites in town and just not ones that big," Wright said. "We want to get ahead of what happens for when the county leaves and prepare a well thought-out site that hopefully can be implemented." Current city zoning ordinances limit the site to only commercial classifications for potential future use, meaning apartments with limited sizing and parking requirements. "The city is looking to increase the maximum density unit from 15 dwellings per acre to 20 dwelling units per acre and allow for a housing mix of apartments, condominiums, townhouse and accessory dwelling units, mixed with commercial and boutique manufacturing," the city staff report on the project stated. Wright said the next steps include partnering with a planning firm to create a public-led process which includes lots of input and a steering committee which includes county participation as well. The city has four years to spend the grant money, and Wright said the process will take some time. "The outcome is the master plan," Wright said. "It doesn't necessarily tell the county they have to do something with the site, but when they move out of there, we can work with them to find someone that is interested in developing it."