Prima Drive 'strife' ends between Folsom, El Dorado

Folsom and El Dorado Hills officials agreed last week the controversial, proposed Prima Drive emergency vehicle extension between Sacramento and El Dorado counties is no longer necessary. In 2017, the Folsom City Council approved plans for the 530-unit, 190-acre Folsom Heights subdivision in the northeast corner of Folsom Ranch at the El Dorado County line. The El Dorado Irrigation District serves the Folsom Heights area. Rolling Hills ED residents on the other side soon became upset to find out otherwise quiet Prima Drive would be extended west for a 25-mph, two-lane access road to connect Folsom Heights to El Dorado, staff said. As a result, the previous developer was saddled with engineering and paving Prima Drive with gates for emergency access only. But after a new developer and seven years of delays, officials now agree road connections are so numerous with new Folsom Ranch streets the Prima plan is no longer needed. The stretch will simply remain a gravel easement for EID staff only, staff said. The Folsom Planning Commission unanimously agreed to drop the Prima Drive conditions at the regular meeting Aug. 28. After careful study, Folsom Fire Chief Ken Cusano said the access road is not necessary anymore with home-grown infrastructure on the Folsom side. "Ongoing construction developments have sufficiently addressed concerns related to emergency vehicle access," the chief wrote in a letter. "It's something that's been kind of a thorn in this project from the very beginning," said Price Walker, vice president of Elliott Homes. "We've always attempted to find a way around this condition, because it causes such strife with our neighbors." "There are no current commissioners who were there, but it is the topic of lore," Folsom Planning Commission Chair Eileen Reynolds said at the meeting last week. "Out of our own internal delays, it's kind of taken care of itself through the amount of infrastructure that went up around it," said Walker. "This is a win for the city, a win for Elliott, and really a win for the neighborhood."