Donner Summit is located at roughly 7200 feet elevation on the crest of the Sierra Nevada between
Sacramento California and Reno Nevada. Interstate 80 goes over the summit.
You may have heard of this area from the story of the
Donner Party. The area is very popular with hikers, skiers,
naturalists, historians, climbers, train buffs, etc and is the watershed for many streams and rivers including
the North Fork of the American River and contains the headwater of the South Yuba River.
We are a group of full and part-time residents of the area who are concerned by the
development plans presented by Foster-Syme (Royal Gorge LLC). We have set up this website as
a means of giving people information on the plans, resources to check, and people/agencies to be
contacted in protest (or support) of the development plans.
Todd Foster of Foster Enterprises (grandson of the man who created Foster City) and
Kirk Syme of Woodstock Development
are the principles and owners of Royal Gorge LLC, the company that purchased the 3000 acres
of land at Donner Summit that surround Serene Lakes and Soda Springs.
Major development on Donner Summit in four separate locations. Their initial plans include 600+ "shared ownership" condominiums, two hotels, retail/commercial stores, employee housing, several ski lifts and runs, two artificial lakes, and hundreds of home sites. One of the locations will be a 'village' much like Northstar except 2-3 times the size.
Not necessarily so. Please do not start out by assuming the developer's viewpoint which is: "We plan to build 3000 homes. We've negotiated with the community to only build 1200. Therefore the community has 'won'". Let's be realistic and look at reality: "The current developMENT on the land is zero. ANYTHING greater than zero is a WIN for the developERS. Anything that destroys the environment and recreational opportunties of the area is a LOSS to everyone. Check out
more on this.
We have not been told where their water source is coming from yet. There is no sufficient existing
water supply and the current sewer plant is already maxed out. Expanding (minimum doubling) of the
existing sewerage, if possible, will have a negative impact on local watersheds and the Yuba river.
See the RG Memo on Water Supply and Demand Requirements
released May 17, 2007.
The developers said they will not develop the meadow (eg the lake). There were
previous plans that were already in process, to put in a new road, accessing 18 new home sites. Plus they are
proposing a new day lodge, interpretive center, employee housing, maintenance building, playground and picnic
grounds, and the main entrance to whatever will be left of the Royal Gorge Cross Country Ski Area.
The development will be in the meadow between the lake and the county road. The water from Van Norden meadow is the
headwater of the South Fork of the South Yuba River.
The developer said they are committed to keeping Royal Gorge cross country skiing open. But
they will be eliminating a lot of the trails to create "Ski Camp". They announced they will close the main entrance
to Royal Gorge (Summit Station), where most of the ski trails are, and moving the entrance to Van Norden Meadow
(now renamed Summit Camp). Many
of the remaining existing trails are where the proposed "Lake Camp" development and home sites will be, and through the
widely scattered "forest" home sites, all of which will need access roads and driveways, creating many road crossings
for skiers, and trespassing on what will now be private homesite property. It�s possible a lot of Royal Gorge trails
will be eliminated after development.
It is strictly a public relations term for development in an environmentally sensitive area. There
is nothing that diminishes the fact that the land will be raped and made into a suburban mall nightmare.
See "Conservation Communities? Not Quite!".
Again, strictly a public relations effort. Destroying pristine land and increasing pollution, noise, light,
and traffic is not green. Look at the political contributions they have made to get
an idea of what they really think.
