Mountain Springs Community Plan strives to preserve the rural character of the Mountain Springs area while addressing a portion of the future growth needs of the County.
The Community Plan land uses have been configured to create a variety of neighborhoods and provide a sense of Community. These neighborhoods are linked together by a hierarchy of roads and an extensive pedestrian trail system contained in open space and road right of way corridors. The land use designations of the Community Plan are shown in Illustrative Plan and Land Use Diagram Figures 2-1, 2-2, and 2-3. The Illustrative Plan and Land Use Diagram generally illustrate land uses with proposed lot sizes, proposed number of homes, applicable General Plan and Zoning densities, the circulation system to serve the land uses, Parks and Community Open Space, Open Space Easements, Recreation components, and other significant planning features of the Community. A summary of Community Plan land uses, including acreages, Community Plan density for lot sizes, and number of homes related to each residential land use are found in Mountain Springs Community Plan Dwelling Unit Allocation Table 2-2.
The Community Plan is designed to meet the needs of the residents and visitors through a combination of residential, commercial, recreational, and open space land uses. An additional 117 homes (15%) have been added to 780 market rate homes to provide a moderate level of affordable housing. The Community Plan does not specify the location of the moderate level of affordable housing but allows flexibility in the location of these homes. It is anticipated, however, that a majority of the moderate affordable portion of the Community Plan will be located in and around the Village Center and housing parcels with a lot size of ΒΌ acre or smaller. The affordable housing will be accommodated in a variety of housing styles that could include rentals, smaller single family residences, condominiums, town homes, quadraplexes, triplexes and duplexes. These would be offered first to qualified buyers that are employed within the community and then to Tuolumne residents employed in a community service position that could include but not be limited to police, fire, nursing, teaching, and various levels of government service.
To accommodate approximately 4% of the projected County growth over the next twenty years the Community Plan designates approximately 518 acres (48%) for a range of residential development within the total Community Plan which is comprised of 1,063 acres. The residential acres are designated for 897 homes in various residential land uses at densities ranging from one home per 2+ acres near portions of the open space perimeter of the Community Plan up to 15 units per acre in portions of the centralized Village Center. The layout and size ranges of the individual home lots is the result of careful analysis of existing site conditions that include environmentally sensitive areas, adjacent uses, the varied terrain, and views into the Community from adjacent residential and agricultural areas. All residential land uses are buffered from riparian areas, environmentally sensitive areas, cultural resource sites, and the perimeter of the community adjacent to agricultural and residential lands by the community open space. Due to the significant allotment of open space, open space easements, existing golf course, parks, as well as a large amount of perimeter buffering, the overall density is very low at less than one home per acre overall to maintain the rural character of the area.
