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Proposed El Dorado County district maps out for review

Thomas Frey
Mountain Democrat

SOUTH LAKE TAHOE, Calif. — With the redistricting process under way in El Dorado County, maps under consideration for Board of Supervisors’ districts are now available for public viewing.

The Surveyor’s Office created four maps, each of which meet the requirements for equal population distribution, geographic contiguity, integrity of local communities and consideration of natural and man-made barriers and compactness.

These maps can be viewed on the county’s redistricting website at https://www.edcgov.us/Government/Elections/Pages/Redistricting-Draft-Maps.aspx.



The public may also access and download data and the census files to create their own maps for consideration.

All maps and map revisions must be submitted to the redistricting team before a public meeting Oct. 14 where the maps will be provided to the public.



Four options

Alternative 1: City based alternative

This alternative was derived by allocating census blocks starting on the west end of the county and moving east considering city boundaries as the priority. It also uses rural centers and public drawn communities of interest as secondary considerations. This alternative maintains the city of Placerville in District 3 and the city of South Lake Tahoe in District 5, and it takes into account the proposed El Dorado Hills city boundary from a 2005 proposal. It also keeps the El Dorado Hills business park within a single district, whereas it has been split between two districts in the past. Lastly, it keeps the Tahoe Basin and much of the El Dorado National Forest together.

<em id="emphasis-66ef3f7f536605d2ee8ce4fa971f04d4">Alternative 1</em>

Alternative 2: Community services district based alternative

This alternative was derived by working along the U.S. Highway 50 corridor from the west to east end of county considering community services districts first and city boundaries and rural centers second. While it is not feasible to prevent CSDs such as El Dorado Hills and Cameron Park from being partially split due to the high population density in those areas, the majority of CSD boundaries were kept within a district.

<em id="emphasis-961e57d937bf003ca6923896a63899be">Alternative 2</em>

Alternative 3: Community of interest based alternative

For this alternative, public drawn communities of interest were the primary consideration for district boundaries. A total of four COIs were submitted for consideration by the public. These included communities in the Shingle Springs, Cameron Park, Rescue and Pollock Pines areas. Specific plans, rural centers and cities were also considered in an attempt to prevent heavily populated areas and neighborhoods from being split into separate districts.

<em id="emphasis-f72838da076c4d17eaba367c94aedcd9">Alternative 3</em>

Alternative 4: Community region based alternative

In this alternative, community regions, as defined in the county’s general plan, were the primary consideration for district boundaries. In addition rural centers, community services districts, Caldor Fire victims, cities and the proposed El Dorado Hills city boundary were included as secondary considerations. This alternative uniquely considers the victims of the Caldor Fire by putting a majority of the affected population within a southern district that stretches from the western edge east to the Tahoe Basin. Lastly, this alternative combines many of the major historic areas such as Placerville, Coloma and Georgetown into a common district.

<em id="emphasis-0f6f0ce8c14b2f52bf676599e0ccb9a3">Alternative 4</em>

 


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