How do you balance growth while still retaining your rural character? That’s what the update of the Greater Higgins Area Plan is trying to achieve. It’s been approved by the Nevada County Board of Supervisors. It featured a years-long public input process led by Bruce Brubaker, with a consulting group called Place Works. He told the Board Tuesday that the plan is now divided into seven chapters. It features 13 so-called “opportunity sites”, including for more high-density residential and commercial development, focused near Higgins Corner and the Lake of the Pines Village Center. And one critical chapter also includes public services and infrastructure…

click to listen to Bruce Brubaker

Brubaker said more public open spaces, recreational opportunities, and gathering places are also needed. Gary Baker is a member of the South County Municipal Advisory Committee and emphasized to the Board that the Plan has no land use changes, that it’s a planning and policy document…

click to listen to Gary Baker

More multimodal pathways between the two areas are also part of the Plan, as well as more senior housing. Boundaries have also been expanded to surrounding areas. Meanwhile, the Committee will not be dissolved for now, with its term extended to the end of 2024.