A housing milestone was celebrated yesterday in south Placer County with a ribbon cutting ceremony for the first model homes included in Phase I of the Riolo Vineyards Specific Plan.

Phase 1 of the specific plan, the Farms at Riolo Mariposa, consists of 107 single-family homes. The two model homes celebrated at the ribbon cutting will open to the public Jan. 27.

On hand to help mark the occasion was District 1 Supervisor Jack Duran, whose area includes Riolo Vineyards, county staff, project developers and people who work in the building industry.

“This ribbon cutting ceremony is the culmination of years of hard work on the part of the developer and county staff to create a quality community, protect our environment and provide open spaces and parks for people to enjoy,” said District 1 Supervisor Jack Duran. “These model homes offer a first look at a new and exciting community and signal a new era of housing and business development coming online in unincorporated south Placer County."

The Riolo Vineyards Specific Plan was approved by the county in 2009, and updated in 2015, after a rigorous review process that included extensive community outreach and multiple public hearings. This is the first specific plan project in the unincorporated area of Placer County to begin home construction.

“The public review process that projects like this go through is a key component in ensuring the development of quality communities,” said Placer’s Community Development Resource Agency Director Steve Pedretti. “That means we see protection of environmental areas, creation of parks and other amenities, and that we identify and create funding structures that will assure quality services and functioning facilities into the future."

The three-phased residential community encompassing 525 acres will be constructed as part of the Riolo Vineyards Specific Plan, which is bordered by Watt Avenue, Walerga Road and PFE Road in south Placer. The Riolo Vineyards project as a whole will include 933 single-family homes and 230 acres of public parks, trails and open space, and agricultural uses with much of the conservation lands to be located along the Dry Creek corridor. Approximately 10.5 acres of neighborhood-serving commercial land is also included in the specific plan. Build out of this specific plan is anticipated to occur over 10 to 15 years.

The homes constructed as part of the Riolo Vineyards project will go a long way toward mitigating the housing crisis felt by so many families. The construction of nearly 1,000 new homes will add housing inventory in a well thought out community that aims to provide the amenities and services that help people enjoy a higher quality of life.

County staff and developers are currently working on other specific plans in Placer County that will also help to build housing inventory, including Bickford Ranch and Placer Vineyards, which will begin construction of backbone infrastructure in 2018.