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Planning for Placer Vineyards, a 14,000-home new town proposed west of Roseville, has begun moving again after being on hold for two years.
But the 5,200-acre community planned by Angelo Tsakopoulos and other landowners could still dry up and blow away unless it gets water. Without water, one of the biggest land speculations in the Sacramento region would come to nothing.
That's pretty much what environmentalists are hoping.
"It's a classic sprawl kind of thing," said Sharon Cavallo, chair of the Sierra Club's Placer Group. "It's out there by itself and it's growth-inducing."
City officials in nearby Roseville are also watching the huge project. Placer Vineyards' border starts about 1,000 yards from Roseville's city limits, and the city wants to make sure the Vineyards' future residents wouldn't overwhelm the city's roads or tap into its police, fire and other services.
'We just want to makes sure it has a neutral impact on Roseville," said Patty Dunn, the city's planning director.
Tsakopoulos did not return calls.
The gambit: Tsakopoulos and his fellow landowners could reap big profits. The land is zoned for agriculture now. But its value could rise considerably with development zoning.
Similar farmland in south Placer County often sells for about $2,500 per acre now. But if the land is zoned for homes it can sell for $40,000 or more per acre - maybe a lot more, said Dave Jarrette, a partner in the Roseville appraisal firm of Giannelli, Jarrette and Filipiak.
That's a perky 1,500 percent return on investment, although spread out over a long period.
Placer Vineyards...