The Community

The North Auburn—Luther Road Opportunity Area is the southern entryway to the unincorporated North Auburn area. It straddles the State Route 49 corridor, north and south of the Luther Road intersection from the UPRR tracks to the Auburn city limits, covering approximately 370 acres. The land use pattern consists of largely auto-oriented uses, including many of the area’s main automobile dealerships (e.g., Chrysler-Dodge-Jeep, Honda, Toyota, Ford), as well as many automobile service and parts businesses. Beyond the car dealerships, the only regional retail business in the area is the Auburn Plaza shopping center at the northeastern corner of the SR 49-Luther Road intersection, which is anchored by a Best Buy electronics store. Other commercial businesses in the area are locally-oriented, with small strip retail centers interspersed among the car dealerships along the west side of the highway; this could change if a proposed Wal-Mart to the northeast of Auburn Plaza were to develop. The only significant industrial use in the area is the A&A Concrete facility at Marguerite Mine Road.

The only transit service in the area is Placer County Transit’s Highway 49 route, which runs along SR 49, with stops at Luther Road, Live Oak Lane, Edgewood Road, and Nevada Way. The route departs SR 49 at Nevada Road, where it heads toward Auburn Station, which provides connections to regional services, including the Placer Commuter Express and Auburn to Light Rail bus routes and the Capitol Corridor train service. There is a Class II bike lane along the full length of SR 49 within the area and a Class II lane is proposed for Luther Road. North of Luther Road, there is a continuous sidewalk along the eastern curb of SR 49, with sporadic sidewalks along the western side; there are no sidewalks south of Luther Road on SR 49 within the area.

The Auburn-Bowman Community Plan (1994) governs development in the North Auburn—Luther Road area, with a strong emphasis on working toward a better balance between jobs and housing in the area. The Plan calls for more opportunities for “low traffic generating” primary wage earner employment (with an emphasis on industrial uses) as well as more affordable housing. Recognizing the need for sufficient land to address the County’s fair share of affordable housing, the County Housing Element (2021) identifies several commercially-zoned parcels along the SR 49 corridor as candidates for rezoning to accommodate new housing. Future development in the Luther Road area is also subject to influence by the City of Auburn because the southern and eastern edges of the area abut the Auburn city limit. This will particularly affect transportation system improvements on Luther Road, which passes through Auburn before resuming its alignment in unincorporated area near Bowman.