The debate over updating Granite Bay’s development playbook took center stage last week, with many residents expressing suspicion about the process at a community meeting that quickly turned testy.

The at-times emotional gathering – which included a threatened recall against Granite Bay Supervisor Kirk Uhler and a visit from a Placer County Sherriff’s deputy after things got out of hand – was billed as a chance for residents to learn about the update and to share ideas with county staff on improving the Granite Bay Community Plan.

But most attendees made no secret they were happy with it as is.

“I have not heard a compelling argument for updating the plan,” longtime Granite Bay resident Marlene George told a crowd of more than 300 inside a Lutheran church. “The expression ‘if it ain’t broke don’t fix it’ applies here. The only person I know who wants to update the plan is Kirk Uhler.”

Uhler, who pushed to begin the update process, said it is necessary because the existing plan is 20 years old. He said any changes to the plan would still cap Granite Bay’s population at a maximum of 29,000; the area currently has a population of about 16,000.

But he’s quick to point out that changes to the plan might amount to zero.

“The important point for folks to understand is absolutely nothing has been requested,” Uhler said in a phone interview this week. “But we have in fact opened this up for everybody within the community to look at both land use and policy change opportunities that might be necessary or beneficial to the community. It may be that we get a half dozen or it may be that we get none.”

Placer County Planning Director Michael Johnson said the county is in support of potentially updating the plan.

“It’s the county’s goal to review community plans every 10 years to make sure the goals and assumptions are still valid,” he said. He added that the recession meant county planners have the time to spend on an update process.

Many residents, however, are concerned an update would open up the unincorporated area to higher-density development, turning Douglas Boulevard “into another Greenback (Lane) or Sunrise (Boulevard),” two highly trafficked thoroughfares outside of Granite Bay, as one resident put it.

The current community plan, a county-approved planning document that spells out guidelines for how projects can be built, is characterized by larger parcel size and setback requirements in certain areas.

To be sure, some residents have complained that the document is too strict. GB homeowner Lori Ryan said she would like to be able to divide her residential land in half to 2.5-acres, but the current floor in her area is five acres, according to the community plan.

“Five acres is loads of land, and it’s just kind of being wasted,” she said after the meeting. “To go to 2.5 acres is, I would guess, more rural than most people who spoke at the meeting.”

But that stance – at the meeting, at least – was in the minority. Suspicious that the process was a back door for developers, some residents questioned Uhler’s recent reshuffling of the Granite Bay Municipal Advisory Council – the advisory body that will recommend what changes, if any, be presented to county supervisors.

“I am somewhat skeptical of the opinions to actually be heard,” said resident Peter Kessler. “My fear is these meetings are a way to immunize elected officials from criticism.”

One resident, Will Ellis, said he had created a Web site, www.savegranitebay.com, to oppose the update and push for a recall of Uhler. He said he had collected more than a thousand pledges for signatures and would formally begin a recall process if he received 15,000.

“He’s just proposing a development agenda,” Ellis said after the meeting. “We’d love to see him listen to the community, but if he’s not, the only check and balance we have is a recall.”

At the end of the meeting, attendees said, Placer County Sheriffs were called when a resident grabbed a microphone and began shouting Uhler down, but no arrests or citations were made, officials said.

The meeting isn’t the last chance for residents to be heard. The entire update process is expected to last up to two years; those interested must submit all policy requests, via the county’s Web site, www.placer.ca.gov, by June 30 2009.