Planning commission finds Westgate Drive vacation consistent with general plan, recommends council vacate stretch to clear future school site

The Riverbank Planning Commission voted 5-0 on Aug. 19 to adopt Resolution No. 2025-014, finding that the proposed vacation of roughly 0.64 acres of the former Crawford Road (now Westgate Drive) is consistent with the city's general plan and to recommend that the City Council vacate the right-of-way so the area can be realigned to accommodate a planned K'8 school site.

The finding is required under state streets and highways law before a jurisdiction may vacate public right-of-way. City staff told commissioners the vacation implements a road realignment previously approved as part of the Crossroads West Specific Plan and the related 2019 general plan circulation amendment. Staff said the action is exempt from the California Environmental Quality Act and that the Crossroads West project was previously evaluated in an environmental impact report.

City staff explained the vacation affects an approximately 0.64-acre segment of old Crawford Road that will enable the eventual intersection alignment of Westgate Drive and Machado Parkway and facilitate the development of a school site identified in the Crossroads West plan. Staff also said existing public utility easements will remain in place and that the applicant is working with staff to establish a replacement utility easement that would route facilities around the school footprint.

Commissioners asked staff to confirm what utilities remain in the area; the staff response identified a gas line and a fiber-optic line as existing facilities that would be retained within easements. Staff also displayed the approved tentative map for the Crossroads West area and said the map was drawn so that a school parcel could replace a block of residential lots if the school district chose to purchase the site. The tentative map shown at the hearing included approximately 860 lots in the larger development, according to staff comments.

A representative for the Crossroads West project, Dave Romano, urged the commission to support the resolution, noting Crossroads West and its circulation plan were previously approved by the commission and city council and that the vacation implements that long-standing plan.

No commissioner identified a conflict of interest. After brief public comment (unrelated to the vacation area) and commissioner questions, the commission president called for a motion; the minutes record the motion and a second but do not list a named mover. A roll-call vote followed: Chair Tidy Zamora, Vice Chair Michael Sid Alterman, Commissioner Joan Stewart, Commissioner Natasha Basso, and Commissioner John Dinan voted yes; outcome recorded as approved 5-0. By action, the commission forwarded the vacation recommendation to the City Council, which must take final action on the right-of-way vacation.

The staff report lists the application as No. 01-2025 and department file No. 25-0016 and recommends adoption of Resolution No. 2025-014. The staff presentation notes that public utility easements within the affected area will remain and that the Crossroads West specific plan and the 2019 general plan circulation amendment provide the policy basis for the consistency finding.

Next steps: the commission's approval was a determination of general plan consistency and a recommendation; the City Council will consider the recommended vacation at a subsequent meeting for final action.