Board approves Crossing RV resort and hotel project after planning commission recommendation; digital sign becomes focal point

The board voted April 29 to approve a revision to the Crossing project (Phase 2 and 3), allowing an RV resort and campground with cabins, a hotel and an event center on the previously approved commercial site near Missouri Flat Road.

Applicant Leonard Grama and planning staff emphasized the project's tourism and economic-development case: the applicant cited research showing camper spending and argued the property would attract visitors who would spend locally in Placerville and the wider county. Planning staff and DOT said the revised project would generate fewer daily vehicle trips than the originally authorized big-box retail plan and that required turn-lane and shoulder improvements on Eldorado Road are part of the conditions of approval.

The approved plan includes 301 overnight sites (RV, group tent, cabins and glamping units), a 10,000 square foot main amenity building, a 75,000 square foot hotel and a roughly 3- to 400-person event space. Amenities shown in planning documents include a pool, hot tub, dog park, pickleball courts and vineyard screening along the western boundary.

Planning staff presented an addendum to the previously certified Environmental Impact Report and a revised mitigation monitoring and reporting program. Because phase 1 construction had already started, staff noted boundary-line adjustments and other technical cleanups were included as part of the PD revision. The project includes conditions to limit the hours of outdoor amenities, reduce the number of wood-burning group fire pits to 30 (from the original plan of one per site), and require supplemental noise studies for specific event programming.

Public comment was mixed. Supporters — including the Placerville-area Chamber of Commerce and local merchants — said the county lacks hotel rooms and tourism-serving beds and that the project would bring spending to downtown businesses. Opponents, principally residents along El Dorado Road and Derby Lane, expressed concerns about narrow roadways, traffic safety, noise (pickleball courts, event center), smoke from fire pits and the adequacy of evacuation and fire-safety planning.

A focal dispute at the hearing was the project's sign program. The proposal included a 50-foot US-50-oriented monument sign, and the applicant proposed an LED/digital message panel in the upper portion of that monument. Planning recommended the monument sign changes as part of the sign program; the planning commission recommended approval but a commissioner dissented on the digital-message portion. Several supervisors asked for a follow-up demonstration from the sign vendor; one supervisor said she opposed the digital sign even if she supported the project. After discussion, the board approved the project including the sign program with the digital panel; one supervisor recorded a no vote on the sign.

Actions recorded in the meeting packet include: a general-plan amendment to remove a conceptual Headington Road alignment; a rezone from commercial regional PD to special-purpose Recreational Facilities High Intensity (RFH) PD; PD revision; a conditional use permit for the hotel/event center and campground; and an administrative permit for manager's dwelling and pool/pickleball uses.

Ending

The board approved the project with conditions addressing traffic improvements, noise and fire-safety coordination; staff will oversee the mitigation monitoring program and the applicant must return with additional plans and any required supplemental studies before final building permits are issued.