Cotati planning commission recommends council approve Redwood Row mixed‑use project with conditions

The Cotati Planning Commission on Monday voted unanimously to recommend the City Council approve preliminary design review, a tree‑removal permit, parkland dedication and a vesting tentative map for the Redwood Row mixed‑use project at the northwest corner of State Route 116 and Redwood Drive.

The commission’s action followed a detailed staff presentation, a developers’ slide presentation and more than two hours of questions and public comment. Director Noah Hausch presented staff’s analysis, citing the project’s consistency with the general plan and with mitigation measures in the city’s EIR; Adam Foster of City Ventures and other members of the project team then described the site plan, proposed housing mix, parks and frontage improvements.

Staff and the developer said the application seeks design review, a tree removal permit and a tentative map for a roughly 10.6‑acre site. The proposal described in the staff packet and in the public presentation includes townhouse‑style condominiums (34 homes across 26 buildings), an optional accessory dwelling unit (ADU) option for some condominium buyers, a 44‑unit apartment building proposed to satisfy the city’s affordable‑housing requirement and about 10,000 square feet of commercial condominium space fronting Highway 116. The developer said the project would provide roughly 1.08 acres of dedicated parkland in two pocket parks and pay fees for the statutory parkland requirement beyond that dedication.

Why it matters: the project would build market‑rate for‑sale units and a sizable below‑market rental component on a long‑vacant, previously graded site west of Highway 101 that has been the focus of earlier land‑use planning. Staff said the application came in under Senate Bill 330…