Oakdale council approves Sierra Point annexation application, sends amended specific plan to LAFCO

The Oakdale City Council on March 3 voted 4–1 to advance amendments to the Sierra Point specific plan and to authorize staff to file an application with the Stanislaus Local Agency Formation Commission (LAFCO) to annex roughly 297 acres into the city for future development.

City contract planner Mark Niskinen told the council the package before them included a general plan amendment, a “minor” specific-plan refinement and a pre-zone/annexation application for a project known as the Sierra Point specific plan. “Annexation doesn’t necessarily mean that actual development will occur,” Niskinen said, adding that annexation is a step to allow future subdivision filings and that physical construction likely would not begin for several years.

The council’s approval followed a lengthy staff presentation and a public hearing with about a dozen speakers. Applicant representatives said they had revised the plan after neighborhood meetings and a February planning commission workshop; the planning commission previously recommended approval by a 4–0 vote.

Key changes approved by the council include swapping a small area that had been designated high-density residential for very-low-density residential behind existing homes on Twilio Avenue and adding mandatory language requiring a school-mitigation agreement between the developer and the Oakdale Joint Unified School District before the first tentative subdivision map is approved.

Developer attorney Dave Romano told the council the applicant supported the changes and asked the city to move the…