Oakdale council approves Sierra Point amendments and moves annexation application to LAFCO after hours-long hearing

The Oakdale City Council voted 4–1 on March 3 to approve amendments to the Sierra Point specific plan, a General Plan land‑use change and pre‑zoning for parcels within the plan area, and to authorize staff to prepare and file an annexation application with the Stanislaus Local Agency Formation Commission (LAFCO).

The council’s approval — which followed a staff presentation, a detailed phasing explanation and more than an hour of public comment — includes two changes staff had made after public input: converting a proposed small pocket of high‑density residential next to existing single‑family lots to very‑low‑density residential, and adding mandatory language that the developer and Oakdale Joint Unified School District must execute a school facilities mitigation agreement prior to approval of the first tentative subdivision map.

The decision matters because the actions clear the way for the city to request that LAFCO annex about 297 acres identified as the Sierra Point specific plan area into Oakdale city limits. Annexation would place the land under the city’s land‑use jurisdiction and allow subsequent subdivision and development plans to come forward for separate review and approval; it does not by itself authorize any construction.

Contract planner Mark Niskinen told the council the proposed amendments are largely refinements to the 2014 specific plan and the 2013/2030 General Plan update and that the applicant, Randall P. Thomas, controls roughly 182 acres of the roughly 297‑acre plan area. The amendments include modest land‑use swaps, the…