Planning Commission OKs Sierra Village rezoning to allow 27 small-lot homes

The Riverbank Planning Commission unanimously voted to recommend that the City Council rezone a 1.94-acre parcel at 6509 Claus Road to a planned development, approve a vesting tentative subdivision map to create 27 single-family lots, and approve architecture and site plan review for a project called Sierra Village.

Staff told commissioners the site is designated medium-density residential in the general plan and sits within an infill opportunity area intended for compact residential development. The project proposes four small house models (two-bedroom plans ranging roughly from 780 to 920 square feet), interior minimum lot sizes as small as 1,800 square feet, and a density consistent with the general-plan medium-density range. Staff said the developer agreed to double the originally proposed park space so the common area now equals the footprint of roughly two lots.

The coffee-shop–scale applicant representative emphasized the project is market-rate for-sale housing and not an affordable housing project. “This is not a project for the unhoused. It is market rate,” the applicant representative said, adding the developer’s stated aim is to offer homes for “seniors, young professionals, single parents with children, or a young couple starting out.” Staff clarified the project remains subject to applicable park in-lieu fees despite the expanded on-site common area.

Neighbors who live directly adjacent to the site raised concerns during the public hearing about flooding, privacy, traffic and congestion near Riverbank High School and Highway 108, and the potential for investor purchases leading to short-term rentals. One nearby resident, Maricru Saldivar, said the proposed houses “will be extremely close to our backyard with little to no buffer” and asked commissioners to deny the rezoning. Another neighbor, Karen Conrado, said the property includes “prime world class agricultural land” and argued the floodplain, infrastructure, and long-term maintenance obligations make the project problematic.

The applicant’s representative responded that the project would provide individual city water and sewer service to each lot, increase rear-yard setbacks beyond the base R-1 standard (staff showed the rear setback proposed as 10 feet, double the R-1 minimum), provide two off-street parking spaces per unit in an internal lot pattern similar to apartments, and include perimeter fencing and private backyards for each lot. The applicant said all units would be single-story and under 20 feet in height and that grading and drainage will keep runoff on-site and out of neighboring yards.

Commission debate focused on site design, parking, open-space maintenance, and whether a homeowners association or joint maintenance agreement should be required; staff said that instrument must be in place before recordation of the final map. A motion to approve the rezone 02-2024, vesting tentative subdivision map 02-2024, and architecture and site plan review 09-2024 (Sierra Village) carried 5-0 on roll call (Chair Tidy Zamora; Commissioners Armando Rodriguez, Joan Stewart, Natasha Basso and John Dinan yes). The commission’s approval is a recommendation to the City Council; final entitlements require council action and the conditions noted by staff.

Planning staff said the project was noticed and that one written comment was received prior to the hearing; staff also said the project was categorized as exempt from further environmental review under the CEQA provision cited in the staff presentation. The staff report lists conditions requiring off-site improvements (curbs, gutters, sidewalks and a concrete masonry unit wall along Claus Road), either an HOA or a joint maintenance agreement to maintain on-site infrastructure and stormwater facilities, and the posting of required bonds or completion of improvements prior to occupancy.