Lifetime Citizen Portal Access — AI Briefings, Alerts & Unlimited Follows
Developers present revised Cloverdale plan that would gift riverfront park, add senior housing and hotel
Loading...
Summary
At an Esmeralda town hall, developers outlined a revised plan for a privately owned Cloverdale site that would remove a private golf course, add 150–200 senior housing units, allow a resort hotel and include a publicly gifted riverfront park; staff described an entitlement timeline through spring and summer 2026.
Developers presented a revised land-use plan for a privately owned site in Cloverdale at an Esmeralda town hall held at the Veterans Memorial Hall, proposing to replace a previously planned private golf course with public open space, build senior housing and allow a resort hotel.
Devin Zugel, the founder of the presenting company, said the revisions emphasize more public access, reduced water use and habitat protection compared with the earlier plan. "We're talking about our proposed revisions to the previously approved plan," he said, noting the team collected questions from the council and the public in advance and prepared printed FAQs and an extended online FAQ.
The proposal would substantially amend the site's existing specific plan, which was first approved about 17 years ago and has had modifications since (the most recent in 2018). Michael Yarny, a lead presenter, described the entitlement package the team has submitted to the city: a CEQA addendum/sequel that the team said will total roughly 275 pages, general-plan and specific-plan amendments, new objective design standards and zoning changes, a negotiated 25-year development agreement, and a master tentative map covering grading and infrastructure.
"These are planned areas. They are not projects. I can't emphasize this enough," Yarny said, stressing that the map sets a framework rather than approving construction. Under the land-use map shown, the team labeled one area "village mixed use" — the likely location for senior housing they estimated at 150 to 200 units — and a separate zone for a resort hotel that could allow up to 200 keys though the presenters said market demand might favor nearer 125 rooms.
Designer Debra (last name not stated) described design priorities that include preserving and expanding existing oak woodland groves and creating a continuous "necklace" trail tying the neighborhood through the site into downtown. She said the team proposes to build and "gift a very large public park" on the riverfront and make the site broadly accessible to Cloverdale residents, replacing the private-golf-course concept in the earlier plan.
Kevin Thompson, the city manager, said city staff — planners, engineers and the city attorney — are reviewing submitted materials and have provided comments. "Our goal is to really make those documents as good as they can before they come to you," Thompson said. The team described a review schedule that targets a final entitlements package by late April, a 20-day public review period, a planning commission hearing in May 2026 and two city council hearings (a substantive vote and a second reading) targeted for June.
The presenters acknowledged unresolved technical issues that will be addressed in later reviews, including how to handle a large "reusable fill area" of leftover material on the east side of the site. They said more detailed answers are in the printed FAQ and on the project's website and that remaining questions would be addressed in the open Q&A.
No formal action or vote was taken at the town hall; presenters said the materials are still under city review and must pass subsequent public-review and hearing steps before any permits or agreements would be authorized.
