Nevada County OKs Penn Valley grocery store with traffic and oak mitigation

The Nevada County Board of Supervisors voted unanimously Wednesday to approve a proposed 30,711-square-foot grocery store and associated zoning and general-plan amendments in Penn Valley, clearing the way for the applicant to build a larger Holiday Market-style store with improved parking and delivery access.

The project, proposed for properties along Pine Shadows Lane near Pleasant Valley Road and Highway 20, required multiple entitlements: a general-plan amendment to shift about 2.4 acres from light industrial to neighborhood commercial, a zoning map change, a development permit to allow the store and an Oak Resources Management Plan to address impacts to landmark oaks. Staff said the site would provide 158 parking spaces and orient the building toward Pleasant Valley Road.

Senior planner Steve Geiger told the board the county prepared an initial study and a mitigated negative declaration under CEQA. The review identified transportation and protection of landmark oak groves as primary concerns; staff recommended 36 mitigation measures, including payment into an in-lieu mitigation fund administered by the Bear Yuba Land Trust (listed in the staff report) to mitigate removal of five identified landmark oak trees and striping and turn-lane improvements to address intersections projected to drop below the county’s level-of-service threshold without mitigation.

Representatives of the applicant, North State Grocery/Holiday Market, said the new site would replace an older, smaller store in Lake Wildwood, improve delivery access and expand customer services, including an approximately 700-square-foot coffee area. Joseph Metzler, vice president of the Lake Wildwood Board, said his community supports the expansion but asked the county and applicant to monitor traffic for a year and use traffic-impact fees for larger intersection studies.

Public Works and the Planning Commission reviewed multiple traffic-count vintages and required the applicant to provide restriping and turn-lane improvements; Public Works recommended retaining a two-way left-turn lane at one intersection to preserve stacking and flexibility. The Planning Commission forwarded the project to the board with a 5–0 recommendation and two added conditions asking for revised striping and more native landscaping; Public Works later requested deletion of the dedicated turn-pocket condition based on further review.

At the meeting the board adopted the mitigated negative declaration (including a mitigation monitoring and reporting program), approved the general-plan amendment and rezoning and adopted the resolution approving the development permit and Oak Resources Management Plan. The roll-call vote recorded five yes votes and no no votes.

What happens next: The applicant will need to satisfy the mitigation conditions and complete required annexation into the Nevada County Sanitation District via LAFCO before project construction and utility service are finalized.