Cloverdale residents demand full environmental review of proposed mega development
April 9, 2026
Cloverdale leaders faced intense criticism Wednesday, April 8, as a swarm of public commenters accused the city council of failing to ensure residents and resources are safeguarded from impacts associated with a proposed mega housing and resort development on the south end of town.
More than a dozen residents demanded the council require a new environmental impact report for the proposed Esmeralda project, slated for 266 acres of vacant former industrial land.
The project, one of the largest in northern Sonoma County in decades, has been inching toward formal consideration by the planning commission and city council. But proponents with the San Francisco-based developer, Esmeralda Land Company, have advanced their vision while relying in large part on an environmental report completed 18 years ago for the Alexander Valley Resort, a different, now defunct development on the same land.
Merely amending and adding to that report is not enough, residents told the five-member council in what made for a chorus of concern Wednesday.
“This is going to affect everyone,” Brian Den said. “It will affect the future. We should take a better look at it and not move forward so fast.”
Since the project was first unveiled in summer of 2024, a handful of business leaders, some residents — and some council members — have touted the project as a much-needed economic injection for the county’s northernmost city.
The project calls for up to 600 homes in a mix of apartments, townhomes and single-family houses. The developers also are planning for a resort hotel, two restaurants, office, commercial and light-industrial space, a racquet club, two indoor pavilions and possibly, an elementary school.
With more than 1.8 million square feet of landscaped area, including a dog park, community garden, sports fields for youth teams and playground, the project is conceived to be a walkable, bikeable community for multiple generations, according to the land company’s principal, Devon Zuegel.
City leaders suggested their hands are tied until the project is formally proposed.
The final proposal and application for development has not yet been delivered to the city, according to City Attorney Alex Mog.
“Until they submit it, we can’t say we want this or that,” Vice Mayor Todd Lands added.
That answer didn’t sit well with many on hand Wednesday.
The scale of Esmeralda’s development, they said, is vastly different from previous proposals for the property — a former lumberyard, gravel mine and truck repair shop — posing new and potentially more significant impacts.
The prior report, conducted for Laulima Development’s proposed Alexander Valley Resort and equestrian center, evaluated the environmental footprint of a hotel of up to 150 rooms, 40 standalone hotel bungalows, a spa and restaurant, 130 homes, equestrian center, shops and stores. The company also demanded the city close the nearby Cloverdale Municipal Airport, saying its runway was too close to potential horses and guests.
Such impact reports are required by the state’s bedrock environmental law for most major construction projects. Often exhaustive and costly, the studies are meant to analyze the potential for specific and cumulative impacts on environmental and other resources, while also proposing measures to offset those impacts where they are found to be significant.
In Cloverdale’s case, relying on a 2008 report, residents said, doesn’t cut it.
“The environment itself has changed a lot since then,” said Regina Biery. “We don’t have enough water for us probably. It is going to be horrible for us if we get rationed because we overbuild. It has got to last. We all have kids. We care about our environment.”
“We are so past the point of needing an EIR, it’s ridiculous to not do it,” said former council member Mary Ann Brigham. “I don’t want to end up in 15 or 20 years having a bunch of 5-year-olds growing spare eyeballs and suing the city. We can fix this. Just get the freaking EIR!”
Cloverdale resident Jennifer Sullivan stressed that a full environmental impact report was important to the residents because, unlike an addendum to an existing report, it allowed for public comment. By law, environmental impact reports include a legally-mandated timeframe for public comments — typically 30 to 60 days. Addendums do not require public comment.
“I just want people to understand that one difference,” Sullivan said. “EIRs mandate response.”
Mog, the city attorney, said protocol requires city staff to use the 2008 report as a jumping off point for evaluating the Esmeralda project. Because that project is different than what was evaluated in the 2008 study, Mog said the city is required to draft an addendum, which would evaluate those changes.
Should those changes entail new, significant impacts to the environment that current or new mitigation measures are unable to offset, Mog said an addendum might not be adequate, and a new environmental impact report could be required.
“If those are found to be true, then we can’t prepare an addendum,” Mog said. “But the city has an obligation to prepare an addendum” first.
Both the planning commission and city council will review the original environmental impact report and addendum with Esmeralda’s proposal.
The planning commission expects to hold a hearing later this spring followed by a public hearing at the city council in the summer. Neither panel has seen a finalized proposal for the development, which is set to include requested changes to the city’s zoning and general plan codes to allow for residential development on the land.
Mayor Brian Wheeler tried to assuage residents and defend the city. The council, he said, is “chomping at the bit” to be able to ask questions about the project, including how the development might affect residents, businesses and the environment.
“There’s going to be a lot of questions out there. We want to nitpick the living daylights out of this thing. When we receive it, we will,” he said. “To bash us out and say we’re not doing anything? You’re not right. We live in the community, too. I moved to Cloverdale because it’s a small town. I know how people like it, because that’s how I like it. We want this town the way it is. We want it to be successful.”
Amie Windsor is the Community Journalism Team Lead with The Press Democrat. She can be reached at amie.windsor@pressdemocrat.com or 707-521-5218.
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