Sentinel staff report–
Citrus Heights Planning Commissioners on Wednesday voted unanimously to approve plans for a new retail plaza to be constructed at the site of a recently demolished former bank building at 7056 Sunrise Blvd.
The project also won the approval of a vocal neighborhood leader, Nancy Graham, who had actively mobilized residents to oppose a 24-hour gas station and convenience store that was previously proposed at the site. Graham, along with another neighborhood leader, spoke in favor of the retail plaza project during a public hearing held Wednesday night at City Hall.
From 2018: Developer withdraws controversial proposal for new ARCO on Sunrise Blvd
Although Starbucks is referenced as a future tenant in documents submitted to the city, Planning Commission Chairman Tim Schaefer told The Sentinel the applicant confirmed during the hearing that lease agreements have not been signed with any future tenants.
Approved plans call for a single-story 7,759-square-foot retail building at the now-empty site in the Copperwood Square Shopping Plaza, located at the corner of Sungarden Drive and Sunrise Boulevard.
The retail plaza will include a wrap-around drive-thru for a 2,200-square-foot coffee shop, and the remaining 5,000-plus square footage will be divided into at least two smaller tenant spaces “as tenants are identified,” according to a staff report. An outdoor plaza with seating will also be created, along with the planting of 19 trees and over 9,000 square feet of landscaping at the site.
A site plan shows about half the property will be utilized for 32 parking spaces, which includes two electric vehicle charging spaces and a clean air/carpool spot. Existing shared entry and exit driveways will be utilized, one on Sunrise Boulevard and one on Sungarden Drive.
A timeline for construction was not discussed during the Planning Commission meeting, but a city spokeswoman said last week that the developer, Castro Valley-based Cal Ventures Group, LLC, plans to move ahead on the project “as quickly as possible.”
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