Volume I · In the record Development Scale 266 Acres · Asti Road

The Scale of It

605 homes and 200 hotel rooms proposed on 266 contaminated acres. How that compares to everything else Cloverdale has approved in its modern planning record.

The Esmeralda Specific Plan proposes 605 homes and 200 hotel rooms on 266 acres south of Cloverdale—a city of around 9,000 people at the northern end of Sonoma County’s Alexander Valley. The same site was approved in 2009 for 170 units and up to 150 hotel rooms as the Alexander Valley Resort; that project was never built, and two CEQA addenda in 2016 and 2018 left the unit count unchanged. The current proposal is roughly 3.5 times larger in residential units. It adds a school, senior living, an amphitheater, and retail. All of this on a site that carries a recorded land use covenant restricting certain uses over a 5.35-acre area where PCP and arsenic contamination remains.

Esmeralda would add more residential units than any other single project in the city’s modern planning record.
Proposed, not adopted Prior approval, same site Other approved projects
Project StatusCEQA action Residentialapproved units Hotelrooms Total acresproject area Notes
Esmeralda Specific Plan Proposed3rd Addendum drafted ~May 2025; not accepted by City as of June 2026 605181 detached SF · 224 attached/MF rental · 200 senior living 200 266~173 developed; 93.4 ac Open Space Conservation excluded School, senior care, amphitheater, retail. Restricted Use Overlay over 5.35-ac contaminated area. SCH #2003072142.
Alexander Valley Resort
2018 Addendum		 Adopted2nd Addendum, Nov 13, 2018 (Reso 085-2018, 4–0) 170105 SF detached · 25 estate · 40 resort/fractional up to150 ~267same parcel; ~48 developed acres Golf optional. Same site as Esmeralda. SCH #2003072142.
Alexander Valley Resort
2009 Final EIR		 AdoptedEIR certified June 10, 2009 170105 SF detached · 25 estate · 40 resort/fractional up to150 254~35 developed; 18-hole golf required (~219 ac) 2.4 ac entry commercial. SCH #2003072142.
Baumgardner Ranch ApprovedMND, SCH #2020029033 30479 SF · 59 rowhouses · 166 apartments none 28.5~20.3 developed; annexation required South edge of city. Annexation to Cloverdale city limits required before construction.
Clover Springs
Del Webb 55+		 BuiltConstructed ~1997–2000 ~362age-restricted SF; Fire Creek Lodge none ~175 Source: 55places.com—not a primary planning document. Pre-CEQAnet; primary records not confirmed. NW Cloverdale.
Clover Springs Phase 3B ApprovedEIR, SCH #2005042132, ~2005 20estate SF on ½+ acre lots none 50~10 developed; large permanent open space Extension of Clover Springs community.
Sunrise Hills ApprovedNeg. Dec., SCH #2003082078 4640 SF · 6 ADUs none 13.28 Foothill Blvd. extension. Approved 2003.
Creekside Subdivision ApprovedNeg. Dec., SCH #2004062025 12multifamily none 2.48 University Ave. Approved 2004.
Cottage Phase IV ApprovedNeg. Dec., SCH #2003042014 11 none 9.26~4 developed S. Cloverdale Blvd. Approved 2003.

Sources: CEQAnet SCH #2003072142 (AVR/Esmeralda); Draft Esmeralda Specific Plan, Appendix B; City of Cloverdale Resolution 085-2018; CEQAnet SCH #2020029033 (Baumgardner Ranch); CEQAnet SCH #2005042132 (Clover Springs Phase 3B); CEQAnet SCH #2003082078 (Sunrise Hills); CEQAnet SCH #2004062025 (Creekside); CEQAnet SCH #2003042014 (Cottage Phase IV). Clover Springs Del Webb unit and acreage figures from 55places.com; primary planning records not confirmed. “Developed acres” for AVR/Esmeralda are approximate, excluding the 93.4-ac OSC parcel per Esmeralda Specific Plan Appendix B.

A note on sources and caveats. Project figures come from CEQA documents on file with the State Clearinghouse, City of Cloverdale council materials, and the draft Esmeralda Specific Plan (Appendix B). Acreages are as stated in the approving documents; “developed acres” for Esmeralda and AVR exclude the 93.4-acre Open Space Conservation area. The Clover Springs Del Webb figures are sourced from 55places.com rather than a primary planning document and are marked accordingly. The city’s General Plan growth policies set a target of 75 units per year and 375 units per five-year period; Esmeralda’s 605 units alone exceed eight years of that target. Click or tap any row to pin it. Click a column header to highlight that column.

Primary documents