The regular Riverbank City Council meeting of Tuesday, July 8 has been canceled, but the council is scheduled to meet in a joint session with the Riverbank Planning Commission on Wednesday, July 9. Topic of that meeting will be the River Walk Project, and the presentations planned are informational only, with no action to be taken at the meeting.
Riverbank City Clerk Gaby Hernandez said the meeting will be available via Zoom and YouTube but comments or questions from the online viewers will not be taken. In person comments and questions will be allowed, with those wishing to make a comment asked to fill out a comment card on site and return it to the city clerk. For those choosing to submit written comments, they must be received before 5 p.m. on the date of the meeting. The written comments will not be read aloud at the meeting, noted Hernandez, but they will be reported as received for the record.
“It is a special meeting and is only informational, there will be no action but it will allow for public comment,” Hernandez said.
It’s also just part of a lengthy process that would not only require the city’s Planning Commission to approve the project and move it on to the City Council for consideration, but would also require approval through LAFCo, the Local Agency Formation Commission, for annexation of the land in question to the City of Riverbank.
Hernandez said city officials are aware of many questions and comments about the proposed River Walk Project and hope to address those at the joint City Council-Planning Commission public workshop.
Steve McMurtry with De Novo Planning Group will provide a presentation for the attendees on the River Walk Project, followed by a public comment period.
The meeting is scheduled to begin at 6 p.m. and will be hosted at the Riverbank Community Center, 3600 Santa Fe. Hernadez said it was moved there in anticipation of a possible large turnout, due to the extensive interest in the project.
City Council members expected to be in attendance are Mayor Rachel Hernandez, Vice Mayor Cindy Fosi and councilmembers Stacy Call, John Pimentel and Luis Uribe.
The Planning Commission includes Chair Taide Zamora, Vice Chair Michael Halterman, commissioners Natasha Basso, Joan Stewart and John Dinan, along with Alternate Commissioners Armando Rodriguez Jr. and Ben Reuben.
A previous report released by the city and consultant De Novo Planning Group indicated that “The River Walk Specific Plan is in the unincorporated area of Stanislaus County and adjacent to the City of Riverbank, north of Patterson Road/State Route (SR) 108, east of McHenry Avenue, and approximately two miles northwest of downtown Riverbank.”
The River Walk Specific Plan is being put forth as a Mixed-Use development project that would include a variety of residential housing densities, retail, commercial and health/medical services in addition to public recreation, a pedestrian/bicycle trail system, and open space and landscaping.
Opponents have raised concerns about the taking of agricultural land and the large number of residential units proposed, both of which they see as detrimental impacts of the project.
