The site has been previously approved for an Existing Plan that allows for retail, office, hundreds of homes, a flagship hotel, a private golf course, and some light industrial uses.
Esmeralda Land Company (ELC) is seeking to update & improve the Existing Plan. ELC's "Revised Plan" would use less water, provide much more public access, more housing, and better align with Cloverdale's values and goals. The Revised Plan is moving through the City's formal review process, as of January 2026. City staff aim to bring the Revised Plan to the Planning Commission in late spring, followed by City Council in the summer.
ELC started outreach over 3 years ago, before it was even in contract to purchase the 266-acre site. Building on that extensive community engagement, there will be even more opportunities for public input before any final vote. The City—not the developer—controls the pace of review and hearing schedules, and the Revised Plan will only advance when staff determines that sufficient information has been provided.
It is important to emphasize that ELC is seeking approval of a Revised Plan, not individual buildings. Construction cannot start until many steps later via a lengthy permitting process. Specifically, the Revised Plan creates a regulatory framework for future City review of individual development phases and, after that, individual building permits.
Under the Revised Plan's framework, no building permits can be approved until a Phased Development Review application is reviewed and approved by City staff. (ELC expects that the Revised Plan will be built out in at least 7 phases over the course of a decade, maybe more). And before the first Phased Development Review application can be approved, the City must first approve a Master Grading Permit for the whole site. The Master Grading Permit cannot be issued until many other regulatory studies, including soil, tree, wetland and habitat restoration reports, are approved by state and federal agencies, such as the California Department of Fish & Wildlife (CDFW) and the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers (USACE), as well as a Site Mitigation Plan overseen by the North Coast Regional Water Quality Control Board (the Water Board).
All of this means that even if the Revised Plan is approved in summer 2026, there will be many more years, regulatory approvals, and permits before actual construction can start.
Community dialogue has been extensive and ongoing for over 18 months. In addition to formal public hearings, ELC has organized and attended dozens of public events—open houses, workshops, talks, and informal gatherings—designed to make it easy for Cloverdale residents to learn about the Revised Plan, ask questions, and offer feedback. These events have taken place at familiar local venues such as the History Center, Veterans Hall, the Senior Center, and the Plaza. These events include:
The Revised Plan has also been discussed on local radio, covered in Cloverdale Connect, the Press Democrat, and other regional outlets. ELC has continually published updates about the Revised Plan online at esmeralda.org.
Beyond formal events, ELC's founder, Devon, has done extensive one-on-one outreach and has consistently offered to meet with residents who have questions or concerns.
ELC has also reached out to local groups to integrate into the local context, including Clearwater Ranch, La Familia Sana, the Cloverdale Rancheria, the Cloverdale Chamber of Commerce, Russian Riverkeeper, Sonoma County Ag+Open Space, Russian River Confluence, Sonoma Water, the Russian River Flood Control & Water Conservation Improvement District, Sonoma County Parks & Recreation, the Great Redwood Trail Agency, SMART, and beyond. ELC welcomes conversations with additional groups that would be interested in collaborating.
Because some locals have just recently started getting involved in the public process, the City and ELC have added more opportunities for engagement, such as the Feb 5 Town Hall and an invitation to submit questions to add to this FAQ.
ELC remains committed to transparency and open communication. If you have questions or would like to connect, don't hesitate to reach out to team@esmeralda.org.
The Esmeralda Institute is a 501(c)3 nonprofit dedicated to lifelong learning across generations, inspired by the 150-year-old Chautauqua Institution. (Note: Esmeralda Institute is a DBA for Adventureland Institute.) Esmeralda Land Company, LP (ELC) is an independent, for-profit company that seeks to develop the 266-acre site.
Each June, the Esmeralda Institute organizes a month-long 1,300-person gathering throughout northern Sonoma County called Edge Esmeralda, modeled after Chautauqua's summer program. The purpose of Edge Esmeralda is to prototype an inclusive culture of lifelong learning that may one day find a permanent home in the Revised Plan.
The event has received coverage from news outlets such as The Press Democrat, The Healdsburg Tribune, and Sonoma Magazine.
Each June, the Esmeralda Institute organizes a month-long 1,300-person gathering throughout northern Sonoma County called Edge Esmeralda, modeled after Chautauqua's summer program. The purpose of Edge Esmeralda is to prototype an inclusive culture of lifelong learning that may one day have a permanent home in the Revised Plan.
Edge Esmeralda is directly modeled on Chautauqua, the town where Devon (ELC's founder) spent childhood summers visiting her grandmother. Chautauqua mixes the charm and close-knit, multigenerational community of a small town like Cloverdale with world-class programming and events, which brings people closer together.
Edge Esmeralda (EE) is an opportunity to nurture the ideas that can then be transplanted into a permanent place once it's built. EE is also a way to engage the local community. ELC is taking a community-first approach: EE is one way to plant seeds that will become deep roots in the north county.
The event has received coverage from news outlets such as The Press Democrat, The Healdsburg Tribune, and Sonoma Magazine.
According to the Water Supply Assessment (WSA) prepared by EKI Environment & Water and peer-reviewed by the City's water engineer consultant, the City is projected to meet total system demands—including the Revised Plan—under normal, single dry, & multiple dry year conditions through 2045.
The City Council formally adopted the project's Water Supply Assessment (WSA) on Dec 10, 2025. Read the one-page summary or the full WSA document on the City's website.
The City relies on groundwater directly under the influence of the Russian River for its supply. The City's unique senior pre-1914 water right offers a large entitlement and high degree of supply reliability, even when considering the future decommissioning of the Potter Valley Project, which will reduce inflows from the Eel River Watershed into Lake Mendocino and, ultimately, the Russian River.
Water conservation is a critical part of the Revised Plan, even though Cloverdale has plenty of water to support growth far beyond the growth envisioned in the Revised Plan. For example, the Existing Plan includes a golf course; ELC removed it, in part because it is an extremely water-intensive use.
The WSA takes into account the planned decommissioning of the Potter Valley Project, which will reduce inflows from the Eel River Watershed into Lake Mendocino. Even with this reduction, Cloverdale's unique senior pre-1914 water right offers a large entitlement and high degree of supply reliability.
Yes. The WSA was prepared by a highly qualified third-party firm (EKI Environment & Water) for the benefit of the City. West Yost, the City's own independent water consultant (paid by the City), peer reviewed the entire draft WSA, and provided feedback which was integrated into the final WSA. Finally, staff and the City Council extensively reviewed the WSA before final adoption.
The WSA studied population growth well beyond what's proposed in the Revised Plan. It relied on the City's 2020 Urban Water Management Plan (UWMP), which assumed a population of 9,213 in 2020 and projected an increase to 13,635 residents by 2040.
For context, Cloverdale's latest (2024) census estimate is 8,784 residents. That indicates that the City's current population is lower than the UWMP's 2020 estimates, which assumed 50% growth in 20-years.
The Revised Plan's estimated future water demand was added on top of the UWMP's conservative demand projections, for both population and water demand.
The WSA assumed 1,525 people at full project buildout (the permanent residential population). Historic residential data suggests 63-70 GPCD consumption for existing Cloverdale residents. The WSA projected around 48-60 GPCD for the future residents in the Revised Plan, significantly lower than existing residents' usage. This is because new homes will be subject to the State's latest green building codes, including strict appliance water conservation requirements. The home sites are also smaller and won't require as much irrigation.
Even with the UWMP's conservative projections, the WSA concludes that around 250 MGY of un-tapped water rights would still remain after adding background City growth and new demand from the Revised Plan. A high-level estimate suggests additional ~5,000 people could be accommodated, meaning a total City population around 18,600 people.
In short, the WSA assumed that Cloverdale's population was already much larger than it currently is, building in substantial safety margins. Approving the Revised Plan will not foreclose other opportunities for population growth, including in the downtown.
First, it is important to note that the City has never run out of water. Even in the depths of the 2021 drought, the City never lacked physical access to supply.
From a legal standpoint, the City is entitled to its pre-1914 senior water right, up to 910 Million Gallons per Year (MGY), well below its actual historical usage of 363 MGY in 2024. This means that the City has access to potentially 547 MGY more water than its historical usage, according to its rights.
Cloverdale's rare pre-1914 senior water right—910 Million Gallons per Year (MGY)—has largely protected its supply. At one point during the drought of 2021, the State Water Resources Control Board (SWRCB) issued curtailment orders that impacted Cloverdale's legal right for the first time in history. Beginning Aug 2, City use was curtailed to 55 GPCD (gallons per capita per day) "Health & Safety" minimums. However due to the City's pre-1914 senior rights, by Sept 10, 2021, SWRCB approved the City's petition to increase its allocation up to 104 GPCD. All City curtailments ended on Oct 21.
Unlike many other Sonoma cities, Cloverdale was not subject to any further curtailments during the remainder of the long drought. This is the only instance to date where pre-1914 rights holders in this portion of the Russian River Watershed were curtailed. Even then, state regulations ensured a guaranteed minimum supply, and the City was successful in securing additional allocations.
The City monitors water supply and demand as part of its Urban Water Management Plan (UWMP), which is updated every five years. The Revised Plan's WSA incorporated the City's most recent UWMP (2020) which estimated that the City would consume 532 MGY in 2025 (32% more than what was actually consumed 2024, which means that the UWMP projections are extremely conservative). Despite these very conservative estimates, the WSA still projects that in 2045, at full build-out of the Revised Plan, including background population growth far in excess of Cloverdale's existing population, the City's total water demand will be 676 MGY, which still leaves 234 MGY of untapped legal rights.
Finally, if demand ever did approach actual supply limits, the City has multiple management tools available, including emergency conservation measures.
Because the Revised Plan will connect directly into the City's water distribution system and does not propose to create or use any on-site wells, the Revised Plan will not impact neighboring wells.
Yes, in several ways, including:
The Revised Plan requires that ELC build water tanks with 1-million-gallon capacity and dedicate them to the City. This new storage will help pressurize the City's water system, provide added fire protection, and enhance the City's water resiliency.
During state-mandated drought curtailments, water access rights are allocated on a per person basis, so adding more water-efficient residents actually increases the total water allocation for the City as a whole.
For example, during state-mandated legal curtailments in a drought like 2021, Cloverdale's total allowable water allocation (Gallons Per Capita Per Day, or GPCD) is determined per capita. Ironically, because of this policy, adding new permanent residents who actually use less GPCD (because of conservation improvements) actually increases overall legally allowable supply for existing residents.
Some portions of the 266.4-acre AVR site were used historically for industrial and agricultural purposes, including a sawmill complex (Louisiana Pacific/LP), a wood preservation facility (Masonite & International Paper), a gravel mining/asphalt/concrete plant (Hot Rocks/Ghilotti Brothers), two wood waste landfill areas, a truck repair shop, and vineyards (Silverado). The last active industrial use, the LP sawmill, shut down in the early 1990s.
Some of these activities resulted in the release of hazardous materials into small areas of soil and groundwater, including pentachlorophenol (PCP). Prior owners and operators conducted investigations and remediation under the oversight of various state environmental regulatory agencies including the California Department of Health Services (DHS), predecessor to the Department of Toxic Substances Control (DTSC), and the North Coast Regional Water Quality Control Board (Water Board).
As of Jan 12, 2026, all regulatory oversight cases associated with identified environmental conditions at the site are closed. The last two open cases relating to the LP sawmill complex and the former Masonite Wood Preserving facility were closed in the last few months.
DTSC and the Water Board have been overseeing monitoring and remediation on the site for nearly 50 years. This lengthy process has involved extensive public oversight and scrutiny. After significant monitoring and remediation over that period (including soil excavation, off-haul, treatment injections, bioremediation, and groundwater extraction), the Regional Water Board determined that "[t]he site has been fully assessed and remediated to the extent practicable and current site conditions pose little risk to human health or the environment."
Notably, the former Masonite facility has been the subject to some of the most extensive cleanup and monitoring activity, under the oversight of the Water Board. On January 21, 2026, the Water Board issued a No Further Action and Case Closure letter confirming completion of all required site investigation and remedial actions, subject to compliance with the terms of a Covenant & Environmental Restriction on Property (Covenant) recorded against the property in 2013. The Covenant restricts the use of a small portion (8.6%) of the 266.4-acre Revised Plan area; specifically, it prohibits the development of housing, schools, and hospitals within an 22.85-acre area referred to in the Covenant as the "Burdened Property" (identified on Figure 1 of the Covenant as the Restricted Soil Area and the Restricted Groundwater Area; daycare centers for children or seniors are also prohibited within the Restricted Soil Area). In addition, any future construction activities within the Burdened Property require compliance with the Water Board-approved Soil Management Plan (SMP) attached to the Covenant, which includes certain Water Board notifications and approval requirements.
The Revised Plan does not allow residential uses on the Burdened Property — it applies a special zoning overlay to that area. Of the 266.4-acre site, the Revised Plan proposes using just about 70 acres for residential uses.
The area, humorously called the "Twinkie" but legally called the Reusable Fill Area (RFA), is located in a different part of the site than this Burdened Property area. The RFA makes up at least 30 acres of the East Site, the strip of land between the railroad tracks and the river, which is part of what ELC has proposed developing into a regional public park and ultimately gifting to the City.
After nearly 50 years of investigation and remediation work at the 266-acre site, the Phase I Environmental Site Assessment (the Phase I Report) prepared by ETIC[1] for the Revised Plan area did not recommend further investigation or testing because there are extensive existing studies, data, and maps, and the areas that had historical industrial activities were tested and remediated long ago.
Phase I reports are routinely prepared in accordance with ASTM E1527-21, the nationally recognized professional standard used by environmental consultants, lenders, and investors. The Phase I Report relies on historical records review, regulatory database research, and site reconnaissance to identify Recognized Environmental Conditions (RECs). Additional on-site investigation, including testing (called a "Phase II" Report) is only recommended if a REC is identified in the Phase I Report that has not already been adequately investigated, remediated, and/or closed by regulators.
The Phase I Report did not identify any RECs in the Revised Plan area. Further, as noted above, all Water Board-overseen cases have been closed. ELC will share the updated 2026 Phase I Report with the public when it's published, ideally by early spring.
That being said, the Revised Plan is still subject to strict federal, state, and local rules and regulations for the transport, use, and disposal of any hazardous construction materials — including the Hazardous Materials Transportation Act, the California Health and Safety Code (HSC), and the California Code of Regulations (CCR) Title 22 Division 4.5, which requires safety procedures for the transportation, use, and disposal of hazardous materials and waste such as completing a Hazardous Waste Hauler Application form, obtaining a hazardous waste Identification Number, and undergoing inspection prior to the transportation of hazardous materials or waste.
In addition, any grading within the serpentinite outcrops would be required to abide by CCR Title 17, Section 93105 for large construction projects, which mandates the submission and approval of a dust mitigation plan to the Northern Sonoma County Air Pollution Control District for earthmoving activities and the off-site transport of naturally occurring asbestos from serpentinite.
Additionally, the mitigation and monitoring required under CEQA includes several measures to ensure that implementation of the Revised Plan would not create a significant hazard to construction workers or future residents. These mitigation measures include:
Preparation of a Health and Safety Plan (HSP), which establishes procedures for the proper storage and use of hazardous materials, and control specifications for construction activities involving exposure to contaminated soil or groundwater. This includes health and safety provisions for monitoring exposure to construction workers and the public.
Preparation of a Construction Hazardous Materials Management Plan (CHMMP), which l establishes storage and management strategies for the proper disposal of contaminated soil and groundwater, including for any excavation activities that disturb serpentinite outcrops.
Additionally, future buildings in the Revised Plan cannot receive permits until the HSP and CHMMP are completed to the satisfaction of the City. Withholding permits is an extremely effective way for the City to ensure that these common-sense health and safety requirements are enforced.
In addition, a sitewide Soil and Groundwater Management Plan (SGMP) will be implemented for the Revised Plan that will include contingency measures to ensure that any soil and/or groundwater contamination encountered during excavation, vertical construction and landscaping activities is managed appropriately and in accordance with all applicable laws and regulations.
[1] ETIC is a highly respected 100-person firm based in California that specializes in environmental consulting, engineering, and construction services. Since 1991, ETIC has served a diverse group of clients across California ranging from federal, state, and local governments to private clients, contractors, and utilities.
After nearly 50 years of investigation and remediation, the Water Board has closed all remaining oversight cases at the 266-acre site. No ongoing monitoring of residual PCP concentrations, or any other substance, in soil and/or groundwater is required. As stated in the Water Board's October 1, 2025, Case closure summary and No Further Action (NFA) recommendation for the former Masonite Wood Preserving Facility site:
"Based on the recent groundwater monitoring results, [monitored natural attenuation] continues to be in effect at the site. In addition, development and access to the areas of the site where PCP impacts are still present are restricted by the [land use covenant (LUC)] recorded for the site on September 13, 2013. As the former LP Well was destroyed in October 2013, there are no known potential receptors of PCP-impacted groundwater related to any of the three [operable units] on site. The LUC will continue to prevent the installation of new potential receptor wells following site closure."
The Water Board would not have issued an NFA if the science and monitoring suggested that there was a "PCP plume" that threatened human health or safety. None of the Water Board's decades of careful monitoring and analysis indicated that there was a "plume."
That being said, the Revised Plan is still subject to strict federal, state, and local rules and regulations for the transport, use, and disposal of any hazardous construction materials including the Hazardous Materials Transportation Act, the California Health and Safety Code (HSC), and the California Code of Regulations (CCR) Title 22 Division 4.5 which requires safety procedures for the transportation, use, and disposal of hazardous materials and waste. See the answer to the previous question, above.
Most importantly, ELC is financially and legally responsible for testing and monitoring prior to, and during construction. ELC's investors and lenders will insist upon seeing the results of any testing, and will carefully review the Phase 1 Report. It is contrary to ELC's financial interests (not to mention its ethical and fiduciary duties) to ignore any potential contamination, or ignore state and federal statutes. This financial incentive, alone, should provide ample assurance.
Finally, monitoring is only necessary if the Water Board requires it — and they are no longer requiring it, based on their independent judgment as an expert state agency, and application of well-established science-backed risk analysis.
All environmental regulations, requirements, and restrictions run with the land. This means if some or all of the 266-acre site is sold to another entity, the new owner would automatically inherit these responsibilities, including the Covenant on the former Masonite facility.
Yes, the Water Board's long history of monitoring results are already publicly available. Additionally, ELC will share the newly updated 2026 Phase I Environmental Site Assessment ("Phase I Report") with the public when it's published, ideally by early spring.
Phase I reports are prepared in accordance with ASTM E1527-21, the nationally recognized professional standard used by environmental consultants, lenders, and investors. The Phase I Report relies on historical records review, regulatory database research, and site reconnaissance to identify Recognized Environmental Conditions (RECs). Additional on-site investigation, including testing (called a "Phase II" report) is only recommended if a REC is identified in the Phase I report that has not already been adequately investigated, remediated, and/or closed by regulators. The Phase I report did not identify any RECs associated with the Revised Plan area.
It is normal for there to be small fluctuations over time. The Water Board evaluates the overall downward trend rather than focusing on individual data points over a long time period. After decades of monitoring showing consistent improvement, the Board closed all open cases.
No. Firstly, ELC cannot "gift" something that the City doesn't want. The riverfront could stay in private ownership, as is the case with the Existing Plan. Instead, ELC is proposing to collaboratively design, with a wide range of public and non-profit river conservation stakeholders, a "floodable park." The park could socially connect the Revised Plan to the rest of Cloverdale; improve fish and wildlife habitat; and even help recharge the Russian River alluvial aquifer, improving the long-term resiliency of the City's water supply.
Almost 20 years ago, from 2005 to 2007, wood waste remediation and reclamation activities were performed in the area that could become a future public park, consistent with Water Board Order No. R1-2005-0032. Those activities included: (1) relocating wood waste previously located on the western portion of the site into a Reusable Fill Area (RFA) located on the eastern half of the site (where ELC has proposed creating a new public park); (2) screening the waste materials to remove pieces of wood and bark greater than 3-inches in size; (3) segregating wood waste with elevated concentrations of TPH-diesel for offsite disposal; and (4) moving the materials to a "Wood Waste Blending Area" within the RFA.
With oversight and approval from the Water Board, wood waste was blended with soil at a ratio of 1:1 (soil to wood waste) and placed within the RFA specifically for future reuse. The upper layer of wood waste/soil was blended at a 6:1 (soil to wood waste) ratio, moisture-conditioned, and compacted to create an approximate 1.5-foot-thick layer of blended material over the 30-acre RFA. Upon completion of the final compaction and grading activities, the RFA was winterized, including seeding with native grasses.
As summarized in the Water Board's 2012 Executive Officer's Summary Report for the proposed rescission of WDR Order No. R1-2005-0032 and Monitoring and Reporting Program No. R1-2005-0032 for the Former LP-Cloverdale Woodwaste Disposal Site Class III Landfill, approved by the Water Board on June 7, 2012: "Waste materials were screened, sampled, sorted and processed for reuse and then blended with equal volumes of borrow soils to create approximately 1,300,000 cubic yards of reusable fill for future projects." (Emphasis added.)
As such, to the best of ELC's knowledge, and of the Water Board, this area does not constitute a significant environmental liability. Two additional points: (1) prior to accepting any "gift" of property, the City will conduct its own due diligence, including environmental screening, if necessary, and (2) yes, ELC has proposed including the RFA area as part of a public park. There will be a significant public process associated with the design and development of the future park, including confirmation (via testing) that environmental conditions are consistent with and appropriate for the proposed public use (via additional future testing, if necessary).
Citations:
The Revised Plan does not define it as a public or private school, and ELC does not have a preference.
The Revised Plan leaves this decision up to a future City Council vote, separate from the upcoming approval of the Revised Plan.
The draft CEQA Addendum studied the potential impacts of building a K–6 school, but the Revised Plan does not allow a K-6 school to be built unless a future City Council approves a specific proposal by a majority vote.
ELC included a K–6 school in the CEQA analysis because some members of the community insisted that another school site might be needed. Studying it now preserves that option.
ELC heard conflicting and passionate feedback about whether Cloverdale should add a new school. Rather than committing to adding a school, the Revised Plan leaves this decision to a future City Council.
No. ELC plans to make the majority of the 266-acre site (which is currently 100% private) open to the public.
Unlike a gated community, the Revised Plan proposes a vast new network of publicly accessible trails and bicycle paths across the site, including the SMART Pathway and Great Redwood Trail. Instead of the (currently approved) private golf course community, the Revised Plan envisions a multigenerational, diverse, and walkable village that emphasizes the public realm. Additionally, the Esmeralda Institute will host activities, events, and classes that all Cloverdale residents can enjoy.
Yes. ELC has done extensive public outreach over several years to collect ideas and feedback, and that input has played a huge role in creating the Revised Plan. Public input is important because ELC wants to ensure that the Revised Plan will benefit and integrate with Cloverdale, Sonoma County, and the whole region.
For example, ELC recently added a sports field to the Revised Plan in response to direct feedback from multiple members of the public. The sports field is an important way to knit the new neighborhood envisioned in the Revised Plan into the rest of Cloverdale.
ELC started public outreach earlier in the process than most developers; in fact, ELC began outreach before they were in contract on the AVR property. ELC has always been transparent about its goal to build a "Chautauqua of the West": here is an article in the Healdsburg Tribune and here is one in the Press Democrat, both from June 2024.
ELC's outreach has included dozens of public events, community workshops, local radio appearances, articles and ads in Cloverdale Connect, volunteering with local initiatives, attending local events like Friday Night Live, and hundreds of one-on-one conversations. Both the City Manager and the Mayor have commented that they have "never had a developer engage this extensively."
ELC is backed by patient, values-aligned investors who see the Revised Plan as a unique opportunity to create a special place that will bring new energy to Northern Sonoma.
Something notable about ELC's investor base is that it consists of 19 different private individuals and families who contributed relatively small amounts. By contrast, many projects of this size are funded by a small number of large institutional investors. ELC's investors are dreamers who want to see more sustainable, walkable, family-oriented development in the Bay Area.
ELC is a privately funded real estate development entity that uses standard industry structures common to large, long-term projects. Like most private developments, investor identities are not disclosed publicly, unless legally required. This is standard practice across California and the U.S. It would be a violation of ELC's investors' privacy to share identities without consent. This is particularly true in this case, given that the investors are people, not pension funds. Many are families with young kids; as a result, ELC owes them an extra duty to protect their privacy.
For context, ELC's investors—like most Limited Partners (LPs) in real estate development—are passive participants, meaning they are not involved in day-to-day or even month-to-month decision-making. The developer (in this case, ELC) finds the property, sets the vision, raises the capital, and makes the decisions.
To address some specific questions: Balaji Srinivasan, Pronomos Capital, and Peter Thiel are not investors in ELC.
No, ELC is not related to California Forever. The Revised Plan is very different from their proposal. California Forever is proposing to build a large city from scratch in a rural, unincorporated area—roughly 40,000 residents on 110 square miles. ELC is proposing to create a much smaller "village"-style neighborhood inside the boundaries of Cloverdale—roughly 1,500 residents on 0.41 square miles.
The political and social context is also very different. The City of Cloverdale started analyzing the 266-acre site for potential redevelopment over 20 years ago. As far back as 2004, the City published a draft EIR for the property that included a flagship hotel, spa, restaurants, homes, shops, and an event/conference center. Twenty years later, ELC is hoping to help the City achieve its resort-hotel vision while adding new energy and ideas.
No. It is also unclear what it would mean to be a "member of the Network State".
ELC's founder, Devon, is familiar with some Network State ideas, because she's seen them discussed in online forums and has met people who participate in those discussions. Devon is curious and, given her professional focus, makes a point of reading a lot about urban planning, cities, and governance.
Devon was once invited to a Network State conference in Singapore but turned down the invitation. The organizers asked if she could pre-record a presentation, which she did. That is the extent of her involvement. Devon has also participated in many other conferences for a variety of organizations and communities.
People who associate with the Network State often talk about creating new forms of "autonomous government". By contrast, ELC is doing the opposite. ELC is seeking land use approvals via the normal public process to one day build a neighborhood inside Cloverdale's city boundaries, fully subject to Cloverdale's governance.
If ELC is successful, the completed project will pay substantial annual taxes into Cloverdale's General Fund, the school system, Sonoma County, and the State of California. Future residents will vote in Cloverdale elections, just like anyone else who claims a primary residence in Cloverdale. There are no secret plans to "secede".
Edge Esmeralda in June 2024 included participants from diverse backgrounds, including some who are interested in new governance models. The event was a month-long gathering focused on lifelong learning across many topics—from AI to longevity to art to urban planning. It's similar to how a university might host speakers with a wide range of viewpoints without endorsing any particular ideology.
ELC will form a Master Property Owner's Association (POA), which is standard for a site this large. The proposed POA will be run according to standard California law, with governance by the property owners, just like any other HOA in California.
Some portions of the 266-acre site were used historically for industrial and agricultural purposes, including a sawmill complex (Louisiana Pacific/LP), a wood preservation facility (Masonite & International Paper), a gravel mining/asphalt/concrete plant (Hot Rocks/Ghilotti Brothers), two wood waste landfill areas, a truck repair shop, and vineyards (Silverado). Other areas of the site were left in their natural condition.
For several decades, under the regulatory supervision of the DTSC and the North Coast Regional Water Quality Control Board (NCRWQC), the site's owners spent significant sums on soil and groundwater remediation.
Today, the site is vacant, except for a single-story truck repair shop located in the northwest corner. CalFire occasionally conducts drills on the property that involve bulldozing paths to improve their firefighting skills.
The site has been approved for redevelopment since 2009, including a resort-hotel, residential, golf course, and several other uses.
Despite this extensive use, the site also contains a handful of natural areas that are relatively untouched. The Revised Plan seeks to restore and preserve over 60% of the site as open space and habitat, including many beautiful mature trees.
The Revised Plan will support a wide range of incomes and life stages, including:
Notably, Cloverdale is one of the few cities in the Bay Area that has actually surpassed its State-mandated targets for Very Low and Low Income housing. Instead, it has failed to meet its targets for Moderate and Above Moderate housing supply. ELC looks forward to helping the City meet its obligations.
Cloverdale Housing Goals:
| Income Group | 2015-2023 Goal | Realized | % of Goal | 2023-2031 Goal |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Very Low | 71 units | 119 units | 🟢 168% | 86 units |
| Low | 45 units | 42 units | 🟢 107% | 55 units |
| Moderate | 71 units | 10 units | 🔴 14% | 45 units |
| Above Moderate | 152 units | 87 units | 🟠 57% | 149 units |
The Cloverdale Municipal Airport is an important neighbor. It serves important functions for the community, including general aviation, emergency medical flights, firefighting support, and providing a fog-free alternative when other regional airports are socked in. ELC is working with the Airport Land Use Commission (ALUC) to refine its Revised Plan to ensure consistency with the airport safety zones.
Some community members may remember that a previous site developer attempted to close the Cloverdale Municipal Airport. That effort was controversial and ultimately did not succeed. Instead of wanting to close it, ELC sees the airport as a net benefit.
ELC is working with the Airport Land Use Commission (ALUC) to refine its Revised Plan to ensure consistency with the airport safety zones. ELC is committed to designing the Revised Plan in a way that:
The Revised Plan will generate substantial economic benefits for Cloverdale, transforming the City's fiscal outlook while creating hundreds of jobs and investing millions locally.
Upon buildout, the 266.4-acre property is anticipated to generate $5.9 million of annual General Fund revenues to the City net of the $18,500 of property tax revenues that the property currently generates. This represents an enormous increase in annual tax revenue from the vacant site, almost 319 times more than existing conditions.
The City currently operates with an annual structural deficit. If this continues, the City will need to make some hard choices to cut services, raise revenue, or both.
According to the draft fiscal impact analysis prepared by KMA (an analyst the City has worked with for years), at full build-out, the Revised Plan could generate:
The Revised Plan will create substantial employment opportunities:
The Revised Plan will also provide approximately $24M in one-time, in-kind and cash payments for infrastructure and public benefits, and up to $53M of public improvements above and beyond the $24M baseline. This represents a massive public investment that would otherwise be funded by existing taxpayers or through bonds, including:
Beyond the direct fiscal numbers, the project will bring:
Unlike one-time development impact fees, most of the economic and fiscal benefits are ongoing and recurring. Year after year, the project will generate tax revenues, support jobs, and contribute to Cloverdale's economic health—helping fund city services, schools, and community programs for decades to come.
This is an opportunity to address Cloverdale's structural fiscal challenges while creating a development that aligns with community values.
ELC uses the term "Village Urbanism" to describe a neighborhood that feels more like the original, walkable parts of towns like Cloverdale, and less like the sprawling, auto-oriented subdivisions that have dominated US development in recent decades. Think front porches and shared streets, not gated golf course communities.
The term "village" refers to urban form, not governance. ELC uses the "village" description to convey a sense of the physical place: compact, walkable, nestled in the landscape with narrow streets and a mix of uses: the opposite of suburban sprawl.
ELC initially used the term "town" to describe the Revised Plan, because the decades-long New Urbanist movement calls this human-centric approach to development "traditional town planning". However, ELC has since transitioned to "village" because it's more suitable to the scale of the Revised Plan.
ELC is working with City staff to establish Objective Design Standards (ODS) that support compact, small-lot development. This includes design decisions like human-scale streets, minimal setbacks, allowances for small accessory uses like micro-retail within residential areas, and building designs that encourage neighborly interaction.
A key part of the Revised Plan is the Development Agreement (DA), which is a binding legal contract between the City and the developer that runs with the land. This means that if the property changes hands, the new owner would be bound by the same obligations.
The DA, together with the Specific Plan, zoning, and Master Tentative Map, ensure that the rules are clear and predictable, for both the City and ELC. Future owners cannot build something different from what is allowed in the Revised Plan. Any substantial changes would require City Council approval and a new public process.
Additionally, many of the environmental monitoring and cleanup requirements are recorded as covenants on the property title, which means they transfer automatically to any future owner.
No, this is a residential and mixed-use neighborhood plan. No military, weapons manufacturing, or surveillance activities are allowed or planned.
At build-out, the Revised Plan will contribute up to $77M of impact fees and in-kind public infrastructure and services, including:
Cloverdale currently operates with a structural deficit of approximately $1 million annually. According to analysis by KMA (Keyser Marston Associates, a fiscal analyst the City has worked with for years), once the Revised Plan is fully built out, it will generate a net fiscal surplus of approximately $4 million annually to the City—even after accounting for increased City services.
This surplus comes from property taxes, sales taxes, transient occupancy taxes (from the proposed resort-hotel), and other revenue sources that will far exceed the cost of providing services to the new development.
The future POA will fund all open space and public right-of-way maintenance within the village, including a large public riverfront park that ELC plans to gift to the City. This means the park maintenance will not burden City taxpayers.
ELC is not aware of any mechanism by which a new residential development within City limits would affect insurance rates for existing residents. Insurance rates are typically based on factors like:
If anything, build-out could modestly improve the insurance situation by:
Home insurance is regulated at the state and private-market level, not by cities. There is no mechanism by which the City can approve or deny a project based on speculative insurance pricing impacts for unrelated properties.
That being said, the Revised Plan does not fall within any of the State Fire Marshal's published Fire Hazard Severity Zones ("FHSZ")—Very High, High, or Moderate—in a Local Responsibility Area (LRA).
Furthermore, ELC has had extensive conversations with its insurance broker, Gallagher, who issued a letter stating:
While the homeowners insurance market continues to evolve in a hardening pricing environment, there remains capacity available for future homeowners to pursue when the project is completed. Policy terms, conditions and pricing will vary by each home's size, construction type, location within the community, etc., as with any risk. Additionally, some homeowners with a willingness to take more risk than others, whether via larger deductibles or other means, will also have access to additional insurers for consideration. The Surplus Lines insurance market, in addition to the Admitted marketplace, and the California FAIR Plan, are all avenues homeowners will coordinate with their respective insurance agents/brokers to pursue. While the geographic location of this community may pose challenges for some insurers and could influence their rating or lead to elevated pricing, we are confident insurance capacity will be available to homeowners to secure following construction completion of the community.
The community itself, based on our initial modeling, is not identified in a high wildfire or brush area. That said, its proximity to high wildfire and brush areas will be a consideration in the overall risk assessment from insurers, which will influence pricing and coverage terms for some insurers. Future homeowners will benefit from a variety of fire safety initiatives the development team intends to implement in the design/development of the community, of which insurers will certainly attribute favorable underwriting characteristics to, such as:
Zone Zero: an "ember resistant" zone within 5 feet of structures with no vegetation
Fire resistant construction materials for walls and roofs
Appropriate window glazing and window frame materials
Fire resistant deck and fence materials
Proper house venting to avoid ember wash
Gutter protection
Concern over the availability of insurance is natural in the current market cycle we find ourselves in. That said, we desire to bring confidence to the development team and future homeowners that insurance capacity will be available to the community upon completion.
According to the draft fiscal impact analysis, at build out, the projected annual City budgetary surplus ranges from $2.3 million per year to $4.6 million per year, after netting out increased public expenditures for things like Fire and Police, and depending on the magnitude of revenue that will be allocated to help finance new public facilities in the Revised Plan area. This means that at build-out, the Revised Plan will significantly increase the City's General Fund budget from $10.38 million today to between $13.94 million and $16.30 million, which represents an annual budgetary increase of between 34% to 57%.
This new revenue can be used to improve public services for all Cloverdale residents, reduce the current structural deficit, and invest in community priorities, including services for the most economically vulnerable.
Future village residents and hotel guests will naturally spend some of their disposable income in downtown Cloverdale because it's by far the closest concentration of shops and restaurants. It is easier to walk, bike, or drive a few minutes into town than to drive 20 minutes north to Hopland or south to Healdsburg. This new foot traffic will support existing local businesses and potentially enable new businesses to open, creating a more vibrant downtown for everyone.
In terms of preserving affordability for existing residents. The reality is that:
ELC is committed to building an inclusive, multigenerational, economically diverse community—not an exclusive enclave.
Event spaces will be available for anyone to rent, just like other private venues. In fact, this is an important part of ELC's business model. ELC envisions hosting a diverse range of events, from weddings to community meetings to arts performances to business conferences.
Edge Esmeralda is the annual month-long educational program hosted by the nonprofit Esmeralda Institute. Once a permanent village is built, ELC intends to bring the Edge Esmeralda program into the village it is building, where it will be even more accessible to local residents.
The Esmeralda Institute's mission is to promote lifelong learning across generations, which means programming that appeals to diverse interests and age groups.
One of the Revised Plan's five core principles is to "Support a multi-generational community." This is central to ELC's vision, inspired by places like the Chautauqua, where multiple generations have gathered for the past 150 years.
Here are some specific things that means, concretely:
As previously discussed, the Revised Plan is the opposite of a gated community. Most streets, parks, and pathways will be publicly accessible, regardless of income or age.
This is not a planning or legal term. Sometimes it is informally used to describe people who are proactive and engaged. ELC uses the term to describe a culture we hope to encourage through the Esmeralda Institute events—where neighbors are engaged, where people organize activities together, where there is a "bias toward action."
To be clear: this is about culture and values, not wealth, education level, or any other exclusionary criteria. There are no legal requirements for residents beyond the ability to purchase or rent a home, and non-residents are not just allowed but welcome in the neighborhood's parks, streets, and other public spaces.
Housing within the Revised Plan will be subject to the same short-term rental (STR) regulations as the rest of Cloverdale.
The POA may also impose its own additional STR restrictions, which would be determined by the owners once the community is established. This is common in many master planned communities.
The City cannot legally prohibit people from purchasing second homes (California and U.S. law doesn't allow it), but ELC can privately regulate how those homes are used through POA or HOA rules.
ELC is working with HVS, a leading global hospitality consulting firm, and leading hotel brands to better understand:
The draft economic and fiscal impact study prepared by KMA incorporates these projections and assumes conservative occupancy rates to ensure the City's revenue estimates are realistic, not optimistic.
If the future resort-hotel doesn't perform well financially or fails, any financial loss will be borne entirely by the developer and its investors, not the City. The City will still receive property taxes based on assessed property value, and Transient Occupancy Tax (TOT) based on hotel room revenues. These taxes continue even if a lender or investor forecloses. The new owner would wipe out the former investors' loss, and start over. They would be highly motivated to generate food & beverage revenues and fill rooms again..
The hotel is a key component of the Revised Plan and ELC's financial model, but the Revised Plan's mix of uses allow the overall project to be resilient even if individual components underperform This means that even if the hotel struggles, the residential components will continue to generate property tax revenue for the City.
The City's $4 million projected annual fiscal surplus does not assume the hotel is operating at maximum occupancy. There's a cushion built into the TOT projections.
A future resort-hotel will create hundreds of jobs across a wide range of skill levels during construction and hundreds of permanent jobs once operational, including:
ELC is exploring creative financial models to develop on-site workforce rental housing to support this new workforce so they don't have to commute extreme distances.
The City's future approvals are subject to CEQA. The project is currently undergoing a detailed environmental review process in the form of a 200+ page Addendum, which must be completed before the City can approve the Revised Plan. The preparation of the Addendum, while different from a new EIR, still involves extensive analysis and builds on decades of prior analysis already completed for the site.
The 266-acre site has been extensively studied over the past 20+ years, including:
Under well-established CEQA law, a new EIR is only required when there are changes to a project that require a major revision to the previous EIR "due to the involvement of new significant environmental effects or a substantial increase in the severity of previously identified significant effects." If project changes do not result in new significant effects or a substantial increase in the severity of previously identified effects, an Addendum is used.
The previously-approved Existing Plan involved a resort-hotel, golf course, residential, and 118,000-sf of commercial uses. The Revised Plan proposes a smaller resort-hotel, much less commercial space, and more residential units. An increase in residential units alone does not trigger a new EIR, especially when paired with other reductions. To date, the City's CEQA consultant has concluded that the Revised Plan would result in no new significant effects or more severe effects.
The Addendum covers standard CEQA topics including:
The City evaluates whether an entitlement is "ready" for hearings based on the completeness and adequacy of the information submitted to it, not on developer preference or timing. The City's planning staff is currently reviewing a detailed multi-part application that runs hundreds of pages long. This comprehensive submission includes:
ELC has been closely coordinating these efforts with the City for the past 12 months. This has included extensive site design sessions with the City Manager, the City Attorney, and the City's Planning Department, Fire Department, Public Works, and other departments to ensure the Revised Plan meets or exceeds all City standards and requirements.
The City's review process is thorough and follows established procedures under CEQA and California planning and land use law. Staff will make recommendations to the Planning Commission and City Council only after ensuring all necessary information has been provided and analyzed.
Esmeralda is the Spanish word for "emerald". A Spanish name felt fitting given the history of California and Sonoma's Mediterranean climate.
Plus, I have family from Chile, Guatemala, and Argentina and speak Spanish at home, so the name just felt right.
Esmeralda is also one of the fictional cities in one of my favorite books, Invisible Cities by Italian writer Italo Calvino.
Yes! The land is a 4 min bike ride from the future terminus of the SMART train, which runs to Marin's ferry. Also, we'd like to connect our onsite trails to the SMART Pathway and Great Redwood Trail.
The SMART train runs to Larkspur, where you can get on a ferry straight to the San Francisco Ferry Building: It doesn't yet extend to Cloverdale, but SMART recently closed the funding for the extension to Windsor and Healdsburg. SMART only began operating in 2017 and has been quickly extending the network.
We're also thrilled that the SMART Pathway is slated to extend up to Cloverdale and right near our site as well. It runs parallel to the train, and it will connect Cloverdale to the rest of Sonoma and Marin to the south.
Meanwhile the Great Redwood Trail will connect to Cloverdale from the north. It currently runs from Humboldt County through Mendocino County. The next stretch will connect to Cloverdale. As the northernmost city in Sonoma, Cloverdale will be the perfect jumping off point to the Great Redwood Trail.
Esmeralda could one day be like those beautiful villages along the Danube Cycle Path, which runs through Germany, Austrian, and Hungry.