Oliver’s moves to block Rincon Valley Trader Joe’s project

Local grocer Oliver’s Markets is appealing last week’s approval of an east Santa Rosa shopping center that aims to lure a Trader Joe’s to the area.

Last week, the Planning Commission unanimously approved plans to build a 43,000-square-foot shopping center anchored by a CVS pharmacy and a specialty grocer at the intersection of Highway 12 and Calistoga Road.

The appeal, filed Monday, halts the project until the City Council has a chance to review the numerous issues raised in it, from traffic to creek setbacks to greenhouse gas emissions to the removal of trees.

“It will definitely mean a delay for a least a month, possibly more,” city planner Patrick Streeter said.

Steve Maass, Oliver’s owner, could not be reached for comment Friday on the appeal, a spokeswoman for the Cotati- based grocer said. At the Oct. 8 Planning Commission meeting, Oliver’s CEO Tom Scott expressed concern that additional traffic from the center might make it harder for area residents to reach his Montecito Avenue store, which is less than 2 miles away. He denied that he was worried about competition from another grocer.

But Bruce Codding, the developer of the shopping center on the 5-acre former site of Prickett’s Nursery, said that’s exactly what the appeal by Maass is about.

“I don’t think the appeal process was meant to be used as a tool to limit competition, but Steve Maass is a smart businessman and he has a right to do what he can to protect his business interests,” Codding said.

Codding is the nephew of late developer Hugh Codding, but is not involved in the family’s development and property management company, Codding Enterprises. He said, however, he would likely hire Codding Construction to build the shopping center, which also aims to attract a coffee shop, yogurt shop, bank and financial services firm.

The appeal, which cost Oliver’s $462, demands a full environmental impact report be completed before the project can move forward. City staff determined that the project didn’t need additional environmental review because the measures taken to reduce its effects on the surrounding area were sufficient.

City code requires the City Council to hear appeals as soon as practical.

“They’ll take a fresh look at the entire project,” Streeter said.

The project also will need to be approved by the city’s Design Review Board, a decision that also can be appealed to the council, Streeter said.

The city is exploring whether the Design Review Board could weigh in on the project soon so any appeal of its decision could be taken up by the City Council at the same time as the current appeal, he said.

You can reach Staff Writer Kevin McCallum at 521-5207 or kevin.mccallum@pressdemocrat.com. On Twitter @srcitybeat.