By Mike Hazlip—
Site work for an 8-unit townhouse development slated for a small parcel near Walmart on Auburn Boulevard is now underway, with grading and construction fencing visible at the site.
The project at 7078 Auburn Blvd. was previously approved during an Oct. 28, 2020 Planning Commission meeting, and plans show the .7-acre lot will be divided into nine parcels. Each parcel will be 2,345-square-feet in size, along with a roughly quarter-acre common lot for access, parking and landscaping.
Buildings will have an architectural style that is “craftsman in nature,” and each unit will have a two-car garage and small, private back yard.
The 1,500-square-foot, two-story town homes will each have three bedrooms with two-and-a-half bathrooms. A total of four buildings are planned for the site, with two units per building. Plans call for “stepping back” the second story to make the structure appear smaller from street level.
A common lot included with the site plan would provide one guest parking space for each unit. Residents will enter the community from eastbound Auburn Boulevard. Traffic exiting the site will be prohibited from turning left by a raised median and a “No Left Turn” sign, according to approved plans.
The townhouse development is believed to be the first to take advantage of the city’s Small Lot Housing Ordinance. The ordinance was passed in August 2018, and aims to encourage development of smaller lots according to a previous report by The Sentinel.
Citrus Heights is 98% built out, leaving little room for new projects, and the housing ordinance was designed to allow greater flexibility in developing small and irregular shaped sites.
Housing proposed nearby at Sylvan Corners is also to be on the smaller side, with lots as small as 35×75 feet, equaling just over 2,600 feet in size.
Over 50 conditions of approval were detailed out when the townhouse project next to Walmart was approved by the Planning Commission, including the creation of a Home Owners Association (HOA) to maintain the common lot and landscaping. Other conditions include emergency vehicle access and maintenance of the property.
Jeremy Jaeger of Rio Linda-based Auburn Citrus Heights, LLC is listed as the applicant.
