Hidden Grove development project near Grass Valley to be voted on by board of supervisors

The Nevada County Planning Commission recently recommended that a development project in Cedar Ridge be put in front of the board of supervisors for a vote.

The 3.3-acre site is on Hobart Lane off Colfax Highway. Cedar Ridge is a small community near Grass Valley. It's more rural and tucked away.

"This is a live, work, play community," said Jerry Cirino, the project applicant.

Cirino is a local businessman who has been working to bring a mixed-use building and park to his Cedar Ridge neighborhood over the last four years.

The project is geared toward young entrepreneurs. Cirino says nowadays the young people have to leave Nevada County to follow their dreams.

"These poor young people, trying to come back to this community to bring our culture back of good people helping good people, are just being smothered. They can't come back to this community because of the cost," he said.

The idea is to create three mixed-use buildings on a little more than three acres of land, nine business units on the bottom and 15 residential units on top. Cirino says the business owners and employees will make up most of the people who live there.

"We're redoing the zoning to facilitate these buildings," he said.

But some in the community are pushing back.

"It just doesn't seem right for a private property owner to have something like this put in, which was never ever even close to being in the county code," said Jan Fleming, a neighbor.

Existing zoning laws don't allow for mixed-use buildings in the area. So if the project is approved, the zoning laws would have to change, which would also change the county's general plan.

"The general plan amendments, the state allows us four per year," said Steve Geiger, senior planner for Nevada County. "This is just one of those instances where the decision makers need to look at it and say is this an appropriate change."

Some neighbors say they'd also rather keep it rural.

"It's a lot to digest because we've lived here 22 years and we never anticipated anything like this. It's the lifestyle we came here for. I expected to live here in my last days and now I don't know," said Fleming.

"This project is a model we can utilize elsewhere in the county to help bring our young, talented people back and start businesses," said Cirino.

The board of supervisors will vote on the project in May or early June.