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Woodmark Apartments, 7716/7760 Bodega Ave

The Woodmark apartments were built with Federal funding for developing farmworker housing and are required to follow Federal guidelines on all matters related to filling the vacant units. The City is aware that the Site operator is having difficulty verifying qualifications of applicants. One challenge has been income verification given that many farm worker applicants are paid in cash. The Site operator needs to either work with employers to provide better income verification documentation or identify other solutions.

The City has neither the authority nor a formal role in how the units are filled. State and Federal Housing law set the criteria for those decisions. However, what we can do – and have been doing – is to assist the developers in advertising the units. We have been working with Lauren Alexander, who is the project manager for the site developer and operator, The Pacific Companies (TPC). lauren@thearmonyco.com

As to the original project review process ― we had a very limited role in it. The project was built under state requirements intended to accelerate the building of affordable housing (SB35/Housing Accountability Act). State law took away our discretion. The project was processed as a “ministerial” application; no Design Board, Planning Commission, or City Council review was allowed. The City could only require a building permit.

The City adopted Objective Design Standards (ODS) in December of 2023. Since those standards had not been adopted when the Woodmark application was submitted, they could not be applied to that project. However, all future housing projects, including SB 35 projects, will be required to comply with these adopted ODS. The City’s ODS regulate the design of projects like Woodmark, such as by governing building style, height, density, and setbacks. The ODS do not regulate how tenants are selected. For further information on the ODS we have linked the criteria, here: Objective Design Standards

Mayor Zollman is working with our Latinx leaders to make sure that they know about these openings, and he encourages everyone to do the same with their contacts.

We share residents’ frustrations in having so many new apartments sit vacant in our tight housing market. Residents may contact their Federal or State representatives to express their concerns:

Applicant website for rental inquiries: The Woodmark – The Pacific Companies (tpchousing.com) – Contact: (707) 232-4139 or woodmark@apertopm.com

An eligible household must include a domestic tenant or co-tenant farm laborer, a retired domestic farm laborer, or a disabled domestic farm laborer.

pdf Woodmark Approval Letter and Conditions of Approval pdf Tree Removal, part 1 pdf Tree Removal, part 2 pdf Lot Merger approval pdf Sign Application approval
SB35 Documents
pdf Woodmark-Apartments-SB-35-Written-Statement-4-13-2022.pdf pdf Overall Plan (Sheet A1.1) pdf Woodmark Apts_Preliminary Landscape Plan pdf Woodmark - Full Architectural Plans pdf Topograhy_r20210121-(1).pdf pdf Woodmark-Lot-Merger-Site-Plan_20220404.pdf pdf Woodmark-Prelim-Grading-Drainage-Utility-Plan_C1.pdf pdf Woodmark_Prelim-Site-Sections_C2-(1).pdf pdf Grading-Exhibit-(1).pdf pdf Woodmark_Prelim-Stormwater-Plan.pdf

Current Site Activities

  1. The applicant intends to phase the project, and has submitted grading and building permit applications for Phase 1. (48 units, south side and central site buildings) Applicant’s phasing plan for what is included in Phase 1.

Traffic Study update: UPDATED TRAFFIC STUDY DOCUMENT
The updated Traffic Study has been submitted and reviewed as part of the follow-up requirements.  The Study includes updating the traffic counts. The study also proposed revising the project to have an internal ‘stop sign’ for residents leaving Woodmark (north of the shared driveway) instead of at the exit to Bear Meadows.

The City has reviewed the study and accepted the analysis, which would require pedestrian improvements across Bodega (a rapid flashing beacon).  Following are conclusions of the analysis:

  • The updated traffic and queuing analysis shows the impact to the neighboring Bear Meadows development will not be significant. No changes to the eastern access configuration are needed.
  • The updated signal warrant analysis shows that the intersection of Bodega Avenue & Robinson Road does not meet the minimum volume warrant thresholds for a traffic signal.
  • To improve pedestrian safety crossing Bodega Avenue at Robinson Road, a RRFB crossings are recommended as the most appropriate intersection improvement.
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