Vacaville Planning Commission elects Chair, Vice Chair

Northern Solano Association of Realtors President John Wilkerson has been elected as Chair of the Vacaville Planning Commission, and Executive Director of Opportunity House, Ashley Banta was elected Vice Chair of the commission during Wednesday's meeting of the commission.

David LaRoy, a new commissioner, was also sworn in to his role on the commission with the oath of office, administered by City Clerk Michele Thornbrugh.

Commissioner Doug Beaumont nominated Wilkerson as chair, and Commissioner Bob Hampton offered a second. Wilkerson was elected unanimously.

"I'm honored and humbled to serve as Chair of the Vacaville Planning Commission at such an important time for our city," Wilkerson said after the meeting. "Vacaville has tremendous opportunity ahead, and I look forward to working collaboratively to help shape a strong future for our community."

Beaumont also nominated Banta and received a second from Commissioner Noel Vargas. Banta was also elected unanimously.

Following public comment, the commission held a public hearing regarding the resubmitted tentative subdivision map of Harvest Ridge. The 9.91-acre site sits at the northwest corner of Leisure Town Road and Redstone Parkway, and would create 134 lots for single-family market-rate homes. The project will remain zoned residential medium-density housing, garnering between 8.1 and 14 dwelling units per acre for the city's housing supply.

The subdivision's proposed lots range from 2,100 to 5,291 square feet and include 307 off-street parking spaces with enclosed garages, private driveways and three small off-street parking lots. The project would provide 30 on-street parking spots in the subdivision as well, maintained by the Homeowners Association along with the subdivision's private alleyways. Public outreach for the project has been conducted since October of 2025. This marked the second planning commission hearing on the item, and the city council will hear the item again before it is finalized.

"The project that we are looking at is located in the southeast corner of the city," Senior Planner Albert Enault told the commission, "It's part of a larger master plan development known as Southtown."

The applicant revised its tentative map after the Vacaville City Council rejected it due to concerns from city staff, including Police Chief Chris Polen, that the driveways could present a safety hazard as proposed. The project still requires some deviations, however, including a reduction of the city standards for intersection spacing, parking, water and wastewater installation issues and the city's open space requirement.

Enault said the site has sufficient utilities and vehicle access for emergency vehicles and is consistent with the subdivision map act. City staff also upheld the previous Environmental Impact Report for the subdivision.

"Staff has reviewed each of these standards; we are still supportive of them," Enault said. "Nothing has really changed; we are OK with them."

Beaumont asked where the 17 common areas that are included in the project would be located on the subdivision map. Staff said these referred to the parcels that would be managed by the HOA. Beaumont said he expects the city will need to work with developers carefully to find ways to create missing middle housing projects like this one in the future.

"I think we need to think outside the box to do that," he said.

Copyright 2026 Tribune Content Agency. All Rights Reserved.