Project Summary

The Dorsey Marketplace consists of a 104,000 square foot shopping center and 172 residential apartment units located at Dorsey Drive/Highway 49. It required a general plan amendment and a zone change for approval. After initial approvals in 2020 and subsequent legal challenges, the project was again approved by the Grass Valley City Council in September, 2024.

History

The Dorsey Marketplace project was initially approved by the Grass Valley City Council in 2020. In August of 2020, CEA Foundation joined Protect Grass Valley in a lawsuit challenging the project’s Final Environmental Impact Report (EIR). Attorneys Tal Finney, Finney Arnold LLP, filed the petition. The case was won on appeal, requiring a reversal of project approvals. This ruling was later modified per “Notice of Issuance of Peremptory Writ of Mandate” filed on November 28, 2023, to require only that a portion of the EIR need to be corrected.

A Supplemental Final Environmental Impact Report (SFEIR) was required to address the deficiency. The courts ruled that the Final EIR had failed to adequately address the cumulative impacts of air pollution from the adjoining freeway traffic on the residents of the proposed apartment complex.

The SFEIR was submitted in February 2024, and, following review processes, the project was brought back to the Grass Valley City Council in a public hearing on Sept 10, 2024. The Council then voted to approve the SFEIR as sufficient to address the air pollution concerns and restored the project approvals.

CEA Concerns Remain Unaddressed

The Final Dorsey Marketplace EIR was certified and the project was approved in spite of several significant impacts. This required the City to produce and approve a “Statement of Overriding Considerations” which allows them to approve the project despite the environmental impacts.

CEA Foundation remains deeply concerned. This project includes Significant and Unavoidable Green House Gas (GHG) emissions which will impede City and State efforts to meet AB32 standards for reducing GHG emissions. The climate change crisis was ignored. CEA advocates for net-zero in all new construction. This car-culture project would greatly increase GHG emissions due to increased traffic and project emissions. CEA Foundation asked that the project address the climate change crisis by including a project-based solar system with electric space and water heating to reduce GHG emissions. We also asked that the developers reduce the overall size of the commercial portion of the development and eliminate the 3 drive-up windows to reduce excessive traffic, a major source of GHG emissions and air pollution. None of these requests were adopted.

Additionally, the project provides no affordable housing. Plans included 172 residential apartments characterized as high-end apartments, with the 38 smallest, one-bedroom units having 1,013 square feet. None of the units are specified for moderate, low, or very low income housing. At the time, this project was the third major project approved by the City within the preceding year with no affordable housing. Grass Valley needs more affordable housing. 

The project will negatively impact our downtown businesses. The project would add yet another large freeway-accessed drive-to center which would impact the success of our downtown businesses in an era when on-line shopping is already taking a big share of the retail market. 

Aesthetically, the project will eliminate a forested ridge-line, cut down the existing wooded hilltop elevation by 20’, and replace it with massive built up pads (45-60 feet of fill) and vertical structures 20-30 feet tall, plainly visible throughout the valley. This violates Grass Valley’s General Plan (Chapter 5 - Conservation / Open Space Element, Entryways, Viewsheds, and Aesthetic Considerations, page 5-8)