Twain Harte Apartment Project Given Greenlight

Tuolumne County Board of Supervisors meeting 5-17-22

Twain Harte, CA – A plan to convert part of a building into apartments in Twain Harte has been approved by Tuolumne Supervisors despite being denied last month by the planning commission.

The property is located at the intersection of Twain Harte Drive and Tiffeni Drive, behind the Twain Harte Shopping Center. The bottom of the building houses the Twain Harte Library branch, and the proposal is to create six units, ranging in size from a studio to two-bedroom apartments, on the top floor.

While the commission endorsed two changes, a general plan amendment and a zoning change, the third, a site development permit, was denied, as reported earlier here. That denial came amid concerns that the studio apartment (290 sq. ft.) was too small and that there was not enough notice to community members.

During the public hearing, no one spoke against the project, but two spoke in favor of it, with one individual stating that it sends a negative message to other developers to vote down this project on those concerns. District 4 Supervisor Kathleen Haff summed it up this way, “I have three words, we need housing, period. Whether it’s a rental, whether it’s a sale of a house, I don’t care, we need housing. This project fits all the boxes and I don’t see any problems with the conditional use permit.”

The other board members agreed, approving the project unanimously.