No decisions yet on proposed Oasis Road shopping center project 

Last night, for the second time, the Redding Planning Commission pushed back approval for a development plan that could lead to eventual construction of a commercial center near Oasis Road and Twin View Boulevard. 

Two decades ago, the site was originally planned to house a 300,000 square feet project centered around a Costco, then known as BoxCo. The use permit for the project was approved by the city council in 2006 without an expiration date, allowing BoxCo’s entitlement to continue. The Costco was eventually built on the other side of town in 2022, leaving the site open for new development. 

The Redding Planning Commission is now reviewing a new application for the site, filed by Enact Partners last year. The application was first brought forward to the commission for discussion in June. It requested an amendment to the original use permit for the site to allow for development of a 15-acre commercial project at the intersection of Twin View Boulevard and Oasis Road. 

The application proposed the construction of a shopping center, which would include two hotels, restaurants, drive-throughs, retail establishments, and a gas station. It’s scaled-down from the Costco project, at only 99,000 square feet. Some primary changes under the amended use permit include relocating a portion of Twin View Boulevard, which would have been removed under the original plan. The new proposal also keeps an intermittent creek on the site, and breaks the site into multiple smaller parcels. 

In the June meeting, Planning Commission Vice Chair Kent Manuel, who previously served as a Redding planning manager, expressed concerns about whether the amended Environmental Impact Report for the project, which primarily relies on the original EIR, is adequate. 

“You got a 20-year-old EIR that you got to massage a little bit. I don’t necessarily think it fits cleanly,” Manuel said. 

The commission agreed in June that staff and the applicant needed time to revise conditions and address the commissioners’ concerns before returning for approval. 

Last night, Redding Associate Planner Danny Castro explained that the project was being pushed back again as legal counsel had advised staff and the applicant to supplement the environmental addendum with additional analysis of sensitive species or habitats that hadn’t been addressed in the original EIR. 

“I reached out to [the] city attorney expecting them to back up what staff had done so that we could leave the issue to rest and move forward today with an approval,” Castro said. “Unexpectedly, that is not the answer we got back from [the] city attorney.” 

Castro added that planning staff could not estimate how long an additional review of environmental issues would take, saying it would depend on how quickly the applicant provided additional information, and whether additional staff work would be required after review. 

“For all we know that could take a week, that could take a year,” he said. 

Mike Dormer, an engineer with Sharrah Dunlap Sawyer who appeared in the meeting to represent the developer, noted that the environmental consultant for the project had already begun the requested work to supplement the EIR. He said he hoped the proposal could be brought back to the commission by August 25, while expressing frustration about the delay on behalf of the property owner. 

Similar concerns were expressed by several commissioners, with Russ Wenham taking the strongest stance.

“We have done a horrible disservice to this applicant,” Wenham declared, referring to the delays thus far, “and we don’t want this to be our norm.” 

Commissioners unanimously voted to continue the public hearing and reconsider approval at their August 25 meeting. 

Moe Shimizu is a student at Yale University. She’s reporting for Shasta Scout as a 2026 summer intern, with support from the Nonprofit Newsroom Internship Program — created by The Scripps Howard Fund and the Institute for Nonprofit News.

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