Oakley council approves key changes to River Haven development

Oakley’s River Haven plan moved forward with a smaller footprint after the City Council approved a site plan that could bring new stores, office space and restaurants to the center of town. The revision matters because it shifts the project away from an all-at-once buildout and toward a phased approach that nearby residents have been watching closely.

Representatives for developer Steve Smith brought the narrower version to council in November 2025, focusing on land north of Center Street instead of asking for the whole north-and-south block at once. Attorney Matt Wirthlin told council there was not an appetite to approve the entire block in one shot and argued for “bite-size pieces,” a pace city leaders later said fit their view that major decisions would wait until the new year.

That caution reflected what Oakley residents had already said in August 2025, when they pushed back on the project and said they wanted to preserve the town’s “small-town feel.” The new approval keeps River Haven in play, but it also shows the council is trying to balance growth with the character that has long defined Oakley, especially around Center Street where change would be most visible.

The water question sat behind all of it. Oakley lifted its moratorium on new development in November 2023 after a new well came online and was described as quadrupling the city’s water supply, reopening the door to new hookups and making future projects more practical. For River Haven, that means the immediate winners are the businesses and customers who could use the new commercial space, while nearby residents bear the uncertainty of more development pressure and a downtown that could look very different from the one they know. The council’s latest vote suggested it decided the revised version was worth approving now because it was narrower, more manageable and better matched to Oakley’s water capacity and growth limits.