Truckee’s planning commission approved last week the development slated for the corner of Donner Pass Road and Northwoods Boulevard.

Called Royal Ridge, the project will cover 8 acres and include about 23,000 square feet of commercial space, 48 townhomes, and 12 affordable condominiums.

In it’s first hearing in January, commissioners withheld approval until the developers, West Haven Development Group of Reno, responded to a few concerns.

“We addressed and incorporated all of their issues into the project,” said Gavin Ball, the project’s representative. “The result is a better project.”

The unanimous approval came with a number of conditions, said Assistant Town Planner Jaime LaChance, including a woodstove ban, architectural changes, and tree preservation planning.

“The biggest condition was a tree preservation requirement,” LaChance said. “Planning commission recognized that as a high level of importance, the trees break up the roof line and create an organic element.”

Ball said the development team brought on an arborist and a landscape architect to help preserve trees on the site.

Also in response to planning commission requests for green building, Ball said the structures will be at least 20 percent more energy efficient than standard requirements.

Now that the project has approval, the developers will be targeting May 1 to begin construction, Ball said.

Originally slated to be complete by 2010, another condition of approval requiring construction to occur in two phases rather than three could accelerate that, Ball said.

“Rolling it into two phases is just being smarter about grading and limiting disturbance,” Ball said. “It will mean more will happen sooner.”

Once complete, the project will have commercial buildings facing Donner Pass Road, mixed-use buildings with commercial space beneath condominiums farther back, and townhomes set farthest back.