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Real estate along the Russian River ranges from classic vacation getaways to long stretches of riparian vegetation that borders the miles of vineyards in the Russian River Valley and Alexander Valley. Public access is spotty at best with Johnson’s Beach in Guerneville, Steelhead Beach in Forestville, and Memorial Beach in Healdsburg as the best spots for a family to get to the water safely and legally. There are neighborhood beaches, of course, but in practice they belong to the people that live nearby. There are a few opportunities in Guerneville and Rio Nido to acquire river front property today.
Today Charles Brown from CPS showed me around this Guerneville listing on River Road. (Update: Sold) It’s got almost 750 feet of river frontage and some land in each of LC and K zoning. This large parcel (3+ acres) has most of the land in the flood way and the rest of it in the flood plain. The technical difference is that the flood way has actively moving water that would tend to knock down a building. You can’t build there. The flood plain has standing water which will damage unprotected wood, but doesn’t carry the same risk of impact damage. You can build in those areas if you elevate your home above the 100 year floods. This property would be great for a campground or other recreational activity.