A proposed gay and lesbian retirement community passed a key hurdle Tuesday night when the Santa Rosa City Council rejected the latest request by a Fountaingrove neighborhood group seeking to block the project.
By a 5-1 vote, the council denied an appeal by the Fountaingrove Ranch Master Association challenging the 1,000-page environmental report for the Fountaingrove Lodge project.
First proposed in 2005, the $75 million project is proposed for gays and lesbians 60 and older and calls for 150 housing units, including a 36-unit assisted-care center.
The Fountaingrove Ranch neighborhood group opposed the project's environmental report last year, but it was approved by the Planning Commission in November. The group appealed that ruling to the council. But the group's sweeping objections to the report's conclusions on everything from traffic to oak trees to global warming left many project supporters concluding that it wasn't the project they opposed, but the kinds of neighbors it would attract.
"Just because we have our little piece of heaven doesn't entitle us to prevent others from getting theirs," said John Gladstein, a partner in the project. "In our country we just don't get to choose who moves in next door and who can't."
Opponents said their concern was not about who would live in the 150-unit complex, but about the high-density plan proposed by the developer, Aegis Senior Living of Santa Rosa. The developer also constructed the Varenna luxury senior community on a steep hillside on Fountaingrove Parkway.
"The thing that we don't want to see here is another Varenna," said Edward Margason, 78.
The fear of another project as large, dense and visible from surrounding roads as Varenna appeared to be a driving force behind the opposition. Vice Mayor Marsha Vas Dupre cited such concerns in casting the lone vote to uphold the appeal.
She said she today regrets how visible the Varenna project is, and said she didn't ask enough tough questions of the developers at the time, questions such as whether it would be visible from Highway 101.
Skyfarm Drive resident Susan Nowacki echoed those concerns, saying the developer "degraded" the land with by moving earth and chopping down trees.
"Varenna turned out to be quite different from what representatives had told people the project would look like," Nowacki said. "And therein lies the concern of our citizens."
But council members cited the size and detail of the environmental impact report as proof that it was more than enough to help the public and decision makers understand the project's impacts.
"When I look at this EIR, it's almost bulletproof as far as I'm concerned," said Councilwoman Jane Bender.
Many speakers urged the council to pass the project because of the economic impact on the community and the building trades. Others questioned whether there would be enough water for the project in light of the current water shortage.
But members of the gay and lesbian community, many wearing green armbands in support of the project, said that after three years of discussion, they just wanted to see the thing built.
"My partner and I would love to move in here, but I'd love to be young enough to enjoy it!" said Bobbie Blair, a 64-year-old Santa Rosa resident.
You can reach Staff Writer Kevin McCallum at 521-5207 or kevin.mccallum@pressdemocrat.com.
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