Vision emerging for last segment of Windsor Town Green

A vision for redeveloping a last remaining swath of downtown Windsor could come into a little more focus this week.

The Town Council on Wednesday will discuss future plans for the northern edge of Windsor’s signature Town Green and its Civic Center site.

They include tearing down Town Hall, the police station, or school district offices to create surface parking; using the Huerta gymnasium site to make way for a hotel, conference facility and retail space; and a “pavilion,” multipurpose events center on the current site of the regional library.

Those are just a few of the possibilities that emerged from a series of community visioning workshops last spring in addition to interviews with residents, business owners, property owners and town staff.

“This is an introductory moment as to what we may or may not do with those lands,” Mayor Mark Millan said Friday. “This is just the beginning of some interesting dialogue for all of us.”

The council will weigh three alternatives presented by consultants Wallace, Roberts and Todd, part of a $200,000 contract approved in February for analysis of new development of the civic center site and property stretching north to the intersection of Old Redwood Highway and Windsor Road.

The consulting company helped create new life in public spaces and parks with civic and cultural projects in Washington, D.C., Nashville, Philadelphia and St. Louis, to name a few.

The company in the 1990s helped polish the concept for the Windsor Town Green, a grassy expanse that took the place of a blighted area now crisscrossed by walkways, with trees, fountains, a gazebo, benches and children’s play area. It’s become the heart of Windsor, with a weekly farmers market, summer concerts, plays and holiday celebrations.

The Green is bordered on several sides by shops and restaurants with townhomes on the upper floors, but is not considered finished. The consultants’ study is intended to help “complete the town square” according to planners.

A 31-page study the council will consider Wednesday summarizes the ideas, including the multipurpose events center; a boutique hotel; music venues; live-work and business incubation spaces; multigenerational housing options; a botanical garden; and public art.

A key element is preserving the large heritage oak trees on the Civic Center site.

The council is being asked to choose one of three basic plans:

Keep Town Hall in its current location, assuming relocation of the police station, and build either a surface parking lot, or parking garage. There would be townhomes built along Windsor Road, and three-story apartments along Old Redwood Highway, matching the future 387-unit Vintage Oaks apartment project across the street, but with fewer dwellings.

Relocate Town Hall to where the current school district building is, and replace the existing Town Hall buildings with shared surface parking.

There would be mixed-use development on the northern edge of the Town Green. A multipurpose events center would be built on the existing library site and the library relocated amid the heritage oak grove along Old Redwood Highway.

The third plan is similar to the second one but explores relocating Town Hall to the north, on the Telfer property.

Consultants note that could be complicated to execute since the land is privately owned and potentially would require long negotiations with the owners.

Millan said once a plan is determined, the town can move toward implementing some of it - a process he estimated might take five years, rather than 10.

“We’re not going to be able to do it alone,” he said. “We will need to cooperate potentially with a development group and also the school and library.”

You can reach Staff Writer Clark Mason at 707-521-5214 or clark.mason@pressdemocrat.com. On Twitter@clarkmas