Developer wants Santa Rosa council to remove land from ridgeline map

A local developer will ask the Santa Rosa City Council on Tuesday to remove its 68-acre property from a disputed ridgeline map in an effort to make it easier to build up to 475 units of senior housing on the property.

Oakmont Senior Living, which has built two large retirement communities in the Fountaingrove area, has been trying for a decade to develop housing on the Elnoka Lane property along Highway 12 in east Santa Rosa.

A multifamily project on a portion of the property was blocked by the council in 2011 after it ran into stiff opposition from the neighboring Oakmont retirement community.

Before it spends the money to submit a new application for a seniors-only project, the developer wants some assurance that its latest plan, which has the support of the Oakmont Village Association, won’t run into the same regulatory buzzsaw, said Tom Jones, principal of Brelje & Race Consulting Engineers.

The property’s inclusion on a general plan ridgeline map could be used by opponents to attack the project unfairly, and the developers want to minimize that risk, Jones said.

“They just want some little sign that this issue is not going to be the defining issue of the full application,” Jones said.

The developers argue that the property contains a “minor ridgeline,” the development of which would not cause homes to break the skyline because of the more dominant ridgeline of Annadel State Park to the west.

The city defines a ridgeline as “a line following the highest point formed by the meeting of slopes.” Development is allowed on ridgelines as long as structures do not interrupt the skyline. Additional language and the ridgeline map were added to the general plan in 2002 following community outrage at how visible many newer homes in the Fountaingrove area were from the valley floor.

Members of the Planning Commission rejected the developer’s request in February on a 5-1 vote.

Commissioner Curtis Byrd likened the ridgeline map to a yield sign warning developers that their projects would be closely scrutinized for compliance with hillside development rules.

“It feels like we’re traveling down the highway and the posted speed limited is 65 and you want to change it to 85 just to suit your needs,” Byrd said.

Vice Chairman Peter Stanley said he sympathized with a developer “not knowing where the landmines are” in the approvals process. But he said the map was “informational only” and in no way prevented development of the site.

“You can develop on that property,” Stanley said. “There’s nothing to stop you from that. You’re just going to have to go through the process.”

Oakmont Senior Living, which is owned by First Community Bank Chairman Bill Gallaher, appealed the Planning Commission decision to the full council.

If the council won’t amend the map in the general plan, Jones said Oakmont Senior Living officials hope it will at least formalize planning staff’s conclusion that homes on the ridge would not create a significant environmental impact.

You can reach Staff Writer Kevin McCallum at 521-5207 or at Kevin.mccallum@pressdemocrat.com.