Santa Rosa earthquake raises concerns about redevelopment of Chanate Road campus

A coalition of Santa Rosa neighbors near the former county hospital complex on Chanate Road are raising concerns over potential earthquake hazards as the new property owner gears up to submit plans for hundreds of housing units on the site.

The epicenter of Tuesday’s 4.4 magnitude earthquake was less than a half-mile from the property and scientists predict an even larger temblor is likely on the same fault in the future — underscoring a key takeaway from past seismic studies of the 72-acre site.

Friends of Chanate, in an email blast Friday to more than 300 people, said any redevelopment proposal must not only include wildfire protections but also safeguards for a “similarly catastrophic earthquake.” The group has previously sounded the alarm over potential fire risks on the property and how hundreds of new residents on the site could clog the narrow two-lane road during an evacuation.

“Tuesday’s earthquakes forcibly point out how essential property safety planning for the future of the Chanate property will be,” the email reads.

A spokesperson for property owner Iyad “Eddie” Haddad, the Las Vegas developer who purchased the site from the county in December for $15.05 million, said his team has considered earthquake risks as they craft plans.

“From the time we bought the property, we’ve been very cognizant of the geology,” Lisa Mayo said. “We will continue to be diligent about that and make sure we’re designing it safely for those people that at some point will purchase a home.”

The magnitude 4.4 quake struck at 6:39 p.m. west of Parker Hill Road and north of Chanate Road. The epicenter was just north of the former hospital complex, behind a row of homes on Cobblestone Drive.

The initial temblor and a magnitude 4.3 aftershock occurred on the Rodgers Creek fault that runs through the property and is part of the larger San Andreas system bisecting much of California.

The complex, which includes the former community hospital and other county facilities, has sat mostly vacant since Sutter Health relocated to its Mark West Springs Road site eight years ago.

The property’s sale represented the largest disposition of surplus county land in at least a generation. Elected officials have long eyed the site as an opportunity to make a dent in the region’s deep housing shortage.

Haddad and his team are proposing to build nearly 1,000 townhomes and apartments, more units than under a previous proposal to redevelop the site.

The group, developing the property under the name Chanate Development Group, hasn’t yet submitted plans to Santa Rosa but hopes to “in the pretty near future,” Mayo said.

Santa Rosa Council member Victoria Fleming, whose northeast District 4 includes the property, said she plans to push for a thorough environmental review prior to any development being considered by the council.

No damage to property in Tuesday’s earthquake

Concerns over the Rodgers Creek fault that runs beneath the property have long clouded the fate of the campus. Costly seismic upgrades required by the state factored heavily in Sutter Health’s decision to relocate a new hospital.

Prior county efforts to sell the property over several years failed, in part, because of lingering questions about the fault’s exact location and the implications for redevelopment.

Mayo said none of the buildings on the property sustained damage from the earthquake.

Developers have incorporated the fault zone and the property’s geology and geography into the future plans, Mayo said.

“There’s some places you’ll see in the plans where there is open space, where we don’t have buildings or homes in certain areas,” she said.

Haddad plans to demolish the abandoned hospital and several other buildings on the site. The Public Health Lab and Morgue and Coroner’s Office are allowed to remain at the site for at least four years, as part of the sale.

Mayo declined to provide The Press Democrat with details about the group’s vision for the site but said the plan is to build housing. Haddad had previously told The Press Democrat retail, a hotel, golf course and even a tribal casino could be on the table.

“We’re not ready to go public with it yet,” she said.

But preliminary site plans shared with Friends of Chanate during an Aug. 5 meeting show developers plan to build up to 964 units.

That’s more than under previous plans by local developer Bill Gallaher, who had an agreement to buy the property for $11.5 million in 2017 with plans for up to 870 units, a grocery store, amphitheater and dog park. That purchase agreement was scuttled by a successful lawsuit waged by Friends of Chanate to force the county into a more thorough environmental review.

In the plans shared with the Friends of Chanate, about a third of the units — 664 — would be three-story, three-bedroom townhomes for sale and there would be 300 rental apartments, according to a summary of the plan that was emailed to members and shared with The Press Democrat. At least 15% of the units will be required to be affordable housing, per the sale agreement.

Ninety-eight townhomes, all 300 apartments and a nature preserve or park are planned for the 20 acres north of Chanate Road. South of Chanate, 214 townhomes and a park are planned on the west end of the property and the remaining 352 townhomes are on the east end, according to the email.

No homes are planned in the center of the property. The historic cemetery and the bird rescue facility would remain.

Developers are in the process of revising the plans to incorporate feedback received from neighbors, and the final plans could differ from what was presented to the group in August, Mayo said.

Developer: Plans will conform to requirements

State law requires that developers building in an earthquake fault zone conduct geological studies and meet certain construction requirements.

The Chanate property sits in an earthquake fault zone prone to “high ground shaking” during an earthquake. A 2016 study from the U.S. Geological Survey found the Rodgers Creek fault is one of four major faults in the Bay Area overdue for a large earthquake that could cause violent shaking and potentially extreme damage to properties along the fault.

Areas within a certain perimeter of a fault are considered special study zones by the state. Any project proposed within the zone will first require a fault location study, conducted and peer reviewed by a geotechnical engineer, to determine if there are any faults that cross the property, their location and nature, Santa Rosa’s supervising engineer Michael Enright said.

Under city and state building codes, no new structures are permitted within 50 feet of potentially active faults, Enright said.

A county-initiated seismic study conducted in 2021 determined 46 acres of the campus are safe for projects including housing. Three fault zones crossing the property bar developers from building homes on other parts of the campus but those areas could be used for parking, roads and parks.

Beyond the 50-foot setback, developments are allowed but must adhere to certain construction and structural requirements to meet seismic safety. That could include height limitations and stronger bracing.

“Generally, the closer you get to a fault, the stronger the building has to be to resist greater ground shaking,” Enright said.

Mayo said the site plan will conform to any city and state requirements.

Fleming, whose daughter was one of the last babies born at the Sutter hospital before it closed in 2014, said Tuesday’s earthquake reinforced why she and others are taking a close look at any redevelopment proposal.

The earthquake and fire hazards raise questions about whether the site is appropriate for housing, she said.

“I’ve let the developer know that nothing short of a full environmental impact report and complete compliance with CEQA will be sufficient in order to move forward with the project,” she said, referring to the state’s landmark environmental law.

For Friends of Chanate, the safety portion of any environmental review will be key to their endorsement of a project. Development plans should include ways that existing neighbors and new residents can safely evacuate the area, among other features, the group said.

“On Tuesday, Mother Nature reminded us that we not only need to be prepared for wildfire dangers, but earthquake dangers as well,” the group said in its email, encouraging residents to be prepared for a larger shake.

You can reach Staff Writer Paulina Pineda at 707-521-5268 or paulina.pineda@pressdemocrat.com. On Twitter @paulinapineda22.