Santa Rosa to buy Roseland property, eyeing possible site for future library, fire station

Santa Rosa City Council members Tuesday touted a proposal by the city to purchase more than six acres of land at the corner of Dutton and Hearn avenues as an opportunity to make long-promised public investments in southwestern Santa Rosa.

The council unanimously authorized staff to pursue the purchase principally for an extension of Dutton Avenue. But because the city was buying more land than it needed for the roadway, officials see the chance to one day develop a range of additional amenities, including possibly a fire station, library and other community facilities.

Residents of Roseland, a predominantly Latino part of Santa Rosa, have called for greater investment and more government services in the area, which the city annexed in 2017.

Council members on Tuesday hailed the possibilities before the city, but the realities of any public project could prove daunting and a long time off. Less than two miles to the north, the long envisioned residential and commercial redevelopment of a shopping center at the heart of Roseland on Sebastopol Road is only just getting underway with early construction, 11 years after the county’s purchase of the property.

Still, Vice Mayor Eddie Alvarez said, “many speak of inclusion but we are definitely proving it.” Alvarez, a first-term councilman, is the first directly-elected representative for Roseland.

An appearance Tuesday by the county library director and comments from Santa Rosa’s assistant city manager indicate there is official interest in the property as future home for the library, despite its distance from the Sebastopol Road corridor at the center of Roseland.

The stated primary purpose for buying the property ‒ three parcels that each hold homes and outbuildings ‒ is to link up segments of Dutton Avenue and extend the Colgan Creek bicycle and pedestrian pathway. Dutton, a thoroughfare for much of northern Santa Rosa, is broken up after its northern section ends at a T-intersection with Hearn Avenue. Dutton picks back up on the south side of the properties eyed for purchase.

The city will have to relocate two tenants residing in the houses, said Jill Scott, the city’s real estate manager. The council and city staff did not discuss how much the city is set to pay for the land. City officials did not immediately respond to a Press Demcorat question about the tentative price.

Dutton’s extension and the pedestrian path would occupy about 1.6 acres, leaving 4.5 acres for other purposes.

One of the possibilities, according to staff documents describing the potential purchase, is a replacement for Santa Rosa’s Fire Station #8, today near the corner of Burbank Avenue and Sebastopol Road.

Moving that station south, closer to Highway 101 and growing residential neighborhoods, has been talked about by fire officials for years. A new station could cost as much as $7.5 million, then-Deputy Fire Chief Scott Westrope told The Press Democrat in April 2019.

A fire station would take up 0.75 acres to 1 acre, according to staff documents. A library could use 1.5–2 acres, a recreation center 1–2.75 acres, a community pool 0.75–3.5 acres, or a park 2–4 acres.

With so many options and still limited space, city leaders will have choices to make. “We will obviously have a lot more community engagement,” Mayor Chris Rogers said.

Roseland’s lack of a recreation center, pool or permanent home for its library branch has been raised by residents opposing other new projects, including an affordable housing complex and a cannabis production facility and dispensary. During heated council meetings over those projects, opponents accused city leaders of dumping unwanted developments into southwestern Santa Rosa while neglecting investments in public facilities and infrastructure.

Public response was muted at Tuesday’s meeting, although a number of people called in to leave voicemail comments supporting the land purchase and the possibility for a library.

“It’s unfortunate there’s not more people in the chambers as we had at the last discussion we had on a (Roseland) land use decision,” Council member Tom Schwedhelm said before the vote.

“We are investing in this area as we said we were going to do,” Schwedhelm said.

However, in advance of Tuesday, city leaders do not appear to have said much publicly about purchasing the land and options for its use. Previously, the purchase was discussed in two council sessions behind closed doors, according to Assistant City Manager Jason Nutt.

The site is about 1.5 miles from the Sebastopol Road property where Sonoma County is advancing the long-planned mixed-use redevelopment project, called Tierra de Rosas.

The City Council approved a housing project by nonprofit regional developer MidPen Housing there in August, and the county has begun construction of the Mitote Community Food Park to house food vendors that have turned a large parking lot into a vibrant and informal community hub.

The Sonoma County Community Development Commission is scheduled to begin constructing Tierra de Rosa’s larger infrastructure — which includes streets, walkways and a public plaza — during the first quarter of this year. Though that site has long been touted as a possible home for Roseland’s library as well, the city’s proposed land purchase appears to represent a new direction.

Tierra de Rosas is “not (a site) the city is looking at,” Nutt said in an interview last week.

On Tuesday, Ann Hammond, the county library system’s director, told council members her agency was primed to work with the city on a future Hearn Avenue location.

“The library’s role in this project is the culmination of a decade of advocacy by community leaders who have worked closely with us to create momentum and support and who are committed to working with us to see this through,” Hammond said.

Even Hammond couched the council’s Tuesday vote, however, as only “an incremental step,” toward a permanent home for Roseland’s library, now in temporary quarters at 470 Sebastopol Road.

Santa Rosa has put aside $10 million from a settlement payment made by electrical utility PG&E for the library project. State lawmakers placed another $1 million for the project in last year’s state budget.

Staff writer Nashelly Chavez contributed to this report.

You can reach Staff Writer Andrew Graham at 707-526-8667 or andrew.graham@pressdemocrat.com. On Twitter @AndrewGraham88