Three decades of development starts and stops at Elnoka site in Santa Rosa

Developers have been trying to build on the Elnoka property for more than 30 years, but various plans have stalled following financial struggles, red tape and opposition from neighboring Oakmont residents.

In 1993, Santa Rosa planners approved a project by Pacific LifeCare Corp. that called for a 460-unit senior community that included a skilled nursing facility. The Japanese investors behind the company pulled out of the project in 1997 after struggling to secure financing.

Grading for the site started but work was never completed and the project sat vacant for years.

In 2002, the city increased the density on 9.2 acres of the site from very low to medium density to meet state housing goals, an issue that would later stall development as Oakmont residents said they were unaware of the change.

Prominent Sonoma County developer Bill Gallaher bought the majority of the 69 acres in March 2005 for $15.5 million and later that year acquired the remaining land with plans to revive the previous proposal.

Gallaher’s company in 2008 submitted plans for an all-ages, market and affordable rate project with 209 units on a 9.6-acre strip of land on Highway 12.

The Planning Commission in January 2011 OK’d an environmental impact report for the housing project that found the project did not negatively impact the surrounding area or resources.

The approval was appealed to the City Council by Oakmont and other concerned residents, citing worries about increased traffic on Highway 12, the size of the project being inconsistent with the semirural character of the area, marring views of the Valley of the Moon, and over land-use objections.

The City Council that March upheld Oakmont’s appeal of the environmental study’s finding and voted to send the project back for further study.

In September 2014, the developer submitted a request for a general plan amendment to remove designated ridgelines within the project. The request is denied by Planning Commission the following February and the decision is upheld by the council in April 2015.

Gallaher submitted revised plans in 2017 for the Elnoka Continuing Care Retirement Community with 676 residential units that would house roughly 1,000 seniors. The project included a mix of apartments, a 62-unit care center and a dozen attached units for employee housing plus resident amenities like a café, swimming pool and parks.

The revised plans kicked off another round of environmental studies and public input, which were ongoing when Gallaher in summer 2021 submitted final plans for the site that reduced the scope of the project by 60%.

That project called for 272 units.

Gallaher sold the property for $3 million in December to Burbank Housing before the project was approved.

EDITOR’S NOTE: An earlier version of this story misidentified Oakmont resident Wally Schilpp in an accompanying photo caption.