Where does the Windsor Civic Center project stand?

When the story of the Windsor Civic Center project last left off, the proposal was out the window after the developer terminated its agreement with the town.

The majority of the Town Council, with the addition of newly elected Council member Mike Wall, was against the agreement — which recently expired on June 30 — as well as the project that would have been located on the northern edge of the Town Green. In addition, two longtime council members were trading snarky comments about how it met its fate at a June 1 meeting.

Now what?

According to Windsor Economic Development Manager Tim Ricard, nothing now, and what happens in the future is really up to whomever is elected in the Nov. 8 council election.

“When we reported that (developer Robert) Green pulled out, the council didn’t provide staff any direction on next steps,” Ricard said. “Largely because it was a very divisive issue with council. … Once the new council is selected, I expect they would be the one to provide direction. … We’re a little bit in the wait-and-see stage.”

All council members’ terms are up Dec. 31 except for Deb Fudge, who has two years left on her term.

Former 2020 mayoral candidate Tanya Potter has declared her candidacy for the council seat in District 4, the town’s west side. Potter, a Santa Rosa police officer, said she’s interested in finding out what her district’s wishes are regarding any type of project on the Town Green and will act accordingly.

With three council members’ seats and one at-large mayoral seat up for grabs, it’s anybody’s guess what will happen. But if the April special election in which Wall beat Stephanie Ahmad in a mostly one-issue campaign (he opposed the project) is a reflection of the town’s sentiment, things aren’t looking good for the kind of ambitious plan that had been on the table.

That preliminary proposal, which was subject to change, included a hotel, luxury residential units and a public safety building built to current standards that would have housed the Police Department and an emergency operations center.

The Town Hall, the library and Windsor Unified School District offices would have been relocated to a new civic center building near the new development.

The idea of developing the property, with an eye toward raising revenue to pay for the construction of new government buildings, was produced after “visioning” meetings with the public in 2016 and 2017. The visioning plan dates to 2017.

“There could be a whole new visioning process for the property or we could use the 2017 visioning documents to go back out and request proposals from developers,” Ricard said. “Or the council may decide they don’t want to move forward at all.”

Windsor urban designer Lois Fisher didn’t like the result of the visioning sessions, and said the town “completely ignored” what residents wanted, a claim Fudge disputes.

Green’s pullout meant “it’s time for us to regroup,” Fisher told the council at the June 1 meeting, and discuss “what other uses could bring visitors to town” besides a hotel.

However, one current council candidate may have something to say about that.

Businesswoman and former Council member Maureen Merrill, who lost her reelection to current Mayor Sam Salmon has said she wants the project completed.

Vice Mayor Esther Lemus, who is running for mayor (against current Council member Rosa Reynoza), previously voted to extend the agreement for the project but she now says she is willing to look at options and wants to do “whatever keeps the area family friendly.”

“The question becomes what is it that people want?” Lemus said. “Obviously people want to finish the Town Green, whether it’s a small boutique hotel or something else. The people I’ve talked to said they were OK with something going up, but not with the Robert Green project. If elected, that’s something that this council will have to have a conversation about.”

Later in a statement she said she supports “a principled and balanced approach.”

“I have no intention of reviving the project … I will only support a plan that the people of Windsor believe in.”

Fudge predicts residents will be taxed to pay for the construction of new government buildings without the commercial side of any development.

“It was really disingenuous of Windsor to turn our backs on this opportunity after we had accepted the developer’s draft proposal and let him spend hundreds of thousands of dollars,” Fudge said a few days before the June 1 meeting when the news of the developer pullout leaked out. “The project wasn’t finished — we only had half the information.”

One of the arguments being made by the project’s supporters has been that the 1970s-era civic center buildings and gymnasium are not earthquake safe.

But there have been no formal studies of the buildings’ safety. Windsor’s Chief Building Official Doug Hughes said he has looked at current conditions and gave his best evaluation at one point.

“All I’ve ever said is that they were built before the codes became more stringent for earthquake resiliency,” he said. “They were built to code at the time.”

You can reach Staff Writer Kathleen Coates at kathleen.coates@pressdemocrat.com or 707-521-5209.