Neighbors air concerns over future of former Chanate hospital site

Redevelopment plans for the former Sutter Hospital site remain sketchy, but Sonoma County officials and people who live near the 117-acre property on Chanate Road agree the project both has promise and could present some challenges.

Supervisor Shirlee Zane, attending a public hearing on the project Wednesday night, called it “a legacy project, a marvelous opportunity for the county and the city to develop something incredible.”

Some of the 200 residents who attended the hearing at the Santa Rosa Veterans Memorial Building agreed, while some said they were worried about piling more traffic onto an already busy road through Hidden Valley, one of the city’s upscale, established neighborhoods.

The sharpest question of the evening came from a man who asked how many homes along Chanate Road would have to be eliminated to make room for a four-lane road to serve the site.

Libby Seibel, a real estate consultant retained by the county, said traffic was “a very valid question” and will be part of an environmental assessment of the project.

Just what might be built on the site - which includes the abandoned hospital, county facilities, a rural cemetery, a creek and open space - is unclear, officials said.

The Board of Supervisors has articulated a redevelopment plan that includes affordable housing, commercial and retail space, walking trails and other amenities, and the county intends to sell or lease the property to a developer who would follow a master plan for shaping the site’s future.

Affordable housing is “an important piece of the plan,” Seibel said, with at least 20 percent of the dwelling units within the means of households earning $100,000 or less a year.

Homeless advocates have urged the supervisors to go further than that by including low-income housing and accommodations for homeless and mentally ill people. Supervisors have indicated there will be no homeless housing or overnight parking for those sleeping in their vehicles.

It’s not clear how much of the property can be developed, Seibel said, noting that the acreage includes slopes, sensitive habitat and earthquake fault lines. The county plans to vacate all of its facilities on the Chanate site except for the morgue and public health laboratory, she said.

A rural cemetery, an open space preserve and a Sonoma County Water Agency flood control area also will be retained.

“Nobody is going to make a decision without more meetings like this,” Seibel said.

Zane suggested that a park or an amphitheater are among the possibilities. “We can do all kinds of things. We just need to dream together,” she told the crowd.

Dale Murphy, a Fountaingrove resident, endorsed the concept of mixing housing with commercial uses. “If they do it right, it could turn out real nice,” he said.

Pete Peterka, a Hidden Valley resident and former county emergency services coordinator, said the development has “great potential if it’s done right.” But he said it could also “become a slum area” with the wrong kind of residents.

Bob Dippel, a Cobblestone resident, said the county’s announced plan “sounds reasonable,” adding there is “enough space for everything they’re proposing.”

Residents were encouraged to stick Post-it notes on two easels, and one said: “Please, no more development. Leave it open space.”

Julie Collins, a 40-year resident of Lomita Heights, said she had come to the meeting “to find out what the county has in mind.”

Her main concern is traffic, Collins said, noting that Chanate Road has continued to be a major commute route following construction of Fountain Grove Parkway.

Board of Supervisors Chairwoman Susan Gorin, a former Santa Rosa mayor who used to live near the Chanate site, referred to it as a longtime “community asset” that is now “a somewhat blank slate” since Sutter built a new hospital on Mark West Springs Road.

She also acknowledged the questions it raises.

“We’re going to work really hard to capture all your concerns,” Gorin said.

You can reach Staff Writer Guy Kovner at 521-5457 or guy.kovner@pressdemocrat.com. On Twitter @guykovner.