Davidon housing development plans move forward

A plan for a 93-home luxury housing development near Helen Putnam Park is moving forward to the final environmental review stage despite a rash of criticism from city councilmembers and local residents. At a packed meeting Monday night, councilmembers encouraged Davidon Homes and their consultants to study an alternative proposal with fewer homes for the final environmental report - something the developer said it is happy to do.

"We've worked hard to try and develop a lower-density alternative that we fully support, and that has a lot of potential for the public," said Davidon Vice President Jeff Thayer, who pointed out at Monday's City Council meeting that the developer proactively created a 66-home alternative to specifically address environmental issues brought up after the initial proposal raised concerns.

"We could have just stuck with the 93-lot plan and waited for people to pull a concession out of us, but that's not how I work," Thayer said.

The 58.5-acre project at the corner of Windsor Drive and D Street was originally proposed by the Walnut Creek developer in 2004 and initially called for 104 homes. But the project was delayed during the recession, and while consulting with various environmental agencies during that time, the developer saw that environmental restrictions might require fewer homes. Davidon subsequently dropped the proposed number of homes down to 93, and created an alternative plan for 66.

The draft EIR came before the Planning Commission last month, where it met with widespread criticism for being confusing and unclear, according to commissioners. As the largest housing project to come before the City Council in more than a decade, the proposal has come under attack from residents of the neighboring Victoria Homes subdivision, as well as others, who have listed a myriad of reasons the project should not move forward even in a downsized 66-lot version. Some of the main complaints include infringement on views, the loss of open space, inadequate traffic mitigations and flooding and landslide issues.

While the City Council voted 4-2 to move forward with the final environmental review Monday night, with Councilmembers Gabe Kearney and Teresa Barrett dissenting, all councilmembers had questions about the draft EIR and expressed a desire to see an increasingly scaled-down version of the project.

"If you started with 41 units as the maximum number for this project, there would be all sorts of ways to mitigate all the concerns, such as flooding, open space, noise control and saving the red-legged frog," said Councilmember Mike Healy Tuesday.

Both Kearney and Barrett called for a complete redo of the EIR, especially since the developer has acknowledged the infeasibility of building 93 homes on the lot.

The draft EIR contains a number of alternative plans that reduce the number of lots to 66, 47 or 28. It also includes a number of mitigations that could further reduce the number of homes. But Thayer said his company feels it has addressed all the environmental concerns in the 66-lot project and is hoping that version will be approved. He defended the draft EIR against allegations that it was confusing.

Meanwhile, Greg Colvin, a member of the Petalumans for Responsible Planning - a group that has been opposed to the development since its inception - proposed an alternate, 20-home project with no building south of a creek that divides the property, and no homes on steep slopes.

"We can do better and we have suggestions to offer," he said. "Fewer homes, less development. We deserve a first-class park facility at this location, as well as 40 parking spaces for the park. We can't accept an EIR without a full park plan."

Colvin also said the group received an anonymous donation of $1 million in 2006 for the purpose of purchasing some of the Scott Ranch land to preserve as open space and is still interested in doing so. It's an idea the developer has expressed no interest in, despite a push from Councilmembers Mike Harris and Chris Albertson for Davidon to discuss with Petalumans for Responsible Planning preserving a portion of the land for open space.

Davidon's current proposal does allocate a portion of land for open space and creates a 7-space parking lot for people accessing land near Helen Putnam Park. It also suggests moving a historic red barn on the property 200 feet and rehabilitating it - something that concerns some residents.

Barbara Marlin-Coole, an art teacher at the Petaluma Senior Center, said that her elderly artists love to paint the red barn and are dismayed that it might be moved. "This isn't just about the barn though," Marlin-Coole said. "It's about the rolling hills of Petaluma and the view from Helen Putnam Park that we walk and paint."

While the council allowed the project to move forward to the next phase, city staff said the final EIR will require that all concerns and public comment be addressed. It is expected to come back before city officials sometime this year.

"We will be working closely with the Davidon consultant, looking at all the comments and questions that came in," said Petaluma Senior Planner Heather Hines, adding that a timeline for the final EIR has not yet been determined.

(Contact Janelle Wetzstein at janelle.wetzstein@arguscourier.com.)

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