Petaluma group sets aside $4M for open space

Residents hope to use the money to buy property slated for a housing project near Helen Putnam Park.|

Environmental advocates hoping to preserve a parcel of hilly land on the western edge of Petaluma for park space, have raised $4 million in their effort to purchase the property from a developer with plans for a luxury housing project.

The group, which has been opposed to the Davidon Homes development off Windsor Drive near Helen Putnam Regional Park, is hoping city leaders scale back the already diminished project even further, freeing up some of the land for open space. The Petaluma City Council meets June 19 to consider a draft of the project’s environmental report.

The planning commission last month recommended moving forward with the project with alternatives to include no development south of Kelly Creek, which traverses the bucolic pasture land that is home to the threatened red-legged tree frog. The Walnut Creek luxury home developer in 2004 proposed 93 houses on the 58-acre parcel at Windsor Drive and D Street, a plan that has since been revised to include as many as 66 single family homes.

The revised draft environmental document proposes alternatives with 47 homes or 28 homes.

Greg Colvin, a Petaluma lawyer and director of the Kelly Creek Protection Project, said he hopes to use the $4 million to preserve the land as an extension of Helen Putnam park with a new trailhead. The group previously announced it had $1 million held by the Sonoma Land Trust. The other $3 million comes from assets invested in a charitable fund that Colvin manages.

“We’re hoping it will encourage Davidon to be a willing seller of at least some of that property,” he said. “We would hope we can find fair market value to help the county own a fine, first-class extension of Helen Putnam to D street.”

He said negotiations with Davidon for a portion of the land have stalled while the city determines the scope of the project through the environmental impact report process.

Steve Abbs, Davidon Homes’ vice president of land acquisition and development, said that the company is moving forward with its project as proposed. He said after the environmental process is complete, the company may consider engaging with groups looking to preserve some of the land.

“It is our intent to keep the process going with the project as proposed,” he said. “Maybe down the road, if there was a reasonable offer, we would sit down and listen to what the proposal would be. It would have to make economic sense. Until there is a real offer on the table, it’s kind of a moot point.”

Petaluma City Councilman Mike Healy said that the property is zoned for light residential, but it will be up to officials to weigh the environmental impacts of the development. He said that he is staying out of discussions between the developer and environmental groups, but encouraged the two sides to negotiate.

“It’s the city’s responsibility to look at the environmental document,” he said. “If Davidon wants to talk to (the environmental groups) then they should talk to them.”

Tamara Galanter, a partner with San Francisco-based law firm Shute, Mihaly and Weinberger LLC that represents the Kelly Creek Protection Project, said the environmental impact report is inadequate and should be redone. She said that her client is willing to negotiate with Davidon on a solution that benefits both parties.

“It’s not all or nothing,” she said. “We want to work on a win-win.”

(Contact Matt Brown at matt.brown@arguscourier.com.)

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