The Santa Rosa Planning Commission held a regular meeting on July 13, 2023, starting at 4:30 p.m. and adjourning at 6:23 p.m. All seven commissioners were present, though Commissioner Terrence Sanders recused himself from item 9.1 (Fir Ridge Meadows) due to a past campaign contribution from the applicant, which was returned. The meeting covered a staff report on the House Santa Rosa housing initiative, a public hearing on the Fir Ridge Meadows subdivision, and routine administrative items.
Chair Weeks, we're ready to get started whenever you are. Okay, with that, um, we will go ahead and start the uh July thirteenth, twenty twenty-three meeting of the Center of Planning Commission, and I'd like to call the meeting to order. Can we have roll call, please? Commissioner Carter. Commissioner Sisko. Here Commissioner Holton. Here. Commissioner Peterson. Here. Commissioner Sanders. Here. Vice Chair Duggan. Here. Chair Weeks. Here. Let the record reflect that all commissioners are present. Thank you. Um and with uh we'll go to item two approval of minutes. We have one set of minutes from June eighth. Are there any changes or corrections? Okay, seeing none none, those will stand as approved. So we'll go to item three, our public our public comment section. Uh, we're now taking public comments on item three, which is non-agenda matters. This is a time when any person may address the commission on matters not listed on this agenda, but which are within the subject matter jurisdiction of the commission. Um if you could like to to go to one of the podiums up there, um, you will be given notification and a timer will be set for three minutes. Can I use overhead? Does it work? Yes. And if you could please state your name for the record. I'm uh one of the property owners of the Roberts District and the organizer of the gateway. I'm sorry, could you speak directly into the microphone so we can hear you? My name's Cliff Wigum. I'm one of the property owners and the organizer of the Gateway Coalition in the Roberts District. The newly formed Roberts District. How can I make the overhead work? Cliff, sorry, bear with me. I'm trying to get I'm trying to turn this on and it's not working. Um can the IT team please come out here. We'll get somebody out in just a second to help. Okay. Um the Roberts District was created as part of the downtown stationary specific plan. Previously, it was trend village 25 to 40 units per acre, and it was zoned that in 2006. I bought my property in 2006, and six months later, it was rezoned to something I couldn't use property for. In 2016, I created the Gateway Coalition, which is a collection of ten property owners on a ten acres uh private property in the ro what is now the Roberts District. We secured a grant from the EPA in 2018 to do the environmentals. We completed the environmental assessments November twentieth, 2020. And the properties were rezoned six weeks later, and January first, twenty twenty-one, to the current unrealistic six point zero floor area ratio. Uh no, I've spent the last two years talking to developers, and everyone tells me that it will never be developed because it's positioning. Uh not in eight years, not in 25 years, that it is on the south side of Highway 12. That's a four-lane elevated solid Earth freeway dividing Ray Road Square and Roberts District.