Rossmoor Residents Ask City Council For Review of Event Center

A determined group of Rossmoor residents visited the Walnut Creek City Council Tuesday night to ask the city to revisit decisions that paved the way for a controversial event center at the retirement community.

Mayor Cindy Silva directed Community Development Director Sandra Meyer and City Attorney Bryan Wenter to meet with the residents to talk over the issue.

That directive drew a patter of applause from the six Rossmoor residents who spoke to the council and supporters who accompanied them to the meeting.

The residents are critical of the need to pave over green areas, endanger valley oaks, threaten the historic value of the Dollar House and increase traffic.

Gilbert Doubet requested that the council conduct an evaluation of traffic and parking implications that was not done three years ago, when the city's Design Review Commission approved a master plan of the project (it did not get further review by the council at that time).

The public notice provisions of the Design Review Commission were "erroneous," Doubet said, and misled residents on the location of the event center.

Rossmoor forwarded a master plan to the city in 2006-07 that was clear on the location of the event center, said Rossmoor Chief Executive Officer Warren Salmons in a Wednesday interview. "There was no subterfuge," said Salmons.

The master plan was developed by Rossmoor five years ago after "a concerted and careful effort to reach out to the community and determine the kind of needs and wants the community had," said Salmons, including an event center.

Three buildings in that master plan have already been built. Rossmoor staff is preparing specifications of an events center plan to submit to the city and determine what permits are needed, hoping to solicit bids on the project in March 2012, Salmons said.

Mary Anne Clarke told the council that paving the parking lot for the new events center would endanger the root systems of valley oaks, some of which may be two centuries old.

Bob Dickson said more than 3,000 people have signed a petition by the group Save Our Stanley asking the board of the Golden Rain Foundation not to build the center on the grounds of the Stanley Dollar house.

Philip Wesler asked the council to reconsider the Design Review Commission's approval of the creekside master plan. about the Save Our Stanley efforts.

Meyer, the city's community development director, told the council the Design Review Commission approved the master plan in January 2009 after a public hearing. It was deemed that commission approval was sufficient (that the project didn't need to also go to the Planning Commission or the City Council) as the plan was consistent with zoning, she said.

Meyer said the appeal period has lapsed.

Councilmember Kristina Lawson asked city staff to prepare a history of city actions on the master plan.