Central Healdsburg Study committee takes strides toward solidified plan

A basic design plan for buildings in the Central Healdsburg Avenue Special Study Area moved ahead at a public meeting Tuesday, focusing on structural densities and unit volumes.

Tuesday's meeting was the latest a series of discussions over how to develop the 80-acre tract that extends from the Central Healdsburg off-ramp to the five-way intersection at Mill Street, as well as the land surrounding the proposed SMART commuter train station.

The meeting was highlighted by a presentation from Community Design + Architecture Principal Tim Rood about the sizes and designs of buildings that might fill the area under consideration. Rood focused primarily on the ratio of living and commercial units to the acreage they encompass, a consideration that will help determine how tall individual buildings are and how densely they are clustered.

“We can learn a lot from historical typologies about how buildings can gracefully exist on the street at a broad range of densities,” Rood said.

Rood provided a number of specific examples of how high volume unit clusters can still allow for spacious fountain courts and walkways. Among them were mixed use residential/commercial buildings where storefronts sit underneath one or more housing units; an “alley loaded” scenario where residential units are centered around expansive walkways, with parking areas in back; and mansion-sized houses that would hold up to eight separate living units.

Rood also mentioned the possibility of taller apartment complexes, though he added that such buildings “might be getting above your comfort level.” Indeed, while Rood said those buildings would house as many as 60 living units per acre of land, the project's planning committee later decided that a more feasible building range would be 10-30 units per acre over most of the site.

One issue raised over the use of tall apartments was a lack of compatibility with the needs of the town's senior population, although Rood said that problem could be addressed with elevators. The bigger issue, however, was that of car traffic and parking, which has seemingly come up as a roadblock during every discussion about a blueprint.

“I think parking ratio is the invisible demon behind building densities,” said committee member Jon Worden. “That starts to dictate what the character will be of these buildings.”

Committee member Phil Luks said traffic concerns might be a reason to build a more spread out model  with fewer commercial and living units than what Rood seemed to have in mind.

“I would eliminate some of the commercial/resident mixed use buildings and have more of a side-by-side mix,” Lux said.

Toward the end of the meeting, the committee also addressed the plan for a “core use” building that would be at the heart of the project, and would perhaps house a new branch for Santa Rosa Junior College.

“The core use facility is a stone in the pond,” said project consultant Jim Reid. “Everything else flows from that.”

The next Central Healdsburg Avenue Special Study Area discussion was scheduled for June 21.