Affordable housing in Petaluma a model for Sonoma?

A Concord developer is seeking to build nearly 200 housing units near the intersection of Petaluma’s North McDowell Boulevard and Corona Road, including 25 units set aside for sale to lower-income home buyers.

Directly north of land long pegged as the site of an eastside station for Sonoma Marin Area Rail Transit, the Brody Ranch subdivision would include 59 single-family homes, one duplex and a total of 138 condominiums, according to a city summary of project plans.

The 16-acre development would also include a picnic and play area, a network of bicycle and pedestrian paths, wetlands and open space.

The planned development by Concord-based DeNova Homes would be the second in Petaluma to include homes offered at below-market rates through the Housing Land Trust of Sonoma County, adding to the 26 homes offered through the organization as workforce housing in the city’s Southgate neighborhood.

“We are housing our first responders, our teachers - people who are here serving our community, but because they chose a particular career that doesn’t pay enough to live where they work, they are priced out,” said Dev Goetschius, executive director of the Petaluma-based organization. “But these people are essential. We need these people in our city to make this a functional city.”

The Petaluma Planning Commission signed off on tweaks to land use rules at the site that would allow for smaller lots, as well as the subdivision map and a report showing minimal environmental impact, at its meeting last week.

The developer held a community meeting to discuss the project in July.

Expected to take around 18 months to build once approved, the Brody Ranch development is one of several housing projects to show activity in Petaluma in recent months.

Site work is underway at the Riverfront project off Hopper Street, which includes 134 homes, and 117 homes are planned for a development including the storied Cedar Grove property near the city’s downtown.

The housing trust will own the land on which affordable units are built at Brody Ranch, and will lease the land on a 99-year term to the homeowner. The system allows the organization to require the homes be sold to low- and moderate-income homeowners in the future.

Goetschius said the land was gifted to the trust, and that DeNova agreed to sell the homes themselves at a lower profit. Buyers will spend around half of what it might otherwise cost to purchase the home at a market rate, she said.

She praised DeNova for working with her organization on the approach, including agreeing to spread the units around the subdivision rather than clustering them all in one place.

The proposed new affordable units will be spread across 21 condominiums, a duplex and two single-family homes, restricted for sale to those earning between 80 percent and 120 percent of area median income, according to the project summary.

The single-family homes will range from 1,900 square feet to 2,350 square feet, on lots ranging from 3,300 to 7,100 square feet, according to the city’s project summary.

DeNova will also require a public hearing to review its site and architecture plans, as well as approval to remove some trees at the property. More trees will be planted as part of the development.