The San Ramon Planning Commission is set to consider a second extension request by the developers for a planned housing project set to replace the longstanding Golden Skate rink, which closed last year following its manager’s death.
If approved at Tuesday’s meeting, the 18-month extension being recommended by city staff is unlikely to be the last one sought by developers from the Danville-based Land Advisors Organization as they continue seeking to contend with landslide conditions on a neighboring property that are now impacting the site at 2701 Hooper Drive.
“Unfortunately, the owner of the Preserve project does not yet appear to have mitigated the effects of this slide or done anything to ensure the slope will be stable in the future, affecting the implementation of the Windflower Fields project,” the applicants’ attorney Bryan Wenter wrote in a June 3 letter to the city.
“The landslide—which is currently the responsibility of the Preserve project to address but could become the responsibility of the (Geologic Hazard Abatement District) when it accepts responsibility for the landslide property—has delayed our processing of the Improvement Plans, while we continue to explore remediation and mitigation strategies,” he continued.
While the request is for a four and a half-year extension, city staff are recommending an 18-month extension instead, noting that the applicant would still be eligible for additional time pending the planning commission’s approval of future extension requests.
That’s the same recommendation that the commission approved in 2024, when the applicant first sought a six-year extension of the original project approval that was granted by the city in 2021.
Nonetheless, city staff noted that the applicant can continue to seek up to six years of total extension time, with the recommended 18-month extension set to “allow the applicant time to demonstrate progress toward constructing the project” before returning to the planning commission.
Improvement plans have been submitted since the first 18-month extension was approved in 2024. While further progress on the project has come to a halt amid landslide mitigation efforts, Wenter wrote that the next steps for developers would be to continue working with geotechnical engineers and their recommendations for rough grading.
Should the commission decline to approve the extension, the applicant would lose the entitlements secured in the project’s initial approval and its vesting tentative map would expire.
The San Ramon Planning Commission is set to meet at 6 p.m. Tuesday (July 7). The agenda is available here.
In other business
*The commission is set to hold a study session on the proposed Olive + Oak project for 3150 to 3180 Crow Canyon Place, aimed at providing feedback on the project before its formal applications come up for review by the city.
The project would consist of 119 townhomes with 16 optional ADUs for sale, and a 45-unit affordable apartment complex with homes for rent.
*Assistant Planner Lucas Haase is set to provide a year-in-review presentation from the city’s planning department.
