Gallaher 'Hudson Street' Development Met With Stiff Opposition, Few Obstacles

HEALDSBURG, CA — A proposed four-story senior housing development near Healdsburg's future SMART station drew sharp scrutiny as residents attacked its size, affordability, traffic impacts, and fit with the surrounding neighborhood during the Tuesday Healdsburg Planning Commission meeting.

The Hudson development would combine senior housing with 10 affordable units and six memory-care rooms on a roughly 3.6-acre property near Hudson, Mason, and Harmon streets.

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Gallaher Signature Living wants to build a continuing-care community where residents could move in while living independently and receive additional assistance.

But much of Tuesday's hearing centered on what neighbors and planning commissioners said the project would bring with it: a building approaching 60 feet in height, hundreds of new residents and visitors, additional traffic, overly-small studios, and amenities that include a pickleball court.

Residents repeatedly argued that the project's scale clashes with nearby one-story homes.

Anthony Baldas, who said he owns property next to the site, told commissioners his house would sit in the shadow of a building he had initially understood would stand about 40 feet tall.

Buck Nielsen, a Harmon Street resident, raised concerns about traffic and the curve where Hudson and Harmon streets meet, saying vehicles have repeatedly crashed into or damaged his property. He also called the project's scale "phenomenally out of hand."

Commissioners also zeroed in on the proposed building height. Affordable housing became another flashpoint.

The project proposes 10 affordable units, and residents criticized both their size and configuration.

Bruce Abramson urged planning commissioners to seek larger affordable apartments and a mix of one- and two-bedroom units rather than relying primarily on studios of roughly 372 to 385 square feet.

A Gallaher representative speaking on behalf of the project said the size was adequate. She cited twice having lived comfortably in a similar sized studio like her friends in the service industry had.

Abramson contrasted those apartments with market-rate units he said average about 1,681 square feet.

Other speakers argued the affordable component does too little to offset a project they characterized as luxury senior housing.

City housing staff said the affordable apartments would be available based on income qualifications rather than employment with Gallaher, despite "worker housing" language appearing on project drawings. The city would also apply its local preference policy when the apartments are marketed.

Commissioners, however, said they faced significant legal limits on how far they could push the developer.

City Attorney Leila Moshref-Danesh told commissioners that state density bonus law and court decisions sharply restrict local governments from forcing redesigns or eliminating project amenities when requested waivers or incentives meet state requirements.

The attorney said grounds for denying projects such as The Hudson are largely limited to health and safety problems supported by substantial evidence, impacts to historic resources, or conflicts with state or federal law.

Asked whether she knew of cases in which a city successfully defended denial of such a project based on health and safety concerns, Moshref-Danesh said she did not, calling it "a pretty difficult standard."

The scope of those laws have not yet been independently verified by Patch.

However, commissioners did cite noise ordinances that collide directly with plans for a pickleball court — one of the most persistent complaints voiced during the meeting.

Residents argued that a proposed court near existing homes would create excessive noise. One neighbor told commissioners he had raised the issue at three meetings and cited decibel measurements that he said would exceed local limits.

City representatives said the project would still have to comply with Healdsburg's noise ordinance.

A commissioner suggested moving the pickleball court into the project's interior courtyard, potentially replacing or reducing another amenity there, so the development would effectively buffer its own noise.

Gallaher representatives said they were willing to work with the city. They said similar communities limit court hours, do not light courts for nighttime play, and can use quieter surfaces, paddles, and other noise-reduction measures.

Wildfire evacuation also emerged as a major concern.

Gallaher representatives said each community operates under an emergency preparedness and evacuation plan, maintains contracts with commercial bus companies, and trains for multiple evacuation routes.

A company representative said the goal is to move residents before conditions reach the point of a mandatory evacuation.

Healdsburg Division Chief Fire Marshal Lance McDonald said the city would require an emergency response plan approved through the permitting process by fire, police, and other departments. He cautioned that evacuation decisions would have to account for conditions at the specific site and the needs of residents with limited mobility.

The project's senior housing model would include independent living, assisted living, and memory care.

Gallaher Signature Living CEO Page Ensor said residents could enter the community while independent and receive more assistance later without necessarily changing their basic living accommodations. The facility would employ non-medical staff and have a nurse available, but it would not operate with a medical director because it is a residential care model rather than a skilled nursing facility.

The six memory-care rooms would sit in the portion of the property zoned R1-6000. City staff said facilities with six or fewer residents are permitted there, and the memory-care rooms are classified as treatment rooms rather than units counted toward the project's residential density.

For residents who spent much of Tuesday urging the city to demand a different project, however, the larger question remained whether Healdsburg has enough authority under state housing law to force those changes.

Commissioners repeatedly acknowledged that tension while still pressing Gallaher for concessions — including a shorter building, changes to the affordable apartments, screening for electrical equipment, and a different location or operating plan for the pickleball court.