Planning Commission OKs New Condo Complex

The Planning Commission unanimously approved a plan to build 116 condominiums on an empty four-acre lot off of Norris Canyon Road.

Blueprints for show that nine of the condos would come with nearby garage-like work spaces. The idea is to give people a home near where they work.

The project at 4700 Norris Canyon Road won't need City Council approval because it won't have any significant environmental impact, according to Planning Commission Chairman Harry Sachs.

Danville resident Paul Baldacci, of Castle Companies, owns the property slated for the complex, which lies just north of the Iron Horse Trail. 

Baldacci's co-worker Dan Boatwright said his father – former state Assemblyman and later Senator Daniel E. Boatwright – helped secure railroad land in the 1970s for what is now the Iron Horse Trail.

The developers plan to add a small park at the trailhead, complete with benches, a tree grove and other shady landscaping to give people using the trail a comfortable place to rest.

"So I've kind of come full circle to help complete something my dad started," said Boatwright.

The construction start date has not been determined. 

St. James Place has been lauded by the city and planning commissioners as a smart development.

"I'm very proud of this project, and I think you'll be a leader for future projects because you went above and beyond," said commissioner Donner Kerger. "Personally, as a commissioner, I appreciate it because we'll hold this project up to future developers and say, 'Look at this, this is how it's done.' "

Sachs echoed those sentiments and commended developers for accommodating many of the public's requests, such as providing electrical conduits in case anyone wants to install solar panels.

The complex will include condos ranging from 945 to 1,063 square feet and priced from the mid $200,000s to low $300,000s.

Ten percent of the units must be affordable homes, according to the city. That helps San Ramon meet a state requirement to build a certain number of homes affordable to low-income earners.

Local Sierra Club chapter President Jim Gibbon said he's concerned about whether the voltage of the powerlines is safe for people living beneath the lines.

For about four decades until 2005, the site housed a cement plant. The property was sold to Castle Companies in 2006 and an application to develop it was submitted in 2009.

Boatwright said several tests showed that the soil is clean and ready for residential development.

St. James Place would lie within the North Camino Ramon Specific Plan – a pending blueprint to transform the heart of San Ramon into a bustling work-live district.

St. James' success or failure could set a precedent for future work-live development, commissioners said.

About 10 people attended the hourlong meeting.

To read more about the project, view the staff report here.

Correction: A previous version of this story mistakenly said that there's a state requirement for cities to make 25 percent of homes affordable to low-income earners. That part has been edited out.