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Discussions on plans to redevelop the sprawling office park formerly owned by Chevron and reacquired by Sunset Development last year continued at the San Ramon Planning Commission, with officials from the company providing the latest information on their vision to reimagine the nearly 100 acres within Bishop Ranch as a key part of the city's core.
Sunset President and CEO Alex Mehran Jr. presented at the most recent commission meeting on July 18 the latest company vision for "The Orchards" — the name announced back in April for the 92-acre portion of Bishop Ranch formerly known as Chevron Park prior to the energy corporation's downsizing of its San Ramon presence last September.
The latest presentation saw developers seek to address concerns and feedback raised at the previous commission meeting on April 13, which saw input from commissioners and the public on the density and layout of the proposed project, as well as a buffer around Inverness Park and the possibility of single-story residences rather than multi-story buildings along the perimeter of the site while increasing density along Bollinger Canyon Road and Interstate 680.
Mehran introduced the night's discussion with the state and local context behind the vision for the ambitious mixed-use development with hundreds of homes along with retail and other commercial uses proposed for the site at 6001 Bollinger Canyon Road.
"Between the housing shortage, the changes in life that have been created by the pandemic, the economy, climate change and all the other things that are impacting our life in California, we are certainly at a pivotal moment," Mehran said. "And I just want to salute the city of San Ramon for always being action-oriented and creating opportunities to advance our city for our residents, and this is certainly one of them and we're proud to be a part of that tonight."
Ambitions for the project were bolstered and inspired by other large-scale projects aimed at creating a central downtown core in the growing city, such as CityWalk, City Village and Dougherty Valley, Mehran said, as Sunset Development officials continue a years-long quest to reenvision Bishop Ranch as a whole.
"For the past 10 years, we've been pivoting Bishop Ranch from being one of the world's premier office parks to becoming the heart of San Ramon, one of the world's best suburban cities," Mehran said.
"To us this means that we protect, preserve, and enhance our existing assets — our beautiful landscape, public realm and our Class A office buildings, and the new City Center, which is becoming a socialization hub for our city," Mehran said. "It also means we leverage what San Ramon is — a safe and high-quality city with great planning and top notch education and services."
Mehran presented preliminary plans for the layout of the proposed new Orchards mixed-use project made up of a range of residential, retail and office spaces that would be built on the former site of Chevron Park before the company's downsizing of its presence in San Ramon.
"It provides an accessible retail core along the primary artery on Bollinger, with experiential retail in the heart of San Ramon where it is certain to be successful," Mehran said. "It provides our best office projects nestled within key sites."
Mehran said that following feedback from commissioners that night, he was hoping to present a more detailed vision of the proposed project at the next discussion.
After questions and clarifications about the proposed makeup of the mixed-use project, Commissioner Eric Wallis said he was looking forward to seeing the vision more visually fleshed out.
"If you're looking for feedback, I for one would appreciate a little bit more granular level picture of what you're referring to so we can get a better idea," Wallis said.
One clarification made by Sunset officials was that a proposed seven-story building in the center of the proposed project would consist of retail on the ground level with housing on the remaining upper levels, rather than being dedicated to one use or the other.
Commissioner Dave Curtis asked why Sunset Development was seeking a mixed-use development rather than more heavily emphasizing retail and commercial space, with calls to enhance retail options in the city by numerous residents coming in the wake of approved plans to shift the Marketplace Shopping Center to a mixed-use development that has been criticized as stretching the designation by focusing more heavily on housing.
Stephanie Hill, vice president of development and construction at Bishop Ranch, said that she and other officials with the company had been sensitive to this point while developing plans for the proposed Orchards project.
"A piece of this feedback we've received from the community is there's really a desire for a different type of retail," Hill said. "Everyone loves City Center, but there's also been feedback about perhaps having a different mix of tenants and having uses that are perhaps more retail or neighborhood oriented. So through our discussions we've talked about perhaps on the ground floor, it's essentially florists or pharmacies or kind of corner markets, where it's just a different type of retail."
Hill said that in addition to feedback from residents and city officials, the idea was inspired by Santana Row, which serves as a retail hub on the ground level with housing in the upper levels.
In the first public comment of the evening, former San Ramon mayor Bill Clarkson applauded the proposed project for meeting the current and future needs of the city, but criticized the lack of information that had been available to the public ahead of the night's meeting, with no staff report or presentation on the proposal included in the packet for that night's agenda.
"I think it's unacceptable — I'm talking to staff — it's unacceptable that there be information presented this evening for the first time to us as residents and to the commissioners without it having been published Friday and discernable and accessible to residents to read and review prior to the weekend," Clarkson said.
"It's unacceptable and it's disrespectful to each one of you that you're being asked to review material for the first time tonight on the fly," he continued. "You should have received this earlier. I don't put this on the applicant. I put this on staff having expectations or I'm going to put it on you guys to give clear signals to our staff that if information is unavailable the Friday before to the residents and to yourselves, they have to postpone the meeting. We need the opportunity to review material in advance and think about it thoughtfully."
Brent Van Brocklin, a Dougherty Valley High School alumnus and current graduate student in real estate development and design at UC Berkeley, said he was excited about the proposed project but urged officials to push for a higher density option with 2,800 housing units rather than the 2,600 being proposed that night.
"I believe what our area needs is the high density alternative," Van Brocklin said. "Not only does it allow for more foot traffic for our city's businesses, but it also activates the space and goes above and beyond to meet San Ramon's RHNA needs."
"With more taxpayers coming into our city, I think this will allow more money to go into our schools more funding for improving streets and our emergency services so I urge you and the community to recommend an alternative," he added.
Commissioner Gary Alpert asked city staff to work with Sunset Development officials to find a time to gain more information and specific visions for the project following feedback that night, adding that concerns raised by residents around infrastructure, schools, and utilities would be addressed by the commission during review and discussions later in the process — which he emphasized is still in its early stages, and not moving at a rapid pace.
"I think we all appreciate how slow and methodical and incremental we're getting this feedback," Alpert said.
