Elnoka Housing Development concerns? Attend East Rec Town Hall, March 23, 5-7 pm

This article was submitted by Oakmont resident, Betsy Herbert.

Did you know that in March 2024, the OVA Board signed a legal contract agreeing to support a future housing project on the 69-acre Elnoka wildland bordering Oakmont Village? “What,” you ask, “Why didn’t I know about this?”

Let me explain . . . While this housing project was not yet fleshed out in March 2024, OVA board members were undoubtedly aware that any such development would raise serious, longterm public safety and quality of life issues for many Oakmont residents. And yet, the board negotiated and signed the legal agreement without holding a public hearing or putting it to a community-wide vote.

Why? Because, like any contract, this was a trade-off. In exchange for the board agreeing to support this undefined project, the developer agreed to limit the number of housing units to “approximately 272” and to build — at its own expense — an emergency egress/access road from Stonebridge Rd., across Elnoka, out to Melita Rd.

Good deal? Board members knew that Oakmont needed another evacuation route. They apparently thought that they were getting such a good deal, they didn’t want to jeopardize it by letting Oakmont residents be part of that decision. So they signed a contract agreeing to support a housing project — which would have longterm consequences for OVA residents — with only a sketchy awareness of what that project might actually entail.

But what about these issues . . . In November 2025 after the developer’s housing plans were finally submitted to the city planning department, individual Oakmont residents began reviewing the project that the OVA board has agreed to support. The group identified the following issues:

• Increased wildfire risk from building in a fire-prone area
• Increased insurance rates from building in a fire-prone area
• Loss of wildfire buffer for firefighting equipment
• Traffic congestion on Highway 12 from 300+ more cars
• New emergency evacuation route exits to an area that burned in 2020 Glass Fire
• Obstructed views from Oakmont Village, Trione-Annadel State Park and scenic Highway 12
• Habitat degradation for threatened species
• Construction noise and dust for years to come.

Ironically, these issues are remarkably similar to those raised by the OVA Board back in 2021 — at the behest of Oakmont residents — regarding the last major housing proposal for Elnoka, which eventually failed to be approved. In some cases, the impacts are now worse, due to increasing wildfire frequency and strength.

Fast forward to now . . .  the Oakmont Village Association newsletter urges Oakmont residents to support the new proposed housing project, without mentioning these serious issues. The newspaper presents a one-sided positive spin on the development, while dismissing its looming problems.

Raising awareness. A group of Oakmont residents known as POSSE (Protect Our Safety, Save Elnoka) has researched the issues raised by this Elnoka housing development. POSSE has posted a website aiming to raise awareness about the housing development’s impacts, which could have a longterm impact on Oakmont’s public safety and quality of life.

Three things you can do:

1. Check out POSSE website www.posse4all.net to learn more about the issues.
2.  Attend the Monday, March 23 city Town Hall meeting at Oakmont’s East Rec Center, 5-7 pm; and speak up about the issues that concern you.
3. Spread the word … everyone in Oakmont should know about this plan to develop Elnoka, including its potential impacts on our community and our region.

Betsy Herbert, Ph.D.
Oakmont Village resident

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NOTE: For recent OVA and City of Santa Rosa notifications about this project, see:

• https://oakmontvillage.com/article/general-manager-neighboring-sesr-housing-project-submits-plans-to-city-includes-eva/
• https://oakmontvillage.com/article/support-urged-for-burbanks-sesr-development/
• https://www.srcity.org/2568/Elnoka-Senior-Community

According to the City website, “Community members may submit written comments at any time to elnoka@srcity.org, which will be included in the project file.“