Photo Credit: City of San Ramon Agenda / Windflower Fields Rendering
(SAN RAMON, CA.) – The developers behind the Windflower Fields housing project are on a much tighter deadline after the San Ramon Planning Commission rejected a multi-year extension request. At the July 7 meeting, the planning commission reviewed a timeline extension request for the proposed development at 2701 Hooper Drive, the 3.47-acre site formerly home to The Golden Skate Roller Rink.
Photo Credit: Google Images / The Golden Skate
Originally approved back in December 2021, the project is slated to bring 47 for-sale townhomes and 16 accessory dwelling units (ADUs) to the area, but it has faced a series of delays and has yet to begin construction.
It is the latest setback for a project that has struggled to get off the ground. The development was originally given a three-year window, followed by an 18-month extension in December 2024. Just weeks after the extension expired in June, the applicant returned to the city asking for an additional four and a half years to secure construction permits and address geological issues on the property.
Photo Credit: YouTube
According to Bryan Wenter, the land use attorney representing the developer, progress has hit a major roadblock. A landslide was discovered on an adjacent property to the west shortly after the townhomes were first approved, creating an unexpected environmental hurdle for the site. The landslide risk has completely stalled progress and Wenter told the commission the environmental threat has scared off buyers, causing two separate purchase contracts with home builders to fall through.
Wenter argued for the maximum four and a half year extension allowed under state law, claiming that making his client return to the city for smaller extensions would waste both his client’s time and city resources. “We’re working as diligently as we can to be able to make sure the project is implemented. And rather than run the risk that we are back here again doing the exact same thing in a year and a half, I would simply ask that you grant the balance of the four and a half years that the impact provides for,” Wenter said.
Rather than granting a multi-year extension, the planning commission held the developer to a strict timeline. The commission voted 3-0 to deny the major extension, offering a shorter 18-month window that sets a new deadline of December 7, 2027.
Video Credit: YouTube
Commissioners emphasized that the shorter window is about accountability for a property that has sat empty for nearly five years. They insisted that keeping the pressure on with a firm deadline is the best way to force real progress on the site and give local residents some clarity on the future of the lot.
The developers now have until December 2027 to solve the site’s landslide risks and finally break ground.
If you have any questions or comments, please email me at kathleen.p@lead4earth.org or comment below.
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