In Santa Rosa, a long-simmering development fight is back on the front burner. San Jose developer Swenson has revived a proposal to build a 162-unit townhouse neighborhood on a nearly 14-acre parcel that includes the historic Carrillo Adobe, forcing the city to wrestle with a blunt question: Do housing targets outweigh preservation of what many locals consider sacred ground?
Descendants of the Carrillo family, local historians and Native leaders argue the site holds far more than a crumbling 19th-century adobe. They say the land contains archaeological layers tied to a prehistoric Southern Pomo village and potential burial sites. Supporters of the project, meanwhile, point to Santa Rosa’s housing shortfall and state planning mandates, setting up an unusually raw public clash at a place many residents call the birthplace of Santa Rosa.
What Swenson Wants To Build
Swenson’s preliminary concept, dubbed Creekside Village Townhomes, would scatter 162 three-story townhouses across much of the property while preserving the Carrillo Adobe inside an approximately 4-acre park. About 10 percent of the units would be reserved as below-market homes.
The land is owned by Green Valley Corp. of San Jose, which does business as Swenson. Company representatives have told neighbors they are evaluating ways to protect views of the landmark structure, according to reporting by the SF Chronicle.
Neighbors And Descendants Push Back
At an early neighborhood meeting, hundreds of residents and preservation advocates turned out to see the concept plans and did not hold back. Many raised alarms about the proposed height and density of the townhomes and how close the new buildings would sit to the fragile adobe…