The San Ramon Planning Commission is set Tuesday to review conceptual stages of a potential residential development on a property on Westside Drive purchased by the Northern California Laborers union decades ago.

City staff are asking commissioners to provide them and the applicant with feedback and initial thoughts on the development plan concept review application for the proposed 25-unit housing project, which would consist of 21 single-family homes and four below-market-rate accessory dwelling units (ADUs) in two-story buildings on 20 acres.

"The site is surrounded by rolling grassy hills and single-family residences to the north, an existing Laborer's Union training facility and Centennial Park to the south, single-family residences to the east and open space to the west," city assistant planner Analisa Garcia wrote in a staff report prepared for the upcoming meeting.

The parcel in question is part of a subdivision of the 352 acres on Westside Drive purchased by the laborers' union in the 1970s, and has been used for cattle grazing. The other portions of the subdivision that was approved in 2020 include a 69-acre parcel designated for open space and future park use and a lot hosting a training facility for the union to the south.

The parcel is located on a hillside, making portions of it undevelopable according to city standards and zoning requirements. However, city staff note that the housing project would only be built on a portion of the 20 acres identified as one of two housing opportunity sites in the current General Plan, and falling under a hillside residential designation.

While the other housing opportunity site on the property is designated for single-family low density use, the proposed project would be located entirely within the hillside residential portion, according to Garcia's staff report. However, given the parcel's designation as open space under the Westside Specific Plan, a specific plan amendment would be required in order to move forward with development and make the specific plan consistent with the General Plan.

The development plan concept review application and upcoming discussion at the Planning Commission's next regular meeting are early and exploratory steps in moving the proposed development forward.

"The intent of the Concept Review is to understand the physical constraints, recognize the challenges of the subject property, and provide initial comments on the proposed development," Garcia wrote.

Following the upcoming preliminary discussion on the proposed project, city staff and officials would require additional studies, details, and project plans if the applicant elects to proceed with the formal application process.

The San Ramon Planning Commission is set to meet at 6 p.m. on Tuesday (June 6). The agenda is available here.