After hearing from both developer and city staff, as well as an hour of public comment and their own internal discussion, the Planning Commission voted 6-0 to support Community Development Director Scott Duiven’s denial of a permit for the expansively and expensively remodeled Honor Mansion.
The Honor Mansion has long been a cornerstone of Healdsburg’s B&B attractions, with a dozen rooms on a large parcel at 891 Grove St. Longtime owner Steve Fowler sold it in 2020 for about $5 million to a group including Patrick and Jonathan Wilhelm, whose family built the Mayacama Golf Club, and Silicon Valley executive Craig Ramsey.
Ramsey was also a partner in the development of The Matheson restaurant across from the Plaza, which also ran into controversy over the scale of its operation.
According to reporting in the Press Democrat, the new owners told the city in 2021 they would operate “as an 11 bedroom bed-and-breakfast with various amenities,” including a putting green and pickle ball courts.
Over the following year, at least five meetings between city planning staff and the developers took place, and on Sept. 1 the Wilhelms applied for a conditional use permit for a “private recreational park and swim club” at the former B&B.
Now to be named (inexplicably) The Ruse, it was to include a 2,392-square-foot outdoor pavilion with a full kitchen, bar area and lounge that could serve beer, wine and spirits on-site.
These were to be among many recreational features of their ambitious redesign, including bocce and pickle ball courts, a badminton and yoga lawn, an extensive putting green, a redesigned swimming pool and other features of a luxury resort. (The developers have since chosen not to serve spirits in concessions to the city.)
Application Rejected
On Sept. 16, Duiven rejected the use permit application, saying the proposal most accurately met the Healdsburg Land Use Code as a “private club, fraternal lodge and meeting hall,” a more intensive use not permitted in the residential zone R-1-6,000.
Patrick Wilhelm then filed an appeal to that ruling, which came before the planning commission on Tuesday, Oct. 25. His argument was in part that since the three-acre lot is split into two planning zones, residential and mixed use, the more intensive uses of their project should be allowed as being compatible with the mixed use Grove Mixed Use (GMU) zone.
Jonathan Wilhelm and attorney Erin Carlstrom also attempted to sway the commission, and more than a few of the public comments applauded the recreational opportunities that The Ruse could provide for those who could afford to join.
But their arguments failed to sway any of the six sitting members of the commission, who also rejected their claim that due process had not been followed and the city staff was somehow to blame, arguing that the lack of clarity in some definitions meant they were absolved from misunderstanding. While the planning commissioners took pains to complement the quality of the remodel that had been achieved—which may have cost more than double what they had originally spent for the Honor Mansion—they gave no points for the quality of their appeal.
Appeal Denied
“Lots of terms and provisions in lots of ordinances rely on their common meanings,” said chair Luks. “The mere fact that something is undefined doesn’t mean it’s essentially a free-fire zone for anything anyone wants to build.”
Luks also pointed out that the applicant’s argument “is fatally inconsistent—the definition is too uncertain for the development director to say it doesn’t fit, but plenty specific enough for them to make the argument their development falls within that definition.”
“The director decided correctly, this heavier use is not permitted in the residential zone,” said commissioner Tom Gerlach, zooming in from Seattle.
The decision doesn’t quite put The Ruse out of business. According to the city’s report, “Regardless of the Planning Commission’s decision on October 25th, the applicant is currently permitted to operate the Honor Mansion as a 13-room B&B open to the public (with no private club), consistent with its current legal non-conforming status.” The Honor Mansion was granted that B&B status when the property was still in the county, and retained it when Healdsburg annexed the Grove Street corridor in 2002.
Duivin himself also clarified that the decision was “solely about the classification of the proposed use and not a decision on the conditional use permit application itself.”
Inquiry has been made to Erin Carlstrom, the lawyer representing the Wilhelms, to find out if they plan to appeal the planning commission’s decision to the city council. They have 10 calendar days to do so; a response had not been received by press time.
It marked the first meeting of the planning commission without Jerry Eddinger since 1996; the local contractor, former mayor and city councilperson resigned from the commission on Oct. 13, though Duiven said he had been talking about leaving for some months. His appointed term was set to end June 30, 2024.
Eddinger is posted as the general contractor for remodeling underway at 891 Grove St., which means at the very least he would be recused on this topic even were he still to be a commissioner. But his premature resignation strongly suggests his role working on the project was at the very least problematic.
Eddinger was not available for comment; his office said he “has been out of town on a scheduled trip and won’t return until 10/28.”
At the end of Tuesday’s planning commission meeting, chair Luks said that while the commission owes Ettinger a debt of thanks, “we should wait until the smoke clears to thank him for his long service at some future date.”
