Battery storage proposed at Adobe Creek Golf Course in Petaluma

A long-delayed plan to reopen Adobe Creek Golf Course and build new homes in east Petaluma has new life thanks to an unlikely addition to the project — a battery storage facility.

Operators closed the 18-hole course at the beginning of 2017, citing insurmountable financial losses amounting to $200,000 annually. Since then, Richard Coombs, managing member of Adobe Investments, which owns the land, has presented various options for reopening the course that neighbors say has become an overgrown eyesore in their backyards.

The last proposal, which the Adobe Creek Homeowners Association backed in 2018, included reconfiguring the land for a nine-hole golf course, building 67 new homes along Frates Road and planting a vineyard.

That plan, Coombs said, hit a snag when 15 acres of the land proposed for new houses was discovered to lie outside the city’s urban growth boundary. Coombs also said a city requirement that most new developments designate 15% of their units as affordable was too onerous to work financially.

Almost ready to give up, Coombs said he was approached by Strata Solar, a North Carolina company specializing in large scale renewable energy projects. The company wants to use 10 acres of the Adobe Creek land — a portion outside of city limits and adjacent to a PG&E substation — to install the battery storage facility.

“I like wins,” said Coombs, who also has a stake in Rooster Run Golf Club and the Airport Business Center in Santa Rosa. “In the projects I’ve done that succeed, everyone wins.”

Besides the battery facility, the new plan would reduce the number of new homes to 51 — Coombs has proposed paying a fee into the city’s affordable housing fund in lieu of building onsite affordable units. It would keep the nine-hole course, but only if Coombs is able to renegotiate his lease with the city for Rooster Run Golf Club, which has taken a hit during the pandemic.

There is already some opposition among the 320 homeowners centered around the battery facility, which is designed to store energy for use during a power shutoff.

An anonymous flier, sent to Adobe Creek residents before a scheduled Strata Solar presentation this week, urged homeowners to oppose the development.

“Although this cutting-edge green technology may be the wave of the future, its application is not generally proposed in a residential setting,” the flier said. “Consider how you feel about being a guinea pig regarding the proximity to your neighborhood and impact to your property values.”

Will Mitchell, vice president of business development for Strata Solar, said the battery installation would be a quarter of a mile from the nearest homes and concealed behind a berm.

He said the 100-megawatt facility would hold enough electricity to power 80,000 homes during a power outage.

“This is absolutely the wave of the future,” he said. “It’s going to be done in a safe and reliable way.”

City Councilman Mike Healy, who represents Petaluma as an alternate to the Sonoma Clean Power board, said battery storage will help keep the lights on in the face of an increasingly fragile electric grid.

PG&E last year began initiating public safety power shutoffs during dry windy conditions when its equipment could spark a wildfire. During last month’s heat wave, state energy regulators imposed the first rolling blackouts in 20 years.

Batteries also help capture solar energy and deploy it during times when the sun isn’t shining, Healy said.

“If we want to increase solar in the region, we need serious storage,” he said. “This makes practical sense to increase solar panels.”

Healy said the homeowners are right to scrutinize the project’s safety, including fire suppression measures. But, he said he is looking forward to learning more about the project and Strata Solar.

“People deserve to have their questions answered on fire safety, I fully respect that,” he said. “If there is a good answer, it’s a real plus. I’m hoping there’s a satisfactory answer on that.”

John Moore, president of the Adobe Creek Homeowners Association, organized an online presentation to discuss the new development Sept. 9. Another presentation focused on the battery facility is scheduled for today.

He said the association board hasn’t taken a position yet, and there is not a vote of the membership scheduled. Moore said he is still gathering information about the proposal.

“You have to keep an open mind and try to find out what it’s all about,” he said. “It sounds very promising.”

(Contact Matt Brown at matt.brown@arguscourier.com.)

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