Gym cleared to take over Santa Rosa movie theater space, though potential compromise in the works

A group of movie enthusiasts and community members working to prevent Planet Fitness from taking over Summerfield Cinemas in east Santa Rosa lost an appeal Thursday.

But the group and an attorney representing the property owner say they’re discussing a potential deal that could preserve the independent theater.

It’s not yet clear what that compromise could look like.

Derek Stefan, a member of the Save Summerfield Citizens Committee, said the group met with the property owner to discuss alternative business models that would allow the theater to remain there, including dividing the shopping center into small parcels and selling off the theater building.

Plans for Planet Fitness were first submitted to the city in September 2023 and came as the Lakeside Shopping Center, where the theater is located, was in escrow with a new owner.

The Santa Rosa Planning Commission on Thursday upheld an earlier approval to allow a health and fitness center at 551 Summerfield Road. The decision came despite pleas from about 25 theater supporters, who turned out in person and more who wrote to the city asking the commission to spare the theater.

The Summerfield committee and other supporters described the theater as integral to the community’s fabric and said a large, corporate-owned gym would take away from the atmosphere cultivated there by locally owned businesses.

The campaign, in its July 29 appeal, said the gym was inconsistent with the land use and zoning designation for the property, which calls for limited retail services to serve the daily needs of residents in the immediate area.

Planning commissioners on Thursday were sympathetic to the community’s concerns and lauded the group’s attempt to prevent the theater from closing. But they countered, saying it wasn’t within their power to dictate what a private owner who complies with city regulations does with their property or business.

“I appreciate all the emotion connected with the loss of this theater,” Commissioner Patti Cisco said. “Since the pandemic I think we all have experienced the loss of some beloved business. I know I have and I assume others have, too. It’s hard.”

Cisco and the other commissioners said the scope of their work is limited to determining whether a proposed use is appropriate at a given location, and they concurred with staff that the project is consistent with city planning regulations.

Paul Seif, a member of the Summerfield campaign, said the decision was disappointing.

“We were disappointed that the Planning Commission didn’t see that the Lakeside District is a neighborhood place with small businesses that is not zoned for the type of business that Planet Fitness is,” he said. “By no means is it a small fitness club.”

Appellants say scope of business too large for area

Thursday’s hearing came about after Santa Rosa Zoning Administrator Kristinae Toomians on July 18 approved an application for a minor conditional-use permit to allow the Planet Fitness and a minor design review permit.

Trinity Winslow, owner of nearby business Aquariuz Sewing and a member of the Summerfield campaign, appealed.

In the appeal and in Thursday’s hearing, Winslow said businesses in neighborhood commercial districts like Lakeside are intended to be small, like local grocers, restaurants, barbers, cleaners and other retailers.

Winslow said a large gym is incompatible with the zoning district and argued other corporate-owned gyms in the city aren’t within neighborhood commercial zones.

Allowing Planet Fitness to move in will open the door to other chains relocating there and drive out the small businesses in the shopping center, she said.

“Approving this permit will be a green light to corporatize this neighborhood, to gut it of anything wholesome, raise rents and drive out other small businesses,” Winslow said.

Traffic a concern

The Summerfield committee also disputed the validity of a traffic study conducted by the property owner that found the gym would generate fewer than 50 trips during peak morning and afternoon hours.

The study was faulty and based on outdated data that didn’t take into account Planet Fitness’ popularity and the traffic from outside the neighborhood it would attract, Winslow and the group said in their appeal.

The group, using membership data from Planet Fitness, estimated the gym would generate 14,400 trips per week — 160 trips during peak hours.

Planning staff in a report prepared ahead of the meeting said the traffic memo was prepared by a licensed engineer and reviewed by the city’s traffic engineers.

Staffers wrote in the report that the appellants didn’t provide documentation to counter the validity of the traffic memo or to show the gym would generate substantially more traffic than the existing use.