Plans for gym at Santa Rosa’s Summerfield Cinemas approved despite community pushback

The days appear numbered for Santa Rosa’s cherished independent film center as the city’s Zoning Administrator Thursday approved a permit allowing the conversion of Summerfield Cinemas to a Planet Fitness gym.

The proposal had been working its way through city planning processes for the past few months over opposition from a growing chorus of film buffs, neighboring business owners and residents.

But it faced few government hurdles and Thursday’s approval was largely a formality. The hearing had been delayed a month after planning officials raised initial concerns over the bulky design during a hearing in June.

The approval marked another sign of the end of an era for the theater, operated for the past 14 years under the business umbrella of the Tocchini family.

“We put all our love and care into that space since 2010 and before that,” said Dan Tocchini. “It’s sad. No question about that.”

Reached Thursday afternoon, Tocchini was informed by a reporter that conversion had been approved. He had already been put on notice by the new owners of the shopping center that a decision was imminent.

Tocchini said he’d yet to receive formal notice requiring the theater to close and he planned to continue operating “until we have to leave.”

Thursday’s decision dealt a blow to a campaign that had formed in recent weeks to save what many view as a fixture of the eastern Santa Rosa community.

Derek Stefan, a Santa Rosa native and actor who helped form Save Summerfield Citizen Committee, said the proposed Planet Fitness is incompatible with the atmosphere locally owned businesses have sought to cultivate there and the decision was disappointing.

“Summerfield is very special to me because it shows the art films, independent films, documentaries … and is the last theater in Santa Rosa to span all genres and appeal to a wide variety of audiences,” he said. “That will be lost if it’s replaced by the gym.”

The Summerfield theater in its current form dates back to the 1980s, but some cinema buffs can remember watching movies there as early as late 1960s.

About 30 people, including the theater’s manager and other cinema staffers, rallied outside Summerfield on Wednesday to drum up support ahead of the hearing. The group launched an online petition in early June that had been signed by more than 1,300 people and even purportedly reached famed Hollywood director Quentin Tarantino, who wrote that he saw the 1994 comedy “Clerks” there during a trip to the area.

Stefan said he wasn’t surprised the permit was approved but he hoped the growing opposition would make the new property owners reconsider their plans. He vowed to keep the campaign going and indicated that members are considering appealing Thursday’s decision and thinking of other ways to keep pressure on the owners.

“If the community is overwhelmingly against it, it could be putting this Planet Fitness organization into a very negative light if they choose to demolish this beloved landmark,” he said. “There are so many heartfelt experiences that people are talking about. We’re talking about generations of people, and I don’t feel that’s going to be the same for a Planet Fitness.”

Plans for Planet Fitness were first submitted to the city in September 2023 and appear to have come as the shopping center where the theater is located was in escrow with a limited liability corporation managed by George Arce Jr.

The project calls for renovating the 14,200-square-foot cinema building at 551 Summerfield Rd., upgrading plumbing, electrical and mechanical equipment, and installing new windows and wall siding on the street-front facade — work valued at $2.5 million.

Zoning Administrator Kristinae Toomians during a hearing on June 6 delayed a decision on an application for a minor conditional use permit after asking the project team to tweak its design to make it more compatible with the look of the surrounding commercial area.

Toomians described the exterior design as “bulky and heavy” and questioned whether the corporate signs and color scheme were appropriate.

Architects revised the plans, lowering the elevation of the proposed parapet and awning so that no features protrude over the roof and minimizing the size of the bright purple business sign and logo. The color scheme was updated to better match the natural landscape of the area.

The new design appeared to address Toomians’ concerns.

She said Thursday it blended in better with the other local businesses and signed off on the application, noting the city has little say over private business operations and the proposed use is permitted under city zoning and land-use regulations.

The gym is expected to be open daily from 5 a.m. to midnight Mondays, 24 hours Tuesday through Thursday, midnight to 10 p.m. Friday and 7 a.m. to 7 p.m. on weekends, according to the application.

It’s not known when it will open.

Arce, president and CEO of San Mateo-based Centers Dynamic Partners, and Jim Roachelle, of commercial real estate management firm EJR Group, who during Thursday’s hearing said he represented the ownership group, did not respond to a request for comment.

This is a developing story. Check back for more updates.

You can reach Staff Writer Paulina Pineda at 707-521-5268 or paulina.pineda@pressdemocrat.com. On X (Twitter) @paulinapineda22.