Redevelopment money to help fund Las Palmas subdivision

At its March 1 meeting, the Sonoma Valley Redevelopment Advisory Committee voted unanimously to loan $300,000 in redevelopment funds to Las Palmas, a 53-home subdivision with 11 affordable units proposed next to Sonoma Charter School.
The loan request will now go to Sonoma County Board of Supervisors for final approval.
The funding would come from the Sonoma Valley Redevelopment Area, a roughly two-mile-long stretch along Highway 12 in which most of the property tax goes to redevelopment coffers. Under state law, 20 percent of redevelopment monies must go towards affordable housing.
Bob Branson, a county employee responsible for Sonoma County’s affordable housing plan and Scott Johnson, spokesman for the Las Palmas Affordable Housing Project, spoke on behalf of the project.
“The Las Palmas project… will be a development on an underused piece of property and will provide 11 affordable-housing units and other units priced to accommodate the needs of the community, like school teachers and sheriff’s deputies,” Johnson said. “All of the homes will be in private ownership and will be contributing to the property tax base.”
The Las Palmas affordable housing development project is expected to cost $21 million.
The Las Palmas Affordable Housing Project has successfully requested and received recommendation for two amounts of funding from the Redevelopment Agency to go to the Board of Supervisors; one previously for $760,000 and now $300,000.
These requested funds will be used to retrofit and improve the “underperforming” public sewer main system that serves the Las Palmas site and will be disbursed within the loans used for the prospective home buyers; therefore all of the funding will be paid back from the homebuyers; over time and with interest.
In other business:
• Schools funded: The redevelopment advisory committee agreed with Nora Flood, Principal of the Sonoma Charter School, who proposed that $6,073 be spent on the following: visitor signage and video security cameras at Sonoma Charter School, outdoor solar lighting at Flowery School, and umbrellas and umbrella stands at El Verano School.
The funding would come from the $6,441 that’s left over from a grant of $39,953 in redevelopment funds given in October 2004, to the Sonoma Valley Unified School District by the Sonoma County Board of Supervisors.
• Plan approved: The redevelopment advisory committee voted unanimously to adopt the final draft of the “strategic plan” for the Sonoma Valley Redevelopment Area.
The draft plan is now a “living document” that describes an approximately two-mile stretch along the Highway 12 corridor involving a combination of residential, retail, recreation and resort uses. It was developed with community input to set a course to improve the overall quality of life in the area. Providing affordable housing is a key factor in the redevelopment plan.
• Renter sought:”We are looking for someone over the age of 18 to sit on our committee; someone who lives in the redevelopment area and is a renter,” said redevelopment manager Boris Sztorch. “This person’s term would last until November when the position will be up for re-election.”