Council opts against Patten Street police station

The Sonoma City Council decided at its March 21 meeting against permanently locating the Sonoma Police Station in the old fire station building on Patten Street and Broadway.
Councilmembers Joanne Sanders, Ken Brown and August Sebastiani had raised the Patten Street police station idea at council’s March 7 meeting, citing such advantages as its high visibility compared to the current police station (and accompanying city council chambers) at the north end of First Street West.
But on March 21, Sanders opted to stick with plans to retrofit the existing police station to meet seismic safety standards.
She made a motion to spend $4 million in redevelopment money to retrofit the current building, which was supported by Steve Barbose and Mayor Stanley Cohen. Brown and Sebastiani were opposed.
Sanders said that even though she hears all of the emotional reasons as to why the police station should remain at the Patten Street location – that’s not how she makes decisions and the city’s staff members’ time could be put to better use.
In the study session that preceded the council meeting, Wayne Wirick, the city’s development services administrator, presented council with a model of the Patten Street location armed with parking spaces and multiple interchangeable buildings of different shapes and sizes in an effort to explore more architectural possibilities for the site; including underground parking; but nothing quite fit. Parking appeared to be the stumbling issue.
Councilman Barbose said, “Spending more money on Patten Street just doesn’t make sense.”
Councilman Sebastiani said, “I have been overwhelmed by the outcry from the people in our community wanting to promote a visible police station – I can’t let it slip away.”
Councilman Ken Brown said that people need to see the police station.
“Folks want a visible police presence with their police station – we need more dialogue and we need to explore more possibilities,” he said.
Mayor Stanley Cohen let it be known that he had serious concerns about delaying the issue any further, especially with unknown issues such as underground parking that might be needed at Patten Street.