Beyond curbs, gutters and sidewalks

While we’ve all been very focused on the sidewalks in the Springs lately (or lack thereof) there is a lot more in store for the redevelopment area. The list includes more affordable housing, housing rehabilitation assistance, more parking and improved traffic, a public plaza, public art, health care facilities and more.
The recently drafted and approved Strategic Plan envisions a wide variety of improvement projects that primarily address street environment, housing and businesses. In support of these three primary strategies are plans to support and enhance the community character and identity, the natural environment, recreation, programs, services and neighborhood organizations.
If this sounds like a lot of fancy rhetoric to you, pay closer attention. For those of you who pay taxes on your personal or business property in the redevelopment area this is about how that tax money will be spent in the future. It’s all been laid out in a document called the “Sonoma Valley Redevelopment Project Area Strategic Plan”. Approved in March by the Sonoma County Board of Supervisors, it will be used not only by residents and businesses in the RDA but also by real estate developers and investors as well as they look for guidance on potential projects. A fold-out poster will be available soon which will provide a summary of the plan but if you would like to see it in its entirety there is a copy available at the Chamber of Commerce office at 651A Broadway and on the county’s Web site at http://www.sonoma-county.org/cdc/rd_sv_strategicplan.htm. You can also call Boris Sztorch, the Redevelopment Manager at 707.565.7500 and request a copy.
It’s important to note that this is not a “final” plan by any means. It is merely a set of guidelines about how the money should be spent based on a “Vision for the Future” that is the basis of the plan. It was created with community input and so it’s meant to be a reflection of what the Springs community wants. It’s designed to be adaptable to changing priorities and circumstances.
How much will this all cost and where exactly is this money coming from? Those are the very questions that the RAC (Redevelopment Advisory Committee) and the County is wrestling with right now. As you may have heard recently, the current Redevelopment Plan established in 1984 has used up the available funds allowed by the plan, including the approximately six million dollars set aside for sidewalks. In order to come up with the remaining funds to complete this project (an additional $7 million), as well as additional funding for the improvements called out in the Strategic Plan, the county is requesting that the “cap” be raised to a sufficient level.
This is an incredibly involved process that takes about 18 months from start to finish. The bottom line? We hope to have the cap raised by this time next year.
The bad news is that we can’t fund any new non-housing projects until then but the good news is that once it’s approved it opens of a whole new world of possibilities for the Springs.