What’s next for Maxwell Farms Park?
A BMX bike track, Frisbee golf course, tennis court, lights for the playing fields, an off-leash dog park, and nothing at all. Those were some of the ideas for Maxwell Farms Regional Park to emerge at the initial community meeting looking at updating the master plan for the 85-acre area.
The process will continue through April. “We’re in the gathering phase,” said project head Scott Wilkinson of Sonoma County Parks. A draft plan will emerge as “ideas rise to the top.”
The last master plan amendment, in the mid 1990s, led to the construction of the Boys and Girls Club building, a new baseball field, the skate park, and a renovated play area. To the west of the developed area is a natural riparian area, protected by a conservation easement stipulated by the Maxwell family, which donated the land.
The easement prohibits anything but agricultural use in the protected area, which also offers one of the Valley’s few points of public access to Sonoma Creek. Ideas voiced at the January 14 meeting included a demonstration garden, and related low-impact, educational use for the area.
Most ideas focused on improving or adding to the developed portion of the park.
“There are really two characters to the property,” said project head Scott Wilkinson of Sonoma County Parks. “There is the more developed front, and the ‘back 40,’ where nothing can detract from the openness and rural character.”
Supervisor Susan Gorin said she initiated the plan review after being approached by constituents and interest groups with varied ideas. “Demographically, the park serves the widest range and greatest number of folks in the Valley,” she said. “Its future must reflect both the needs and the interests of the greatest number of people.”
