Connecting the Dots ~ Fred Allebach

Fred Allebach Fred Allebach is a member of the City of Sonoma’s Community Services and Environmental Commission, and an Advisory Committee member of the Sonoma Valley Groundwater Sustainability Agency. Fred is a member of Sonoma Overlook Trail Stewards, as well as Sonoma Valley Housing Group and Transition Sonoma Valley.

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Donald Street neighbors feel left out of Springs planning

Posted on December 14, 2019 by Fred Allebach

It’s no secret that the Donald Street neighborhood group, Friends of North Sonoma (FoNS), is not satisfied with zoning alternatives proposed by the Springs Specific Plan (SSP). As a result, the group asked to address the county Planning Commission. This request was granted, and  the commission held a midday information-only agenda item to allow members of FoNS to air their grievances.

When it became clear that there was a packed house – primarily with people objecting to the inclusion of the Donald Street area in the SSP – and that many public comment cards were filled out, two commissioners, Paula Cook and Cameron Mauritson, objected that they thought the commission had only agreed to a half hour for this SSP item, a 15-minute presentation and 15 minutes of comments. Chair Greg Carr had previously let it be known that comments would be limited to two minutes each.

After Cook and Mauritson complained that the time allotment for the SSP item was longer than they had agreed to, the county attorney explained that this was a public, Brown Act meeting, and that anyone could comment on the agenda item. Cook and Mauritson expressed their displeasure for the duration of the SSP item. Members of the public who had driven from Sonoma to make  a two-minute comment were left with the impression that some commissioners were too annoyed to even listen, and didn’t really care.  

Paul Rockett, representing FoNS, gave an information-packed and well-researched presentation, laying out why FoNS believes the process was unfair. Standing out as the chief complaint was the assertion that the neighborhood was not properly notified of the SSP process. Donald Street neighbors said they did not find out about the SSP until 2018. Rockett noted that the first Sun article on the SSP was in October of 2018; however, my first Sun SSP piece was actually in 2016.

 Other points made by Rockett and FoNS members had to do with the character of the area, that it was already built out, that streets and water infrastructure are inadequate for higher density, that the area was rural, and that higher density implied that existing properties along Verano Avenue would be bought, bulldozed, and made into apartment buildings. The alternatives presented were to remove the Donald area from the SSP or to lower the zoning density.

 Chair Carr noted at the end of the presentation that in spite of apparent notification issues, FoNS has already had a year since 2018 to be involved, and there was still plenty  of time, years in fact, to be involved in shaping the SSP. County Planning staff Milan Nevajda said that the SSP was “very much an open book,” and that the plan “is able to be evolved.”

 A core tension all along in the SSP process has been zoning density. From the first SSP community meeting, affordable housing and preserving Springs cultural diversity have been, by  consensus, SSP top priorities. Yet when it comes time to putting high density infill anywhere, i.e., necessary housing in adequate numbers, predictable resistance is met from established neighborhoods. This happened earlier with the affordable project near Traintown on Broadway.

 The proposed FoNS alternatives seek to reduce or eliminate changes to zoning and density. During public comment, SSP Community Action Team member Michael Ross said that the Donald Street area was obviously included in the SSP because of open land for housing. Housing may end up there at higher density, but it may not be non-profit-built, deed-restricted Affordable Housing because Steve Ledson owns the land in question, and he is a market-rate, real estate developer.

 

 

 

 




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