How to keep the SDC in public hands

A proposal for the future of the lands and buildings of the Sonoma Developmental Center, put forward by the Glen Ellen Historical Society, is the topic of a community meeting on Thursday, December 8, 6pm, at Hanna Boys Center.

An alternative to the County’s plan for developing the site, The “Next Hundred Years” proposal centers on four points:

• Keep the land at SDC in public ownership in perpetuity, 
• Make sure the local community has a strong say in the future of the land, 
• Protect the open space, and expand the wildlife and riparian corridors, and
• Choose a rural scale of development compatible with the Sonoma Valley 

All are principles that the community has, over and over again, said that it wants, according to the authors, “and all have been ignored as each new plan comes up. It is time to secure them for ourselves and future generations.”

The “super-sauce” of the proposal is the creation of the Sonoma Mountain Community Services District and a non-rofit Community Trust. As an “independent special district”, the district would ensure local ownership and control and bind all the ideas into a working program. As an agency under State law, it can claim precedence in the bidding system for the SDC land and buildings. And as a district it would represent all of the parts of Glen Ellen and the Sonoma Valley most affected by the future development at the SDC. 

Much like existing water- and fire-districts, the new district would function independent of the County, except for zoning approvals. Financing for its mix of adaptive reuse and new affordable housing will be secured by the revenues and the value of the development on the land, with no financial obligation to the voters of the district.

The December 8th meeting comes the week before the Sonoma County Board of Supervisors is set to vote on its own final plan.

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