SDC plan draws protest by hundreds

Over 250 locals showed up at noon March 10 to protest the proposed high-density development of the Sonoma Developmental Center campus, and to advocate for a community-driven plan. The state of California is in negotiation with developer Keith Rogal, LLC, whose Eldridge Renewal Plan includes a four-story luxury hotel and 900 housing units.

The rally was sponsored by the Glen Ellen Historical Society. Keynote speaker Tracy Salcedo, vice-president of Sonoma Mountain Preservation, opened her talk with appreciation for the Coast Miwok and Wappo people, who still tend their ancestral lands.

Salcedo, noting that the developer needs high density for things to “pencil out,” urged the crowd to take their “pencils out” to write to local and state elected and administrative officials, urging consideration of greatly down-sized development, respecting the 650-acre park land, including wildlife corridor, which was just signed over as public land.

The protestors’ objections include no wildfire evacuation plan, flawed environmental analysis, destruction of the wildlife corridor, inappropriate four-story hotel, too many houses with highly insufficient affordable housing.