This is the only way to describe what’s happened in relation to the Sonoma Developmental Center (SDC) since its closure.
The closure alone was the first rock to tumble; disabled residents and their families were relegated to vagaries of care in a harsh landscape of for-profit, underfunded uncertainty. Next was abandonment of historic campus buildings, leaving them vulnerable to the elements to slowly dilapidate and decay. What had been warm and safe homes were deemed uninhabitable and essentially left to rot.
Next came the enabling legislation, crafted by career politicians and paid outside consultants from outside of Sonoma Valley. We’ll never know what kind of discussions and horse-trading took place between parties that resulted in those rules and conditions, but as is said about how sausage is made, sometimes it’s better not to know.
Then came the County’s failure to incorporate years of public hearings leading up to the creation of a Specific Plan for SDC, yet another failure accompanied by the collapse of public confidence. After a series of public meetings to find out how the residents of our Valley want to embrace the resources of SDC – the buildings, the wildlife corridor, the mountain open space, Sonoma Creek, etc. – a Specific Plan that almost completely ignored local public input was approved by the majority of the Board of Supervisors over the objections of our own First District Supervisor. But, it turns out, the landslide of failure was far from over.
Permit Sonoma, the regulatory arm of the County that evaluates and approves development, ordered an EIR, and millions of dollars of the public’s money was spent. Like every EIR, it took forever, and when it was finally released it was met with disbelief by the residents of Sonoma Valley. Despite the experience during severe fires in 2017, the EIR predicted that an emergency evacuation would take only minutes, and mitigation of environmental effects were offered that were mere speculation. A citizen’s lawsuit was filed, and the EIR was buried by the Superior Court as woefully inadequate. The Specific Plan was also declared a pile of rubble.
The Rogal development proposal was the next boulder to come crashing down the mountain, the idea of creating a dense new city of 2,400 residents in 1,000 homes, largely market rate, alongside the flanks of the wildlife corridor, the banks of Sonoma Creek and the hamlet of Glen Ellen. To add insult to injury, Rogal refiled its plan, with even more housing, under the Builder’s Remedy provisions of SB 330 that allows development by right, since among other failures, the County of Sonoma had not filed its required Housing Element within the state’s deadline. How that failure to file happened nobody knows, and no heads rolled. To make matters worse, Permit Sonoma has no interest in cleaning up the regulatory rubble and recommends accepting the Builder’s Remedy application.
In light of the incompetence of the County, yet another citizen lawsuit has now been filed by Sonoma Valley Next 100. Among other issues, that suit claims the Public Interest Doctrine has been violated, and the State of California does not even have the right to dispose of the SDC in the manner it has. In addition, a long-awaited traffic analysis of evacuation due to a major fire is expected to be released shortly. We expect it to be as frightening, and perhaps more so, than the cascade of events so far.
The Sonoma Valley is slowly being crushed by powerful economic and political forces. But stand your ground, Sonoma Valley, the people’s will can move mountains.
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