City rezones 60 acres,

In a 3-2 vote, the Sonoma City Council at its July 9 meeting changed the zoning of some 60 acres inside the city to add 32 residential units and roughly 8,000 square feet of commercial building area.
Council changed the city’s zoning map to make it consistent with the land use portion of the Sonoma 2020 General Plan – an action that was recommended by the city planning commission by a 5-1 vote on June 14.
“As far as development – impact is slight,” city planner David Goodison said of the rezoning.
The main areas of change are as follows:
• Along Sonoma Highway, seven parcels having a combined area of approximately 6 acres were redesignated from “commercial” and “mixed use” to “housing opportunity,” which clears the way for high-density low- and very-low-income housing. An example of land zoned housing opportunity is the newly opened Wild Flower subdivision at 404 Napa Road.
Councilmembers JoAnne Sanders and August Sebastiani opposed the zoning-map changes.
“There’s too much increase in density and not enough looking at roads getting us from one place to another,” Sanders said. “We’re only exacerbating the situation by adding houses.”
• At 590 West Napa Street, a small portion of the Norrbom property just west of the Sonoma Market-anchored mall was redesignated from “commercial” to “mixed use” in order to eliminate a split zoning.
• A 3-acre parcel located at the northwest corner of Fifth Street East and Napa Road was redesignated from “Sonoma residential” to “mixed use.”
• A group of Montini Ranch properties at the northern edge of the city above Gen. Vallejo’s home that have been acquired as open space are proposed to be redesignated as “park.” The land area amounts to approximately 34 acres.
• East of First Street West, 10 parcels on the south side on Andrieux Street and 12 parcels on the north side of Andrieux Street have been redesignated as “mixed use.” These parcels are developed with a variety of uses that are consistent with the “mixed use” designation, including offices, a church, a congregate care facility, multi-family development, and at least one single-family residence. Development potential would increase, but only slightly because many of the properties are already developed.
• The property located at the southwest corner of Fifth Street West and West Spain Street has been redesignated from “low density residential” to “commercial.” This parcel, which has been developed with a single-family residence, adjoins the Sonoma Market-anchored shopping center on the south and west. It has an area of 0.5 acres.