Three city manager candidates left
Candidates for Sonoma city manager have been narrowed to three by city council members after they interviewed a half-dozen finalists during an all-day closed-door session Oct. 25.
“They are all very qualified and all are very interested in the position,” said council member August Sebastiani in an interview Friday.
The three, all of whom have key jobs in city government in Northern California and at least one of whom is a woman, will be interviewed again on Nov. 12 with a new city manager expected to be named by Dec. 1, said City Manager Mike Fuson, announced his intention to retire by the end of the year.
City council member Joanne Sanders said all six of the candidates interviewd were top notch and “could easily move into the job right now and do it.”
More power for Design Review
The Sonoma City Council is considering expanding the jurisdiction of the Design Review Commission, whose members the council appoints. This matter is scheduled for discussion at the council meeting on Wednesday, November 7.
This would apply to properties within the Historic Overlay Zone, which runs along Broadway and Napa Street and extends into many areas north of Napa Street, as well. Presently, the following projects must go through design review by that commission: replacement of a dwelling older than 50 years, expansion of more than 50 percent of a dwelling older than 50 years, and 5-unit developments. The following projects would be included, as well, if the greater authority is granted: expansions of 10 percent (or 200 square feet) for dwellings built before 1945, changes to street view or to roof pitch or height for dwellings built before 1945, and all new residences.
City Planner David Goodison noted the concerns of the DRC that the 50-year threshold cast too wide a net. “The DRC is now recommending a date-based age threshold in which buildings constructed after 1945 would not be subject to design review,” he said. “Residences constructed after 1945 are more likely to have been built in tracts, while residences of an earlier vintage are more likely to possess qualities associated with historic Sonoma.”
Planning Commission floors Second St. lofts
The Sonoma City Planning Commission at its meeting last week tabled the proposal for “Second Street Lofts,” a three-story development of nine three-bedroom condominiums for the vacant parcel on Second Street West at Perkins Street.
It wasn’t that the commission didn’t like the design; it’s that the commission didn’t like it at that location. “I see this project going in the wrong direction,” said commissioner Tom Anderson. “It’s a great project for the right neighborhood, but it’s incompatible with this neighborhood and totally out of scale.”
The Brentwood, California, firm SDG Architects, Inc., designed the project for owners Rob and Sarah Purcell. At the first hearing on October 11, Ralph Strauss, President of SDG, had said, “The design will articulate the light into shade, augmenting the colors nicely and playing to the depth.” On October 25, SDG project architect Jeffery Potts offered to “dress the project in different clothes” if that would please the commission, though he noted it did “exceed the number of points required to be green.”
The project proposes a two-story expanse of glass at the entrance, with the first unit plan a 1,620 square foot, three bath, two car tandem garage with an exterior deck off a third floor master suit; one of these would be considered an affordable housing unit.
With a two-story volume over the living area, the second unit plan varies from 2,573 to 2,632 square feet, with two and a half bathrooms and a two-car garage. These units have a second floor exterior deck shared by two secondary bedrooms and two large deck spaces off the master bedroom on the third floor.
Commissioner Randy Cook worried that the commission seemed disinclined toward building in general and was being unfair to the applicant by not giving direction as to modifications that the commission might accept. The vote was five to one on the motion to table further consideration, with commissioner Jean Barnier dissenting.
January decision on hospital bond
In a two-hour meeting Tuesday evening, the Finance Committee of the Sonoma Valley Health Care District Board of Directors considered, among its review of the current financial statements, the timeline presented by CEO Carl Gerlach for passage of general obligation bonds to finance the new hospital. The board had selected at its last meeting the “In-Town” site for construction, consisting of the present hospital property and the Carinelli property a half-block away.
Depending on whether the board selects an April or May ballot next year for the bond measure, counting backwards 88 days puts the decision in the board’s hands on January 2 or January 30, 2008. Gerlach told the committee that “delay costs money,” but also noted that the extra four weeks might allow for more definitive bidding by contractors, which would let the board have more accurate numbers when setting the amount to be sought from the voters.
