Sonoma Valley Citizen’s Advisory Commission also rejects plan for Sonoma Developmental Center

Members of the Sonoma Valley Citizens Advisory Commission rejected the plan’s scale, questioning studies and conclusions cited in the final environmental impact report by Permit Sonoma.|

Permit Sonoma planning manager Brian Oh faced a myriad of questions about the proposed redevelopment plan at the Sonoma Developmental Center at the Sonoma Valley Citizens Advisory Commission Wednesday, Oct. 26.

Commissioners and public commenters rejected the conclusions presented by county studies for the project, saying the proposed scale of development was harmful to “the community.”

“I don’t see how any argument can be made that the sense of the community is ‘this is a really nifty idea,’ or ‘this is something that is going to enhance everybody’s life’ or even ‘this is a proposal that is safe,’” Joanne Brown said.

Brown and the rest of the Sonoma Valley CAC unanimously approved two motions: to reject the preferred alternative plan outlined by Permit Sonoma and to support the historical preservation alternative proposal that calls for less housing and fewer jobs on the historic site.

Permit Sonoma’s preferred plan calls for 1,000 housing units, a projected 900 jobs and a commercial space that has been linked to a climate center with the California State Coastal Conservancy and former California Rep. Douglas Bosco.

In his presentation to the commission, Oh noted the need for housing in Sonoma County and the Valley more specifically and the state’s goals to address those demands through the SDC’s redevelopment.

“The intent of this specific plan is to hit a number of objectives,” Oh said. “Essentially, there is an inexhaustible demand (for housing), we don’t have inexhaustible space for this site.”

The majority of the meeting on Wednesday questioned many aspects of the environmental impact report of the preferred alternative, including studies on evacuation times, water usage, threats to the wildlife corridor and the financial feasibility of a smaller scale project for developers.

In public comment, Alice Horowitz questioned whether the county’s addition of 1,000 housing units at SDC was an attempt to enrich its own pockets through property taxes.

Much of the housing proposed by Permit Sonoma would consist of approximately 1,000 square foot units on average, according to Permit Sonoma Project Manager Bradley Dunn. Aimed at lower-income and middle-class residents of Sonoma Valley, these smaller units would be a scale of housing “that you don’t see much of” in Sonoma Valley or the county overall,“ Oh said.

Sonoma resident Teri Shore said the “inextinguishable” demand for housing should be built near a city, not in a rural area.

“We should not be putting a huge development in the middle of a rural community,” Shore said. “It goes against decades of city center growth at the local, regional and state level. There's plenty of room to build in other places.”

Supervisors are expected to discuss and possibly vote on the SDC plan Dec. 16, two weeks before the state’s Dec. 31 deadline for the project.

Contact Chase Hunter at chase.hunter@sonomanews.com and follow @Chase_HunterB on Twitter.

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