Bill Lynch: The fight for Sonoma’s hillside – how soon we forget

Why is the battle over Schocken Hill again a skirmish?|

In late December of 1998, I followed up on an anonymous lead that a big resort developer from Texas was in closed-door meetings with some Sonoma city officials about a plan to build a multi-million resort hotel on Schocken Hill, at least some of it on property owned by the city.

Nothing had been disclosed at any public meeting or on any public documents up to that time.

While the city officials we questioned denied that any formal action had taken place, they did confirm that “informal” meetings had been held.

We broke the story on Jan. 5, 1999, that Rosewood Hotels and Resorts had been in discussions with the city about their hillside project since the previous September, without public knowledge. In the I-T article, it was also suggested that the city had violated the California Open Meeting law known as the Brown Act.

Public action was swift and overwhelmingly hostile. Groups formed in opposition within a few short weeks, followed by a petition to put an initiative on the ballot to block the hillside development. There was also an almost immediate move to develop an ordinance to preserve the open space at the city's backdrop.

By May, the petition drive to stop the development led by Sonoma attorney Joseph Costello, was successful, and the measure was put on the ballot for Sept. 21.

In spite of promises that the project would pump more than $2 million per year into the economy, opposition continued to build.

The I-T editorially supported the initiative to protect the city's hillside backdrop.

Local residents were really worked up. It was one of those pitchforks-and-torches kind of reactions that occasionally flare up in our quiet little town. In spite of the fact that Rosewood and its supporters outspent the opponents 44-1 in trying to block the initiative, it passed by an overwhelming margin, 3 to 1.

The Hillside Preservation Alliance, basking in its success, continued to work for the preservation of Schocken Hill and its natural backdrop for the future.

Most Sonomans, myself included, thought that the issue was settled and that local residents had sent a message, loud and clear, that they did not want the hillsides behind the city developed.

And that's why I was scratching my head in wonder recently that a substantial residential development on the flanks of Schocken Hill had already received approval from the Sonoma City Planning Commission.

Had such a proposal been made in the months following the total rejection of the Rosewood proposal, I have no doubt that the pitchforks and torches would have come out again in mass.

The current proposal is only opposed by a few residents who live nearby. The development is for three very-large, exclusive mega-residences of 5,000 square feet each, the equivalent of 10 average three-bedroom homes plus the necessary cuts for roads and utilities.

One could argue that this development is relatively modest and that's why opposition has not been more robust. But I'm certain those who fought the battle of 1999 to protect Schocken Hill from development might disagree.

Time have changed. The hard work that so many put into protecting Sonoma's backdrop has been all but forgotten.

The hearing before the Sonoma City Council for the developments is set for Feb. 5. There will be neighbors.

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