Preserving Sonoma Development Center

By Will Shonbrun

The Sonoma Land Trust, perhaps the county’s most outstanding land preservation group, is eager and dedicated to preserving SDC land and maintaining the vital services that have been provided there for its client population.

The Land Trust has joined with a coalition of other preservation groups including the Sonoma County Agricultural and Open Space District, Sonoma County Regional Parks Department, the Sonoma Ecology Center, Sonoma Mountain Preservation and the Valley of the Moon Natural History Association. On its website, sonomalandtrust.org, the Land Trust has this to say:

“At almost 1,000 acres, the Sonoma Developmental Center (SDC) property is the largest and most significant unprotected land in the Sonoma Valley. In addition to providing services for developmentally disabled individuals, this property is situated at the heart of the Sonoma Valley Wildlife Corridor, a crucial passage for wildlife that extends over five miles, from Sonoma Mountain to the Mayacamas Mountains, and is at risk of being developed.

The coalition is working to:

• Retain the Sonoma Developmental Center services on the property, and explore other complementary and appropriate uses within the footprint of the facilities.

• Advocate for the permanent protection of the open land on the SDC property and the essential services it provides, such as habitat and movement corridors for wildlife, clean and ample drinking water, a place of beauty for us to enjoy, and carbon sequestration, among many others.

• Expand public access and recreation opportunities that are compatible with the protection of the property’s conservation values, including the development of new trails and connections to existing trails on Sonoma Mountain, and potentially across Sonoma Valley to the complex of protected lands within the Mayacamas Mountains.”

As some readers may remember, there was an attempt to lease some of the SDC land in 1996, specifically two parcels in the upper orchards, proposed for vineyard development. Then-state Sen. Mike Thompson sponsored SB1418 for that purpose, and held meetings for local discussions and input on that proposal. A great deal of local opposition to vineyard development ensued over the following six years, finally resulting in the transfer of the orchard and upper wooded parcel to Jack London State Historic Park.

What the community at large needs to do now is join with the preservation organizations and come up with plans for how to make SDC economically self-sustaining without selling any of this precious natural resource to private development interests.

One idea might be for some of that land to be used as satellite campuses for either SRJC or Sonoma State University. It’s a perfect college campus. Another idea would be to use some of the land for a teaching college or institution for the education and training of those who want to work in the mental health field.

There are any number of ideas for the disposition of some of these lands, which do not include selling one inch of it so that developers can gain more profits. To me that is the most important consideration.

Furthermore, the county could step up and purchase the adjoining land abuting the Regional Park and expand it. The Sonoma Valley community needs to join forces with land preservation groups cited here, to find viable ways to protect and preserve SDC, its clients and its caretakers. That is our responsibility and obligation.

• • •

Will Shonbrun is a local writer and lives in Boyes Springs.