59-unit eastside development proposed

Planning Commission to hear plan for mostly market-rate apartments on Feb. 11 at Napa Road and 5th St. East.|

The history of 20455 Fifth St. E.

The lot at 20455 Fifth St. E. was originally part of the 80-acre Pueblo de Sonoma laid out by Gen. Mariano Vallejo in 1834.

By 1867, the Sonoma School District had acquired large portions of the Pueblo land, as well as the land that extended beyond the southern border of the Pueblo within the Sonoma Valley. The lot on Fifth Street East remained undeveloped until the 1920s when it was first planted with fruit trees, which were present on the property when it was purchased by Patrick Drummond Doyle and Anne Rose Ryan Doyle in 1948. The Doyle family has been the only owner since that time.

A new housing development of up to 59 homes is being proposed for a 3-acre parcel on the northwest corner of Napa Road and Fifth Street East. The City of Sonoma Planning Commission will discuss the proposal in a study session at 6 p.m. on Thursday, Feb. 11.

The development is just outside the city limits, on unincorporated land at 20455 Fifth St. E. However, it is within the City of Sonoma’s “sphere of influence” and Urban Growth Boundary. DeNova’s development would require annexation and revised zoning.

In February of 2020, DeNova hired the historic-preservation company Evans & De Shazo to complete a Historic Resource Evaluation (HRE) of the property — including its 1948 two-bedroom, one-bath house, chicken coop, shed and pump house. The firm found no evidence that the buildings, landscape or former owners – the Doyle family – made a significant contribution to local, state or national history, to the extent that the property could be deemed historic.

The Fifth Street East lot is located on the same block as the Wildflower Affordable Housing project, built between Pueblo and Jones Roads in 2004. That 2.7-acre residential development required a General Plan amendment, annexation and rezoning to “high density residential.” The 34 single-family homes were marketed as and have been maintained as affordable housing.

HRE-for-20455-SE-Fifth-Street-Sonoma-County-and-DPRs.pdf

DeNova Homes has several projects underway in Sonoma. The builder is currently finishing up the Mockingbird Lane development on the west side of Sonoma, on 2.9 acres adjacent to and previously owned by Sonoma Valley Hospital. That development of 18 lots is about a third less dense than the 59 lots suggested for the new east side proposal.

PC Item Report - 7.3 - Pdf.pdf

DeNova is also finishing up another project of 30 “luxury” one- and two-bedroom rental apartments and townhomes on 1.5 acres at 655 W. Spain St., to be known as the Oliva apartments.

“The density of our proposed project on the Doyle family lot on Napa Road is most similar to the Oliva apartments,” said Trent Sanson of DeNova. Twenty percent of the housing, or 12 units, would be required to be officially “affordable“ for low-to moderate income families.

“We are imagining this development being perfect for young people who grew up here and want to move back to Sonoma after college,” said Sanson. “We are looking to provide what we call ’attainable by design’ workforce housing.”

Further details about the proposed rent at the new apartments, the neighborhood name and a potential start and end date, are not yet available.

Any public hearing about the DeNova development will not take place until later in the year, according to City Planning Director David Storer. He described the annexation process as a “lengthy” one involving a CEQA environmental analysis, a vote by the Planning Commission, a public hearing, a vote by the Sonoma City Council and finally approval by the LAFCO (Local Agency Formation Commission) of Sonoma County, which is the final arbiter of annexation issues. Storer noted that in his two years in Sonoma, this is the first annexation request he has handled and said it was possible there had not been any successful annexations since the completion of the Wildflower project in 2004.

In the meantime, the community is invited to submit comments at publiccomment@sonomcity.org. Letters received by the city about the project to date can be read at sonomacity.civicweb.net/filepro/documents/41358.

Contact Lorna at lorna.sheridan@sonomanews.com.

The history of 20455 Fifth St. E.

The lot at 20455 Fifth St. E. was originally part of the 80-acre Pueblo de Sonoma laid out by Gen. Mariano Vallejo in 1834.

By 1867, the Sonoma School District had acquired large portions of the Pueblo land, as well as the land that extended beyond the southern border of the Pueblo within the Sonoma Valley. The lot on Fifth Street East remained undeveloped until the 1920s when it was first planted with fruit trees, which were present on the property when it was purchased by Patrick Drummond Doyle and Anne Rose Ryan Doyle in 1948. The Doyle family has been the only owner since that time.

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