Sonoma Valley developer Ken Mattson speaks to large crowd at Springs plaza meeting

In what looked to be one of Sonoma County’s largest public meetings in recent years, several hundred people gathered Tuesday night at Flowery Elementary School north of Sonoma to discuss proposals for a plaza in the Springs that could feature the county in partnership with Ken Mattson, Sonoma Valley’s most prolific real estate buyer.

The community meeting in the school’s packed multipurpose room was the first opportunity for the public to provide comments and ideas for the project — and the proposed public-private partnership with KS Mattson Partners, which has offered to construct it.

A plaza has been a long-sought project for the Springs, which lacks community gathering spaces. An unsolicited bid to help create one came earlier this year from KS Mattson Partners, which owns the Boyes Hot Springs Post Office building adjacent to the approximately half-acre county-owned site on Boyes Boulevard.

Mattson has not publicly said what his intentions are for the post office building.

Multiple residents on hand Tuesday night questioned whether his interest in the plaza project was rooted at least partly in the opportunity to carve out parking spots for future customers, possibly through an underground lot beneath the plaza.

“If there is underground parking, who will own? If paid parking, who will collect the money?” asked Jesus Alcaraz.

Mattson’s team and county officials did not offer a direct response to those public comments and others at the meeting.

Sonoma County Supervisor Susan Gorin on Thursday stressed that questions about the scope of any partnership were “premature.”

“There is no project yet for this area of the community; there is no agreement with Mattson and the county yet on any collaboration and shared funding for a project, if one emerges. It is premature to even ask the questions,” she said in an email.

Gorin has held private monthly check-in meetings with Mattson on his bevy of projects, which range from the Boyes Food Center to Lanning Structures properties in the Springs. Among Mattson’s other high-profile properties are Cornerstone Sonoma, Sonoma’s Best, Ravenswood Winery and the Sonoma Cheese Factory.

The expanding real estate portfolio has attracted scrutiny and criticism, with some pointing to a number of Mattson properties acquired in recent years now sitting vacant, such as the General’s Daughter.

Tuesday night’s meeting was part of the county’s effort to gauge public sentiment about the option of moving forward on a plaza project with Mattson’s team.

That group includes Boyes Hot Springs architect Michael Ross, project manager Daniel Crowley and public relations specialist Jeff Nead of Glodow Nead, who sat in and took notes Tuesday evening.

In a rare public appearance, Mattson addressed the attendees in the room.

“I understand that there is concern. We’re doing a lot of stuff in town, but I believe that the big picture vision we have for the area is completely in-line with what has been talked about over the past 20 or 25 years,” Mattson said.

“We’re going to do our best — obviously within the realm of reason — to try to incorporate all the ideas that everyone believes is appropriate for this location.”

Pitching a plaza

The Mattson team’s architect, Michael Ross, has been sketching concept designs for a community plaza since 2011, when sidewalks were introduced in the Springs, framing the parking lot of the proposed site.

“There’s a yearning for an outdoor atmosphere. And I think one of the most exciting things for me as an architect is when I visit communities that are built around a plaza,” Ross said. “Of course, the Sonoma Plaza is a great example of that, but there’s many other town squares.”

Ross compared his proposed plaza to those in Oaxaca, Mexico; Santa Fe, New Mexico; and Mill Valley. The construction of those town-centric plazas fostered community and opened up opportunities for public events, he said.

During the meeting, Ross presented a 2015 concept design of a half-acre, brick-laden plaza with trees for shade, benches for the public and an open space where commercial vendors could set up a farmer’s market.

But a long list of prerequisite work will be necessary before any plans can move into action, Ross said, which include an environmental study, a geotechnical study, an underground utility study, and coordination with PG&E and Caltrans for the site, which is situated along Highway 12.

Public reaction

Though exchanges with Mattson and residents at the meeting were limited Tuesday, many on hand did not hold back in public comments about their ideas for the property and project at 22 Boyes Boulevard

Hannah Perot, a member of the Springs Municipal Advisory Council, said Mattson has been unable to build projects in a “timely manner” and expressed concern that a partnership with Mattson could further delay the creation of a plaza for the Springs.

“How will KS Mattson Partners be held accountable to a timeline?” Perot said.

Other residents of the Springs offered ideas for moving forward with KS Mattson Partners to develop the area in tandem with the county.

“If you develop a community center, which has market spaces, small boutiques, places where people can gather, that would be a wonderful, wonderful thing,” Veronica Napoles said. “If the Mattsons can bring that to the Springs, Hallelujah.”

Multiple members of the public asked Mattson if he would purchase properties adjacent to the proposed site so a Springs plaza could be larger. Avram Goldman hoped for “at least an acre” to build a space fitting for the Springs.

Meanwhile, Springs resident and mother Rachel Guinness welcomed a space for teenagers “who get bored in Sonoma.” She hoped a community plaza would be a safe outlet for her son.

“This idea is wonderful,” Guinness said. “Sure, bigger is always better. But small is pretty darn delightful … having this wonderful outdoor space to gather, and for diverse people to get together. I think it would be an enormous add for the community.”

Most who spoke up did so in favor of a plaza, yet many sought assurances about public control of the project and upkeep of the space. Mattson was appreciative of the turnout Tuesday night and said he was surprised by some the comments from residents.

“We got some good questions,” Mattson said after the meeting. “The last thing I expected was people wanting me to buy more buildings.”

A Spanish-language meeting on the Springs Plaza will be held at 6 p.m. on Thursday, Nov. 17, at Flowery Elementary School’s multipurpose room.

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

Correction: A previous version of this article misstated one of the comparison cities for the Springs Plaza. The article has been updated to reflect Santa Fe, New Mexico’s plaza was used as a comparison for the Springs Plaza.