Sonoma City Council hears blueprint for Plaza Master Plan

Longtime talk of establishing a visionary plan for the Sonoma Plaza is finally seeing some action from city leaders.

Early discussions of creating a Sonoma Plaza Master Plan were kickstarted last week, when Vice Mayor Kelso Barnett presented a rough draft of potential elements of such a plan at the Sonoma City Council’s Sept. 21 meeting.

“People have been wanting to do something like this for a while,” Barnett told the Index-Tribune following the meeting. “We’re always sort of confronted with these different things – new garbage receptacles or bike racks — and we need to come up with a big plan and do it the right way.”

Barnett’s presentation covered a range of topics – from possible enhancements to the grounds and buildings to potential funding sources, as well as steps to move the process forward.

Barnett noted this wasn’t the first time a Plaza Master Plan had been initiated. A previous plan was launched in 1972, which called for a “holistic” look at the 8-acre park, as well as the construction of drinking fountains, replacement of park furniture, walkways and hardscape, reconstruction of playground and the duck pond.

In 2018, the council approved a capital improvement project for the Plaza and Depot parks, as well as the replacement of trash receptacles and the addition of more bicycle parking. But as council members and city staff have turned over, and the pandemic pressed pause on many local projects, the improvements haven’t been achieved in a timely or aesthetically consistent manner, said Barnett in the presentation.

“What we’ve done in the past has been to piecemeal improvements based on what we need at the time,” Barnett said. “And sometimes it doesn’t all match.”

Barnett said a citizens steering committee and a City Council ad hoc committee could be formed to cull community feedback and get the ball rolling on ideas for improvements and set a timeline to phase them in. He also offered several suggestions of his own as to the types of ideas that could be part of the plan.

Among the improvements Barnett envisions include upgrades to the bathroom, trash bins, landscaping, water and electric infrastructure, the Grinstead Amphitheatre, the playgrounds, fountains, signage and hardscape. Enhancements he listed could include public art, bike parking, a “dog element,” a café, monuments and other general aesthetic improvements. He also floated the possibility of moving city staff to the Council Chambers property on First Street West, in order to allow more people into the historic City Hall.

“City Hall is my favorite building in Sonoma, but very few people get to go inside,” he said.

Barnett stressed that these were just his personal suggestions. “I just want to throw out some ideas and questions to see what people think,” said Barnett. “Maybe people will like these ideas, maybe they won’t. That’s all part of the process.”

Outside of the Plaza, he suggested expanding the surrounding sidewalks to allow for al fresco dining and adding connecting paths to nearby Depot Park and other sites of historic interest.

For long-term funding, Barnett offered a “conservancy” model, in which a private group or nonprofit raises money independent of the city and spends it under a plan of action mutually agreed upon with the city. Under that model, the land remains the city’s and the city has ultimate authority over everything that happens, said Barnett.

“The farmers market, refuse and bathroom cleaning, hiring of an arborist, having a botanical study or being in charge of the public art – all that could be run by a conservancy,” he said, citing Lafayette Square in New Orleans and Madison Square in New York City as parks that have thrived under such a model.

The Sonoma Plaza was originally laid out by Gen. Mariano Vallejo in 1835 in what was then known as the Pueblo de Sonoma. The park that Sonomans are familiar with today took shape in the early 1900s, when the Sonoma Valley Woman’s Club launched beautification efforts on the Plaza.

Noting the Plaza’s bicentennial is in 2035, Barnett concluded: “If we can create a master plan that future councils and staff can execute I think it will really deliver for our town and create great benefits for our residents and visitors.”

His council colleagues were enthusiastic about the presentation, with Councilmember Sandra Lowe describing it as “incredible work” and Mayor Jack Ding calling it a “masterpiece.”

Lowe urged the council to include all Sonoma Valley residents in the discussion and any potential steering committees. “Anyone who lives in the greater Sonoma Valley should be a part of it. I want everyone in the entire sphere of influence to feel a part of this project,” said Lowe.

Ding cautioned that relying on nonprofit funding alone can be troublesome, citing efforts to build a Ting, or Chinese pavilion, in Depot Park. The Ting project received construction permits more than two years ago, but was put on hold during the pandemic and has now stalled due to rising construction costs.

Councilmember Madolyn Agrimonti urged any additions to the Plaza include some form of homage to the Woman’s Club, for its century-old revitalization of the Plaza.

“The Woman’s Club started out calling themselves a Sanitation Committee because of all the mess and the cows on the Plaza,” said Agrimonti.

In the end, the council directed staff to establish a timeline for moving the creation of a Plaza Master Plan forward. Once that is established, the council would begin the process to form a citizens steering committee.

Following the meeting, Barnett said he was “encouraged” by the response to his presentation.

“I know it’s not going to be an easy process, it will take some time to rethink how we operate it and fund it,” he said. “But coming out of the pandemic, now is the time to reimagine it and have a vision for it – to ask: How do we want our Plaza to be for the next generation?”

Email Jason Walsh at Jason.walsh@sonomanews.com.