In the wake of our most recent round of storms, in which steady downpours and fierce winds resulted in flooded roads, swollen creeks and rivers, downed trees, and prolonged power outages, I have had Sonoma County’s unincorporated communities on my mind. 

Along with Supervisor Hopkins, I am a member of the Board of Supervisors’ Unincorporated Governance ad hoc committee and for much of the last year, we have met to discuss the unique challenges – severe weather response certainly among them – faced by the small towns, dense communities outside of city limits, and far-flung hamlets that exist across our county. The ad hoc brought our recommendations to the Board of Supervisors meeting on February 6th, during which we discussed a suite of proposed actions to increase the level of service for our unincorporated residents.

What is an unincorporated community in Sonoma County? These are communities that exist outside the boundaries of our nine incorporated cities, and thus lack the additional layer of city governance. In the First District, unincorporated communities include the Springs, Schellville, Temelec, Glen Ellen, Kenwood, parts of Bennett Valley, Lichau Road, Riebli Valley, upper Mark West, and communities in the Mayacamas Mountains.

As you may have read in my last column, one way unincorporated communities in the First District, as well as the Fourth and Fifth Districts, make their voices heard is through Municipal Advisory Councils, or MACs. In August of last year, Supervisor Hopkins and I held a listening session to learn from the community leaders who serve on our advisory councils about their communities’ biggest concerns. We also made sure to include representatives from unincorporated communities that don’t have MACs, such as Penngrove, Moorland, and Graton. Perhaps surprisingly, given the geographic and demographic differences amongst the varying unincorporated areas within our county, many overarching themes arose: poor roads and infrastructure, insufficient parks and gathering space, inadequate internet connectivity, vulnerability to disasters like fires and floods, housing unaffordability, and impacts from vacation rentals, among other concerns. 

Last week, with their feedback, as well as additional information gathered across ad hoc meetings that included conversations with Sonoma County Regional Parks, Public Infrastructure, and the Ag + Open Space District, our Board discussed eight recommended work efforts from the ad hoc, which included: exploring options for potential Enhanced Infrastructure Financing Districts (EIFDs), exploring establishing a new county Service Area zone of benefit to finance parks and plazas, creating an inventory of current county safety net services, and continuing to assess options for a Navigator job classification that would assist individuals in accessing county services across departments. The Navigator job classification is something of particular interest to me in recent months, from my observations with the opening of the East Sonoma County Services Center in the Sonoma Valley and the challenges residents face when trying to address what can be a complex set of needs. While the February 6th item was meant to provide an informational update to our fellow board members on the ad hoc recommendations, we received support from our board colleagues to bring the discussion back during Budget Workshops in April. For more information on the ad hoc recommendations, please visit the link below to review the board materials.

At this point, I believe we’ve taken a great first step to address the needs for unincorporated communities large and small. In identifying trends and strategies that are applicable countywide, rather than taking a piecemeal approach toward each individual community, I think we will be more effective in supporting our county’s unincorporated residents. I look forward to continuing the discussion with my board colleagues in April.

I will close on a related, but not directly connected, note: for the last several years, I have been exploring the “a” word, annexation, with the City of Sonoma and the unincorporated Springs area. Another approach could be a model for shared services, with the potential to lead to annexation, that would elevate the level of services that we are currently able to provide in the Springs. The City of Sonoma’s City Council put annexation on their list during their goal setting for 2024, unanimously agreeing it is worthy of community discussion. Just as with the unincorporated governance topic, I look forward to continuing conversation on this important issue. 

I have led discussions regarding the formation of an Enhanced Infrastructure Financing District (EIFD), which may include the City of Sonoma and much of the area including The Springs and Glen Ellen. This would keep local a portion of County property taxes for financing upgrades to infrastructure and services in the identified boundaries - supplementing funding for needed roads, bridges, parks and services, rather than supplanting any existing funding and required mitigations for developers on future development. I’ll write more about that possibility in the future.

I hope you have recovered from the storms and your power is now restored. I encourage you to consider the installation of solar panels and battery backups for resiliency to withstand future power outages. For more information, review this website.

District 1 COUNTY Housing Update

Saturday March 9, 2024, 10:00 A.M. – 11:30 A.M.

Flowery Elementary School Multi-purpose room

Permit Sonoma and Supervisor Gorin’s Office are partnering to present an informational meeting on a variety of important housing topics described below, including brief status updates on major Sonoma Valley housing projects currently in process. Online resources for each topic are hyperlinked in the text below.

What is the Housing Element and why is it important? The Housing Element is one of the seven mandated elements of the County-wide General Plan that must be updated regularly. A housing element is required by State law (“Housing Element law”) to establish policies and programs that will support the provision of an adequate housing supply for all income levels. The Housing Element was recently updated and adopted by the Board of Supervisors in August 2023. A summary of the updated Housing Element will be discussed.

Permit Sonoma Policy Initiatives - Permit Sonoma will provide background and updates on three major policy initiatives that affect the Sonoma Valley:

• The General Plan is a master policy document that prioritizes, organizes, and directs patterns of land use within the unincorporated county. A comprehensive update of the General Plan is beginning this year.
• The County is updating the General Plan 2020 Safety Element and creating a new Environmental Justice Element to incorporate the latest requirements and information about environmental hazards in the county and identify and prioritize communities that are vulnerable to pollution and other environmental burdens.
• The Springs Specific Plan development is ongoing. The plan is a long-term comprehensive planning and zoning document with standards that are tailored to regulating land use in the Highway 12 corridor. This plan re-imagines the corridor as a diverse public space with a community plaza and safety improvements for walking and biking.

State Housing Law - California legislators are responding to the state’s housing crisis through updates to housing laws. New regulations give housing developers incentives and consistency to get through the development process successfully. The following regulations and how they affect the County’s permit process will be discussed:

• Senate Bill 330
• Housing Accountability Act
• Builder’s Remedy

Vegetation Management Grant Program - Sonoma County is now accepting applications for $1 million in grants to fund projects that protect residents from wildfires by creating fuel breaks, expanding defensible space around homes, and removing vegetation along evacuation routes in fire-prone landscapes. 

The Vegetation Management Grant program, now in its fourth year, was created by the Board of Supervisors to reduce the threat of wildfires by partnering with community organizations, fire districts and resource managers to accomplish landscape-level fuel reduction efforts across Sonoma County. 

All grant applications must be submitted by 3 p.m. on March 28 to Sonoma County Ag + Open Space, which manages the program. Learn more at the link below.

Santa Rosa Southeast Greenway - On February 6th, the Sonoma County Ag + Open Space Board of Directors voted in favor of allocating up to $1 million, over half of the purchase price, in Matching Grant funds to support the acquisition of the 49-acre Santa Rosa Southeast Greenway.

Decades of work has already gone into creating a “Central Park” for Sonoma County’s largest city, in no small part led by the community-member driven Santa Rosa Southeast Greenway Campaign, and through the collaboration of several agencies, including: the City of Santa Rosa, Sonoma Land Trust, Sonoma Water, Sonoma County Regional Parks and LandPaths. For more information, continue reading the press release at the link below.

Springs MAC - Join the Springs Municipal Advisory Council on the second Wednesday of each month at 6:30pm.

Next Meeting: Wednesday, March 13th at 6:30pm.

North Sonoma Valley MAC - Join the NSV MAC on the third Tuesday of each month at 5:30pm.

Next Meeting: Tuesday, March 19th at 5:30pm.

Sonoma Valley Community Advisory Committee - The Sonoma Valley Community Advisory Commission advises on local planning projects in the Sonoma Valley, and hears informational items on other areas of interest. Join the SVCAC on the fourth Wednesday of each month at 6:30pm.

Next Meeting: Wednesday, February 28th at 6:30pm.