County system needs some thought
EDITOR: The county has the responsibility to develop and enforce standards and criteria to guide land use decisions. In 2014, Planning Commissioners and the public requested an event ordinance; and by 2017, the county’s work was essentially complete.
However, instead of professionally developed guidelines to address impacts of events and hospitality over-concentration, the county delegated its responsibility to the Dry Creek Valley Citizen’s Advisory Council (CAC), a five-member committee with two members representing the wine industry. The CAC’s voting structure (4/5th vote for approval) gives industry representatives veto power over any meaningful measures to reduce impacts on neighbors.
These citizen committees, with little expertise in land use law or environmental requirements, have been given the power to write their own rules and pass judgment on complex community and environmental issues.
The county is trying to force a similar CAC on the Westside area, yet we have a better idea. The Westside Community Association proposes that Permit Sonoma convene staff-led “Westside Advisory Forums” to obtain neighbor input. Professional Staff facilitation ensures applicant and stakeholder dialog — obtaining multiple perspectives, correcting misinformation and considering all land owner rights. We have found that the applicant benefits as early communication may streamline the process, reducing costs of false-starts and clarifying required technical analyses.
When staff has the necessary context to incorporate community concerns and ideas into the initial study, analyses and measures to reduce impacts are better focused. Decisions by the Planning Commissioners who have the responsibility for reviewing and conditioning use permits, will be informed by all stakeholders.
William Fumich Jr.
Healdsburg
Tenants Together speaks to Dems
EDITOR: I write today to inform you that the newly formed Healdsburg Democratic Club will be hosting a community discussion on tenant protections on Friday, March 29 at 6 p.m. at the Healdsburg Senior Center. We are thrilled to have Eduardo Torres, the Northern California Coordinator for Tenants Together, as our speaker. Tenants Together is a statewide coalition of local tenant organizations dedicated to defending and advancing the rights of California tenants to safe, decent and affordable housing. As we find tenant protection at the forefront of community discussions, it is vital that we seize this opportunity to learn about this issue. Feel free to contact us at
he************@gm***.com
if you have any questions. This is bound to be an interesting, engaging discussion and I hope to see you there!
Jackson Boaz
Healdsburg
Good deal gone bad
EDITOR: When the project called Saggio Hills currently called Montage was approved, it included affordable as well as low-income housing. I just found out this has been renegotiated, instead of housing, which is so desperately needed, our city has accepted 14 acres. People, our city already owns empty properties throughout Healdsburg. For years now nothing has been done with these empty lots. Why do we need more property over much-needed housing?
For those people who approved this new negotiation, please contact me, I have a bridge for sale.
Ken Buchignani
Healdsburg
Insufficient community outreach to Palmer Creek residents
EDITOR: As a long-time Healdsburg Tribune subscriber and a 29-year Palmer Creek resident, I was disappointed that Andrew Pardiac’s article “Dry Creek Oks one pot farm, tables a second,” was written with no journalistic due diligence to fact check its claims. To begin with, the recommended pot “farm” is not in Dry Creek Valley but on Palmer Creek, yet no one from Palmer Creek was consulted. The industrial, commercial cannabis operation the Dry Creek Valley Citizens Advisory Council advocated has been proposed by Thomas Planson, who is not a resident of either Dry Creek or Palmer Creek. Mr. Planson has married into a family that has owned but been absent from their property for years.
Furthermore, the “community outreach” which the DCVCAC learned of from Mr. Planson and that Mr. Planson was “lauded for” by the council was a sham. Mr. Planson began by talking about his family’s long involvement with Palmer Creek. That was surprising to me, considering that in 29 years of being quite active in the community and driving or walking past their property for years, I had never before laid eyes on Mr. Planson or his wife.
The meeting was characterized by questions concerning the extent of water use (Palmer Creek is an endangered salmon-bearing creek); extensive excavation for cultivation and greenhouses; road use for construction and employees (our 3-mile dirt road is privately maintained by residents); biotic issues; safety issues (an hour response time for law enforcement); odor mitigation; etc. In almost every instance Mr. Planson chose to evade the question either by being overly general, or by insisting that the information requested was confidential, or by claiming he didn’t know. In the end he informed us that he didn’t care about our input because he could do whatever was allowed. In sum, Mr. Planson’s “Pizza Party” was not a success — the residents, both figuratively and literally, did not eat his pizza.
Palmer Creek is very different from Dry Creek. Dry Creek Valley is a recognized wine growing area and extensively commercialized for that purpose. Palmer Creek is a hilly, heavily-forested, water scarce (Zone 4), biotic habitat, Rural Residential area which has no industrial or commercial development. None of the residents came here with the intention of developing a commercial interest or industry. Mr. Planson represents an LLC; he is not a Sonoma County small cannabis farmer coming in “from the dark.” His concerns are entirely commercial. Our concerns for our valley are not anti-cannabis, but appropriate use of an environmentally sensitive habitat. We do not view our valley as an economic resource, but more as a nature preserve, and a special place to live.
Douglas Fisher
Healdsburg
Two questions regarding the city’s North Entry Area Plan
EDITOR: 1. Who’s in charge of this project? Is our having to review the developer’s proposal premature? I ask because as I think what’s happening here is the city acquired the subject parcel recently but has not yet firmed up the planning area site (PAS), or various zoning and other planning guidelines. And yet a developer is anxious to get a permit for his proposed project. I’ve seen this happen before, and I thought the best solution was then and is now to first get the PAS, rules, etc. agreed upon, and then turn to the projects lining up for a permit. But here I honestly can’t tell whether the PAS and rules are driving the situation, or if it’s the developer. I strongly suggest the city completes the PAS first and tells the developer to wait. Otherwise, if you do it simultaneously, you can’t avoid saying something during the hearings RE: the future PAS and rules which will come back to haunt the city when the developer arrives with his attorneys. Think about it. The city is in charge, not the developer.
2. What should be built on this parcel? I live at the north end of Healdsburg and realize we need and will get some housing, divided into market rate and affordable housing. Maybe mixed with some senior housing would also work. But why a hotel? We already have a dozen hotels (in place or in the pipeline) in Healdsburg, and maybe two dozen motels and bed and breakfasts. I would guess we presently have over 900 rooms, maybe 1,000, being offered to our-of-town visitors.
I think first we need to ask ourselves what is the effect especially during peak hours, weekends and holidays of encouraging another few hundred people and cars on our infrastructure and small-town feel which we all embrace? Specifically, what will the effect be of adding another hotel with its guests and cars on our two-lane main artery Healdsburg Avenue? How will all of us evacuate if there’s an emergency? When these hotel guests drive to the Plaza to recreate, where will they park? And not to sound selfish, but where will we park?
Said differently: when is enough, enough? Where do we draw the line? In fact, do we even have a line? When do we start saying no especially to any more hotels?
Ron Grassi
Healdsburg
Thanks for fundraising help
EDITOR: On behalf of the board and leadership of the Humane Society of Sonoma County Healdsburg Shelter, we want to extend our heartfelt thanks to those who made our March 2 Give Me Shelter fundraiser possible.
We are grateful to the many people, businesses and wineries that generously donated to the event:
628 Salon, 8 Dragons Restaurant, Acorn Winery, Aldina Vineyards, Amanda J Beeler, Total Body + Mind Golf, Anna MacCallen/Calais, Arista Winery, Armida Winery, Baci Cafe & Wine Bar, Balletto Vineyards, Big O Tires Healdsburg, Bottle Barn, Breathless Wines, Cafe Beaujolais, Cartograph Wines, Catelli’s Restaurant, Cast Wines, Charlene Schnall & George Gross, Francis Ford Coppola Winery, Costeaux French Bakery, Davis Family, Dry Creek Inn, Dutcher Crossing, Ereloom, Ferrari-Carano Winery, Flour & Bloom Cakes, Gamba Vineyards, Geri Amato, Gina’s Boutique, Gold Bloom Jewelry, Greens Restaurant, Gustafson Winery, Haffner Vineyard, Healdsburg Golf Club, Healdsburg Center for the Arts, Interval Lounge, Jann Forth Winery, Jendala, Joanne Denner, Kokomo Winery, Magic Theater, Mauritson Wines, Maximus and Lucilla, Tim’s MinPins, McCloskey Winery, Miyoko’s Kitchen, Moustache Baked Goods, Mugnaini Imports, Inc., Oliver Ranch, Ooh La Luxe, Palmeri Wines, Papapietro Perry Winery, Patagonia, Peterson Winery, Pip and Willy’s Healthy Pet Products, Plank Coffee, Plaza Gourmet, Punch Apparel, RETE California, J Rocchioli Vineyards & Winery, Sam’s For Play Café, Sanglier Cellars, Soda Rock Winery, Sonoma Millworks, Spicy Vines, Stanley Vineyards, Stark Reality Restaurants, The Astro Motel, The Cinderella Company, The Spinster Sisters, Thomas George Winery, Toad Hollow, Tongue Dancer Wines, Twisst, Uniquely Chic, Unti Winery, Sandy & Mark Walheim, Wags & Cheers, Zialena Winery and Zina Dean-Henderson.
We are grateful to our Volunteers and Staff who worked so hard to make this event exceptional:
Allison Kent, Angelina Aviles, Carol Jean Martino, Caroline Marker, Ciara Pegg, Connie Cservenyak, Dale Miller, David Gurley & Bubbles, Drew Gross, Janet Eastburn, Joanne Denner, Kate Zocchetti, Ken Hite & Sassy, Lindsay Joule, Loretta Bracco, Michele Brodnansky, Monse Torres, Patti Jobson, Penn Chambers, Teresa Losh, Terri Ottoboni, Terry Norona, Yolanda Smith and Yvonne Morones. Special thanks to the Jackson Family Wines volunteer team that helped us set up for this special night.
And a special thank you to our auctioneer, Mark Gladden.
We are incredibly fortunate and profoundly grateful for the love and support of our community.
Thank you!
Priscilla Locke
Santa Rosa
Resident feeling tourist impact
EDITOR: Today I’m asking you to care. The city of Healdsburg recently moved one step closer to approving a new restaurant on the Plaza. The project includes a 230 seat restaurant, roof garden lounge and two luxury apartments. We are already suffering traffic jams at the north end of town, with more houses on the way, and no attempt being made by the city to address this traffic problem. Now we want to create more traffic and parking problems downtown, too? The impact this project will have on Healdsburg is what I worry about. Are we willing to risk losing what makes this place great for more tourist dollars? Haven’t we gone in that direction long enough? It is time to care more about the health and welfare of our community and town, and make every effort preserve the qualities we all love about living here. After all, it will be the residents who are the most affected by these changes.
Maggie Medeiros
Healdsburg
