Letters to the Editor 4-14-16

Neighbors
Editor: It has come to my attention that Lytton Liaison Kristyn Byrne is accepting a new position as Director of Government Affairs and Public Relations with The Ratto Group. She was hired initially by the tribe to help with getting the tribe’s offer of an aquatic park for the town as a trade for the sewage and water extension. The offer is off the table for the November ballot, I am told, and the tribe is just focusing on getting their properties into trust. For the record, I am not employed by the tribe now nor have I been employed by the tribe in the past, as charged on social media. I am a longtime property owner here and I am saddened by Windsor’s opposition to the tribe’s efforts to replace lost lands, build a winery, homes and a hotel. I thank them for their generosity having donated millions of dollars to our schools and fire department. They will be good neighbors and I wish them well.
Dave Heventhal
Windsor
Relay for Life
Editor: Please stop by our Relay for Life booth on Sunday, April 17 (Earth Day on the Green). Our Relay supports the aims of the American Cancer Society. You will learn more about our event which is scheduled for Saturday, July 16 at Keiser Park. For more information about the work of the American Cancer Society, please contact our local office in Santa Rosa, 707-545-3179, or the American Cancer Society at 1-800-227-2345.
Jill Sullivan
Santa Rosa
General Plan concerns
Editor: With the clearly stated concerns about traffic, loss of open space, and too much growth expressed in the results from the surveys the town took last month during its outreach to us residents in regards to the General Plan update, I have been surprised with the lack of comment and concern about the changes contemplated for the Old Redwood Highway corridor. Have the materials describing these changes been too opaque, or are we as a community satisfied with the changes? Thinking it might be the former, I have spent the past week culling the documents trying to distill the impact of the plan into something more easily understandable. Though I have only had time so far to analyze the portion of Old Redwood Hwy. below Pleasant Avenue, the numbers seem dramatic. The current General Plan/zoning of the underutilized and vacant lots below Pleasant Avenue expects 261 new units, or about 780 new residents. If the updated General Plan changes the designation of Old Redwood Hwy. to Multi-use Boulevard, these lots will be expected to yield 1030 new units, or about 3080 new residents. This is a four-fold increase, not from the current density, but from the density that is called for if these lots were developed under the current general plan designations. These residents will be more than two miles to the nearest full service grocery store, likewise, more than two miles to downtown. They will be a little less than two and a half miles from the high school and middle school, and a little more than three miles from the new elementary school targeted for the north of Arata area. What impacts will this increase have on congestion? A similar increase, though I suspect less dramatic because of fewer available lots and a greater likelihood for commercial development, is planned for Old Redwood Hwy. north of downtown and between 101 and Pleasant Avenue. To illustrate, this I am working on an image of the Old Redwood Hwy. corridor that identifies the underutilized or vacant lots and annotates these lots with their lot size and the number of extra residential units the Multi-use Blvd. designation expects. See for yourself at http://tinyurl.com/oldredmap. As of this moment, this is a work in progress, only showing information for the lots below Pleasant Avenue. The map will be updated as I make progress. Zoom into the map to see the details, including my annotations. I am a relatively new resident of Windsor, having moved here four years ago. With my lack of tenure, I don’t feel I have the pulse of the community yet. I can’t distinguish whether the lack of comment and concern is because we are comfortable with the changes, or because the changes aren’t apparent. I hope the information in this letter reduces the opaqueness. Can you help me to understand what the community wants? I have created a simple poll with a single question asking residents to choose between keeping the density along Old Redwood Highway consistent with the current general plan, or increasing the density. Please take the poll by going to http://tinyurl.com/oldredpoll.
Michael Freedman
Windsor