Petition Asks for Giant Healdsburg River Park

You know that huge chunk of wasteland along the far bank of the Russian River through town, next to Memorial Bridge? For over 75 years, it was home to a sand and gravel mine, run by a company called Syar Industries. Now, all 88 acres are up for sale. But before developers can get their hands on the land, hundreds of residents are pressuring city officials, via petition, to turn it into a giant public park along the river, instead of allowing another hotel, strip mall or housing development to move in. The petition — called “Reconnect Healdsburg with its riverfront!” — has amassed nearly 300 signatures. It was drawn up by Healdsburg native Eric Arneson, who currently works as a landscape architect down in Santa Barbara. It features his proposed designs for this new public rec area, which he’s calling “Bendway Park” for now. Eric tells me over email that he “created the first versions of this design back in 2015 with the anticipation that Syar would eventually sell.” Back then, his design got a nod from the American Society of Landscape Architects. And “now that that is finally happening,” he says, “things are starting to move quickly. Hopefully we can reach 500+ signatures.” In the petition, he makes the case: “For over a century, large stretches of the scenic Russian River have been dominated by industry, leaving Healdsburg with a broken link between the community and the natural beauty of the Russian River. … The City of Healdsburg must take this opportunity to explore the creation of a linear riverfront park linking the two former SYAR properties and Veterans Memorial Park into one unified accessible open space. If you love the river and want to see the creation of an expanded riverfront access and habitat, support BENDWAY PARK!” The Jones Lang LaSalle real-estate brokerage, which is overseeing the sale of the Syar property, is pitching the 13666 Healdsburg Ave. property as the perfect place — especially due to its strategic position at the southern entrance to town — to build “a luxury destination hotel, townhomes, single family residences and a mixture of retail & related commercial uses.” Their brochure says the property will make up a large part of the City of Healdsburg’s “South Entry” plan, which city officials will be drafting this year for the area between the bridge and the freeway. Realtor renderings show what a large hotel or apartment building would look like in that spot. “Bendway Park is somewhat of a protest design,” says petition leader Eric, “to counteract what inevitably will be proposed by profit driven developers. My hope is that if enough people voice support for this vision that it will force some kind of deal with the developers and the city to meet in the middle to have a balance between the development and a substantial and meaningful PUBLICLY accessible riverfront open space.” You can see a comparison below of what Jones Lang LaSalle is suggesting a developer might want to build, versus Eric’s park proposal. (Source: Change.org & Healdsburg Tribune & American Society of Landscape Architects & Eric Arneson via Instagram & Jones Lang LaSalle Brokerage & LoopNet & City of Healdsburg & Chris Herrod via Mailchimp)