The City of Healdsburg has an expansive backyard of natural resources for recreation and nature lovers from rolling green pastures and vineyards, parks, gurgling streams and the Russian River; however, Healdsburg has a craving for more, at least as reported by the official SDAT (Sustainable Design Assessment Team) and Healdsburg 2040 report, which was released late November.
The Landscape and environment/connectivity topic is only one section in the lengthy report which was created after the SDAT team held a series of community workshops and meetings in 2018 to discuss current Healdsburg issues such as affordable housing, tourism and arts and culture.
While the landscape and environment section is also a bit dense in nature there are few key takeaways.
The report found that as a result of natural habitat loss and fragmentation (breaking up of habitats), locals need and want more pedestrian trails, parks and recreation opportunities via increased access and connectivity to nature preserves, beach access and increased walking trails, bike paths and connectivity to neighborhoods.
“The city of Healdsburg has insufficient connections to open spaces for recreation and outdoor enjoyment. There is also a lack of walkable and ADA compliant streetscapes,” the report states.
What’s more, the report found that, “there is a need to provide increased landscape connectivity to aid wildlife movement and to improve ecological health along protected corridors and newly created protected habitats (i.e., along ridges, rivers and creeks, highways and rails) to reduce (habitat) fragmentation and incorporate higher quality linkages between habitats.”
Essentially, the report’s findings show a desire to be smart and respectful with local environs and habitats and with increased hotel and business development in town, locals want to be able to enjoy Healdsburg’s beauty. And after years of a focus on wine and tourism, a desire for more connectivity between neighborhoods, trails and a focus on the river is returning.
“150 years ago the Russian River was a tourist destination,” said Tim Unger, a steering committee lead for the Healdsburg 2040 group and AIA (Communities by Design, the group that helped organize the SDAT).
Richard Burg, another steering committee member and the former vice chair of the Community Housing Committee said of the findings, “One of the ways the AIA highlighted connectivity was getting people connected to the natural environment.”
The two steering committee members say they believe an additional focus on neighborhood interconnectivity (as well as park and trail connectivity) near places like Powell Street would not only make residents feel more connected, but would also return a sense of local community pride to those who may feel there is too much downtown/tourist centered development.
But just how can the city reach such lofty community suggestions when new trails and open spaces are a tall order?
After harvesting suggestions and ideas from SDAT and Healdsburg 2040 community workshops the report found a few suggestions on how to work to create the desired vision.
Suggestions include extending local public transportation in order to improve environmental and social sustainability, creating more pedestrian friendly streets with a pedestrian and bike corridor along Vine and Grove streets and creating conservation corridors adjacent to Foss Creek and the Russian River in order to help the riparian area regain its ecological structure.
“I think it’s doable, it might be a piece-by-piece process, but we are in a very opportune time … there are a lot of parks and transportation projects coming up and the city has been really responsive with us,” said Emily Podolak, a local landscape architect and a member of the landscape and environment group of Healdsburg 2040. “We are really excited to be able to see this.”
These potential steps towards connectivity also align with several city council members’ comments on what they found in the SDAT report.
In a November interview with the Tribune, Vice Mayor Leah Gold said one of her dream projects would be to create a safe, off-road bike path along the vineyards for bicycle enthusiasts.
In a December 2018 article, Healdsburg Mayor David Hagele also mentioned a desire for a more connected Healdsburg.
The city’ current parks and recreation amenities include local parks like Badger Park, and two beach access points, a county access point at Veteran’s Memorial Beach and a community beach at Del Rio Beach and a Foss Creek multi-use pathway.
In that same November interview Gold said of connectivity, “We want to create more river access and generally I am really more interested in connectivity between our river, Fitch Mountain and our Healdsburg Ridge open space and just making it more of a walkable circuit.”
