Visions for the Springs and City of Sonoma
With City of Sonoma housing policy wins behind us, and Sonoma County’s housing plan still under development, Sonoma Valley Collaborative (SVC) invited speakers to give its members perspective on the two most populous areas in Sonoma Valley, the Springs and the City of Sonoma.
We welcomed two speakers to our June 14 SVC Council meeting:
Maite Iturri, Chair, Springs Municipal Advisory Council, is the long-time former principal at El Verano School and advocate for Springs families and residents. Topic: What is your vision for the Springs, and how can SVC help get there?
David Guhin, City Manager, City of Sonoma, comes to Sonoma after achieving impressive housing wins at the City of Santa Rosa. Topic: What is possible in the City of Sonoma regarding housing affordability over the next year or two, and how can SVC help get there?
For context, we revisited statements Sonoma Valley Collaborative made in our 2020 report, Homes for a Sustainable Sonoma Valley: Strategic Recommendations for our Community.
“Assure that the City and the Springs equitably share the benefits and burdens of being urban areas.”
“The Springs, with more residents than the City of Sonoma, needs the same urban services as a city, but without a city government, this area does not receive them.”
“The largely white City of Sonoma is incorporated and therefore well represented with its own government, but the historically Latino and working-class Springs is not.”
A time-sensitive priority: “Influence the final Springs Specific Plan”
In the Bigger Picture section: “De facto Segregation. The economic inequity and de facto segregation between the City of Sonoma and the Springs is an ongoing, festering issue in Sonoma Valley. These inequities will only be resolved when the City and the Springs share the burdens and the benefits of being urban places. There was a sustained, unsuccessful attempt to address this imbalance in the 1970’s, that tried to merge the two areas into a new single city to be called Sonoma Valley. What avenues and allies are available to right this situation?”
Here is a summary of what our speakers had to say.
Image: Sonoma Sun
David Guhin, City Manager, City of Sonoma. Topic: What is possible in the City of Sonoma regarding housing affordability over the next year or two, and how can SVC help get there?
When everyone should be at the table and part of solutions, we will get further. It will take the political will of officials and the community embracing affordable housing. Banks, contractors, and the price of materials all have a big influence—it is never just one thing.
The #1 thing is to “stop the bleeding” by keeping what is affordable now affordable. That is, rescuing expiring subsidies. Luckily, newer below-market-rate units have permanent affordability locked in.
Making the process to approve projects easier is a go-to for lots of people, and is important, but just one piece of the puzzle. It turns out, even if you cut and waive fees, like we did in Santa Rosa, there are still problems.
The City of Sonoma is hiring a Community Development Director, who will make things more efficient and transparent.
There is already a restriction on new vacation rentals within City limits, but there are a lot of second homes, which have the opportunity to be looked at in a different way.
A lot can happen around reducing parking requirements locally. The State already does not require new parking for ADU’s.
Developers can opt to pay “in-lieu” money instead of building the required 25% below-market-rate “inclusionary” units. That money is usually not enough to actually build replacement units, but it can be useful, for example, in extending expiring affordability subsidies. In some places, a 25% inclusionary requirement can be too high and create a barrier to getting affordable housing built; the right number depends on the particular location.
There is potential for a detailed Specific Plan, for example along Broadway and Napa Street that would streamline desired types of development, getting all environmental review done in advance.
I think in terms of a “toolbox” of what a city can control: incentivizes we can offer, processes we can streamline, fees we can waive. We don’t have to wait to act until the General Plan is done.
Regarding the annexation of The Springs, shared services are in the pipeline now e.g. homeless services, with $260K in the budget for homeless services that extend beyond City limits. There’s no magic line between the City and The Springs. The City of Sonoma is part of the Valley.
The City of Sonoma will be implementing its Housing Element.
The City of Sonoma is starting its General Plan update process. Timeline: 3-year process with a lot of community engagement. This year will start with scoping. Scenarios and options in 2nd year. It is critical that people participate and take advantage of this opportunity to be part of the conversation. This is where things like density, height, setbacks, and parking get decided. General Plans can be in effect for up to 30 years.
What Sonoma Valley Collaborative can do:
Get people to the table to weigh in on the General Plan, to speak to how we want to see our neighborhoods densify. SVC needs to provide feedback and also engage members’ networks.
Show up at the joint Planning Commission and City Council meeting that will kick off the update process.
First year is critical.
Image: Sonoma Index Tribune
Maite Iturri, Chair, Springs Municipal Advisory Council. Topic: What is your vision for the Springs, and how can SVC help get there?
Write one word in the chat on the Springs: Most common words: “vibrant”, “community”. People also wrote “Latino”, “home”, “powerful”, “alive”, “diverse”, “community”, “warm”, “walking traffic”, “insecure”, “warm”, “hungry”.
The Springs is an amazing and diverse place, full of assets, gifts, and beauty, and it is a completely disenfranchised and marginalized place. It’s a unique place. My vision for the Springs is a healthy and housed community. Where people have basic human rights.
Health means many things: literacy, physical health, not having to travel outside the Valley for chemo or childbirth, mental health/therapy, food security, road safety, and exercise/open space.
Mental health can mean taking a walk around a track with a friend, or having access to therapy and medication. We opened a Family Resource Center at El Verano school with La Luz to offer mental health services to undocumented people.
Food security is another huge issue. The Food Task Force has found a lot of food insecurity in the Springs. As inflation has increased, it’s more and more challenging to feed your family.
Road safety is one of the most visible pieces of evidence of the Springs being under-resourced and undervalued. The Springs is not walkable, its intersections are unsafe. Four lighted crosswalks have shown up in the City of Sonoma when the Springs has not gotten any despite asking for them for years and 4 fatalities at Highway 12/Verano Ave. The Skate park, Boys and Girls Club, and renovation of Maxwell Park will increase the number of kids crossing roads.
It’s easy to see the inequities, when you cross the line of Verano Ave. This is known, not a secret. Everyone knows the spaces in The Springs are not adequate.
Frontline workers are the people in the Springs. During the COVID lockdown, they had no masks, no info, no protective gear—but they showed up to work.
Affordable (housing) means housing for workers. People who earn money in Sonoma should be able to live in Sonoma. Much of the housing in the Springs is substandard, with tenants who don’t speak up because they are afraid of losing their housing. I remember having to go up a ladder and walk across a bridge to get to a family’s home.
Free universal preschool would bring more families to SVUSD. The district is still in declining enrollment. What can we do to entice families to live here? Make it possible for people to have a baby in the local hospital, access to childcare and preschool, and be able to afford to live here.
Springs MAC has been focusing on:
Road safety because it has become such an issue, not being walkable or crossable.
Emergency preparedness: can’t get fire trucks up some of the roads, so eliminating parking on roads, some vegetation management
Cultural events: Dia de los Muertos, Winter Festival, Larson Park picnic on June 17.
Controversy around Springs plaza vs no plaza, investing in Larson Park.
Supporting affordable housing at SDC, no statement about numbers.
Advocating for mental health services. We should have something like the SAFE Team in Petaluma, which is used constantly by schools, not law enforcement, to de-escalate.
Sonoma Valley has the resources, talent, the ganas, but we haven’t found the path forward.
What Sonoma Valley Collaborative can do:
Get the attention of CalTrans to get safer streets in the Springs. We need lit crosswalks all along 12. Needs to be walkable. See https://dot.ca.gov/caltrans-near-me/district-4/d4-projects/verano-avenue-and-hwy-12-intersection-in-the-springs. Public meeting Wednesday, June 21, 2023, 6:30pm, in person, El Verano School.
Support there being a liaison or seat representing the Springs on the Sonoma City Council. So much happens in the City that affects the Springs, but the Springs has no input.
Keep advocating for housing that is affordable for people who work in Sonoma Valley. Affordable Housing can’t be all in the Springs; it should be sprinkled all over the Valley.
Their presentations were followed by a discussion with the SVC Council members present, who represent a wide array of sectors in Sonoma Valley: low income, local business, faith, Latino, disability, environment, mental health, and seniors.
On a safer Hwy 12: David Guhin, SVC staff, and local business representative committed to take action. Unsafe streets and crosswalks are a serious issue for people with disabilities, in wheelchairs, those who take a long time to cross the street, or do not drive due to disability.
On shared services between the City and Springs
Police and fire are already shared. Water is different. Permitting is different. Coordinating now on homeless services.
Ask the community what services they want. Government can provide community space, a library, infrastructure, parks, and walkability.
Services aren’t the same as representation.
The SVC Council is ready and willing to advocate for affordable housing and equity between the City and Springs. Several SVC Council members urged David and Maite to ask SVC anytime to take action.
SVC can focus on gaps in coordination or “shared services” between City and Springs.
Examples of the problem between City of Sonoma and Springs
Business owner on Plaza who cannot weigh in on City issues that affect their business, because they live in the Springs.
City has, but the Springs does not have, lit crosswalks, a noise ordinance, less dense multi-family zoning, and a prohibition on new vacation rentals.
On the City of Sonoma General Plan, which sets locations, height and density of housing, SVC members stated support for representation and influence of people from the Springs at the City of Sonoma.
On elevating the voices of people in the Springs
The Springs is powerful because of the people, but it’s a latent power. It’s not organizations that should speak for people; people need to speak for themselves.
Safe spaces and follow-through are required to build trust.
Value of little wins.