From the Friends of North Sonoma/Steering Committee
To the Donald St. Community,
A. Sonoma County continues to press forward with the rezoning of Donald St., East of Robinson for the Springs Specific Plan (SSP). Our neighborhood will see the number of houses along Donald St. grow by over FIVE times from 114 houses to 630 houses! Imagine the congestion, the difficulty in parking, the inability to make a rapid escape from wildfires. By April the Environmental Impact Report (EIR) will be released for that Plan, and we will have 60 days to provide our criticism. As a legal document, we will crucially need:
1. An attorney to help submit our response,
2. 1-2 experts regarding traffic congestion and wildfire evacuation
3. Other support from our community in website development, monthly group meetings, and writing the EIR response.
Items 1 and 2 will cost approximately $20,000, which we will need to raise. For those who are in a position to donate a lump sum of hundreds to thousands, we graciously accept. For the rest of us we suggest a contribution of only $50/month for six months. We have over a hundred households in our neighborhood, which could thus provide over $5000/month to support our response. All unused funds could be returned to contributors. Please tell us what you think of this fund-raising approach.
As a community we are all deeply concerned with wildfires, traffic along our narrow, potholed streets, our inadequate water supply, and overall safety. Our response to this DEIR is our opportunity to come together as a neighborhood and challenge their proposal.
B. In addition Sonoma County has recommended that the lot north of the Lighthouse Church be designated a Priority Development Area (PDA) by the Metropolitan Transportation Commission. This would permit the addition of over 150 MORE houses to the Donald St. area, growing our community from 114 houses to 750! That’s an addition of at nearly 1500 new people to our neighborhood – really.
C. To date we won a battle in the Sonoma Civil Grand Jury last April, that agreed that our neighborhood did NOT receive notice of the proposed rezoned development along Donald St. However, there is no enforcement available to us. It will later help us, if we have to finally sue the County.
D. We have initiated a website to support our fight over the Springs Specific Plan. We could use help from anyone familiar with website design. We have spoken with potential experts in Wildfire spread and evacuation. We have a person knowledgeable in Traffic analysis, but will need an expert here also.
Sonoma County, desperate to meet the housing crisis, is creating a safety crisis in our neighborhood. We should not stand for this.
WE WILL HAVE A ZOOM MEETING ON YOUR COMPUTER (OR SMART PHONE), IN WHICH WE WILL DISCUSS OUR OPTIONS AND TAKE YOUR QUESTIONS. THAT MEETING WILL OCCUR ON FEB. X, 2021 AT YY PM.
(You don’t need any special software, just a computer with an built-in or external camera and microphone. Or you can listen on any telephone.)
FLYERS will soon be on your doors to remind you of this Zoom meeting.