Author: Sonoma Land Trust

Coalition Unites Around SDC Conservation Priorities and Wildlife Corridor Study

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August 26, 2024

With large-scale housing and resort hotel development proposed for the campus of the Sonoma Developmental Center (SDC) and a new regional headquarters for CAL FIRE in the planning stages, the 900-acre property is facing unprecedented threats to the integrity of a regionally important wildlife corridor and the abundant water resources of the Sonoma Creek watershed. In response, a coalition of NGO’s including the Sonoma Land Trust, Jack London Park Partners, Sonoma Ecology Center, and Audubon Canyon Ranch, have united to design and fund a comprehensive studyto develop recommendations for the conservation and enhancement of the irreplaceable natural resources of SDC.

As part of the final state budget approved in June 2024, the Legislature appropriated $200,000 in funding through the Wildlife Conservation Board (WCB) to contribute to a study analyzing “the impacts on wildlife and habitat from the redevelopment plans for the core campus submitted to Sonoma County, the proposed siting of a new regional headquarters and fire station for CAL FIRE, and addition of portions of the property to Jack London State Historic Park.” 

Sonoma Land Trust (SLT) is in the process of submitting a grant proposal to WCB to secure these funds and will match the investment to employ the leading scientists and experts to focus on three areas of research and recommendations: 

  1. Developing a baseline of current habitat conditions and wildlife use of the property
  2. Designation of areas most appropriate for limited development and public use to protect sensitive wildlife habitat
  3. Design guidelines that recommend avoidance, minimization, and mitigation measures for any known development plans for the property.

There are serious concerns that the various development proposals for the Sonoma Developmental Center (SDC) will lead to several negative environmental and community impacts, including increased fire risk, thousands of additional cars on already congested roads, water quality degradation, and the permanent loss of the rural and agricultural character of the Sonoma Valley. The recent Superior Court decision in the case of SCALE v. County of Sonoma highlights these issues. The Court found that the SDC Specific Plan included “toothless and vague” mitigation measures for environmental impacts and “did nothing more than set forth hopeful intentions and vague statements…with no definition of what any of this means.” The SDC Specific Plan was approved in December 2022, so the CAL FIRE regional headquarters project was not considered in the Environmental Impact Report (EIR) or planning documents.. 

It is unclear if or when Sonoma County will revise the SDC Specific Plan to comply with the Superior Court’s ruling that overturned the plan and its Environmental Impact Report (EIR). For Sonoma Land Trust and our partners, protecting the wildlife and habitat resources of SDC has always been the top priority for the property’s future use. Instead of waiting for the state or county to develop a meaningful conservation strategy, the community will be prepared this time with focused, science-based recommendations. These recommendations will guide any future development while ensuring that the wildlife corridor, water resources, and open spaces are not ignored or discounted.

CAL FIRE proposes new Regional Headquarters on SDC Open Space Lands

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August 22, 2024

In early 2024, a surprise proposal to build a new regional headquarters for CAL FIRE on a portion of the Sonoma Developmental Center (SDC) property was included in Governor Newsom’s FY 2024-2025 Draft Budget. In December 2023, the land in question—about 52 acres along the eastern part of SDC’s open space—was transferred from the Department of General Services (DGS) to CAL FIRE through a ‘transfer of jurisdiction’ that was not previously disclosed to the public or Sonoma County officials. This land was originally intended to be added to Jack London State Historic Park. 

According to CAL FIRE’s Budget Change Proposal, the area will be the site of a new Sonoma-Lake-Napa Unit Headquarters and relocated Glen Ellen Fire Station. The project includes the acquisition of property, design, and construction of a new administration building, an Emergency Command Center (ECC) building, an auto shop, a service center, a training building, Captains Barracks, a training tower, a communications tower, a fire pump test pit, a generator/pump and storage building, a self-contained breathing apparatus recharge building, and a radio vault/repair building. Total project costs are estimated at $152,392,000, including a performance criteria phase ($7,619,000) and a design-build phase ($144,773,000). The performance criteria phase is estimated to run from Summer 2024-Summer 2026, and the design-build will be completed by June 2029.

After reviewing the budget proposal, Sonoma Land Trust worked with our lobbyist and legislative staff to create a new statutory requirement that CAL FIRE include protections for the wildlife corridor and natural resources in the performance criteria phase of the project. Specifically, CAL FIRE must ensure that:

“the design, siting, acquisition, planning, and construction of the facilities and related infrastructure conserve and protect to the greatest extent feasible the habitat, open space, and wildlife resources of the area within the former Sonoma Developmental Center property that is designated as a Habitat Connectivity Corridor and Community Separator in the Sonoma County General Plan. The design and location of the facilities and related infrastructure including, but not limited to, the placement of the facilities, lighting, and fencing, shall avoid and minimize impacts to the habitat connectivity corridor to the greatest extent feasible.”

Sonoma Land Trust will be meeting with CAL FIRE, the California Natural Resources Agency, and other interested parties throughout the fall to ensure that these statutory requirements are included in the performance criteria for this newly planned facility. It remains to be seen how the cumulative impacts from the campus redevelopment proposal and CalFire headquarters will be analyzed to ensure that environmental review is not done in a piecemeal fashion. It is also critical that the performance criteria ensure the protection and compatible use of the adjacent recreational and open space resources of Jack London State Historic Park and Sonoma Valley Regional Park.

Redevelopment Proposal for SDC Campus in Legal Limbo

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August 22, 2024

The developers chosen by the State of California to purchase the 180-acre Sonoma Developmental Center (SDC) campus faced a major legal challenge earlier this year. The Sonoma County Superior Court ruled in SCALE vs. The County of Sonoma that the Board of Supervisors violated the California Environmental Quality Act (CEQA) when they approved the SDC Specific Plan in December 2022. In a sweeping ruling overturning the Specific Plan and associated Environmental Impact Report (EIR), Judge Bradford DeMeo found that the “purported mitigation measures in the Plan are, as a whole, ineffective, vague, and devoid of any semblance of performance standards in violation of CEQA.”

As reported in the April 2023 Transform SDC article, the California Department of General Services chose Keith Rogal and Grupe Homes as the “selected buyer” for the redevelopment of the SDC campus. Promises of early community engagement were never realized as Rogal/Grupe filed a surprise application with Sonoma County in August 2023 that proposed a housing, hotel, and mixed-use development that far exceeded the 630 homes contemplated in the Specific Plan. As reported in an August 23, 2023 article in the Santa Rosa Press-Democrat article, the developers used a “newish interpretation of California law (SB 330) that allows developers to skirt local zoning ordinances and specific plans when a local jurisdiction doesn’t have a state-approved housing element” to propose over 930 homes for the environmentally-sensitive SDC site. 

 As Supervisor Susan Gorin said in the article, “I was absolutely blindsided, and Permit Sonoma was as well,” referring to the county’s planning and building agency. “It came in at the very last minute. I felt comfortable about Keith Rogal and Grupe, and how they were engaging the community. And this came out of nowhere.”  Keith Rogal promised that “Six months from now, we will submit a full planning application that will have a lot more detail,” he said. “Along the way, starting very soon, we want to be getting lots of input and feedback, and we expect to improve and refine what we’re doing.”

The full application was submitted by Rogal/Grupe to Permit Sonoma in February 2024 with none of the promised public input, dialogue or refinements. In March, Permit Sonoma found the submittal incomplete with disagreements over the number of affordable units proposed, the placement of a hotel in the northwest corner of the campus along the wildlife corridor, the overreliance on single-family detached dwellings, and underutilization of housing types for middle-class buyers. Under the name ‘Eldridge Renewal,’ the developers resubmitted the application in June with an even higher housing count of over 960 homes, only to have it rejected again a month later as incomplete. The County found numerous shortcomings in the application, including a lack of sufficient detail on the placement and architectural design of the homes, no open space framework, not enough information on water supply and wastewater treatment, and numerous other deficiencies. Rogal/Grupe have 90 days to resubmit the application for a third round of review. 

What does the April 2024 Superior Court ruling mean for the future redevelopment of SDC? Without an approved Specific Plan for the property, the developers have no underlying authority or Programmatic EIR to rely upon to determine what level of development is permitted, and what mitigation may be required to reduce significant environmental impacts. Even though the court overturned the Specific Plan, Rogal/Grupe can still legally proceed with their application for just the campus development. This will require a very detailed Project EIR, which will have none of the procedural advantages of using the Specific Plan as a reference point. Because the application falls under the auspices of SB 330, which streamlines approval for development to address California’s critical housing shortage, Permit Sonoma explained that while public hearings will be required before the project is reviewed, “there can be a maximum of five for a project like this, so none are being scheduled until the application is complete.”

As we await Judge DeMeo’s final published ruling, it remains to be seen when or if the Rogal/Grupe development proposal will be able to meet Permit Sonoma’s application completeness requirements.

Open Space Transferred to Parks

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Nearly a decade after the Sonoma Developmental Center campus was permanently closed, its surrounding open spaces have been transferred into permanent protection! The state has come through on its promise to protect the natural, wild, healthy habitats by transferring 650 acres to California State Parks, expanding Jack London State Historic Park to more than 2,200 acres.

Preserving this land protects a crucial wildlife corridor between the Mayacamas Mountains and Sonoma Mountain, ensuring the safe movement of apex predators, including mountain lions, foxes, coyotes, and badgers. The transfer also means increased opportunities for recreation and dramatically improved fire safety for the region.

In anticipation of this event, we have secured funding earmarked for trail alignment and improvement, mapping and access upgrades, wildlife studies, and habitat restoration, and we have been waiting for this moment to partner with State Parks and Jack London State Park Partners to make it happen. We are thrilled to see this day finally come!

Read the full article: https://www.pressdemocrat.com/article/news/large-chunk-of-sonoma-developmental-center-land-to-be-transferred-to-state/

DGS has made their decision

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In an announcement made today by the California Department of General Services, the Rogal & Partners proposal was selected. See notice below:

NOTICE OF SELECTION 

[Request for Proposal No. AMB 2022-05-17] 

In accordance with Request for Proposal No. AMB 2022-05-17 (the “RFP”), while reserving all rights reserved in the RFP, the State is hereby providing notice of the selection of The Grupe Company and Rogal & Partners as the Selected Buyer for the developed portion of the campus. 

If you have any questions, please contact DGS, Asset Management Branch, Attention: Branch Chief, MS-501, 707 3rd Street, West Sacramento, CA 95605. 

Dec 16 Board of Supervisors Meeting Update

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The December 16, 2022, Board of Supervisors meeting was an important milestone in the future of the Sonoma Developmental Center with some wins for nature including expanded boundaries and wider integration of wildlife permeability throughout the campus.

However, much uncertainty remains due to the fact the EIR is still so broad, and the future site developer (which the State will select next year), has a great deal of latitude to make choices that will greatly impact Sonoma Valley, one way or another. 

We applaud Supervisors Gorin and Coursey for their thoughtful engagement in this process. Balancing the different perspectives associated with this project is no easy task, and we appreciate their efforts to keep the ecological issues at the same level of importance as the other factors considered in the discussion.

We look forward to partnering with them further when the developer is selected so that ongoing concerns can be addressed in the subsequent Development Agreement. To learn more about what’s at stake, and our involvement, please see our Q&A sheet that attempts to answers the common questions circulating around this phase of the process.

We are grateful for the opportunity to be a voice for nature and will continue to stay engaged each step of the way. 

Eamon O’Byrne
Executive Director
Sonoma Land Trust

Sept 8 Webinar Follow-up

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Dear SDC workshop participants, 

Thank you for registering for the September 8 workshop on the SDC draft EIR and specific plan. If you missed it, please take the time to view the recording here. To learn more, please also visit www.transformsdc.com where we will be posting the presentation slides of the “Tips for Reviewing the Sonoma Developmental Center Specific Plan and Environmental Document” in the next few days. Remember to make your comments personal and from your own impressions and personal experience. 

As Sonoma Land Trust prepares our public comments for the upcoming Planning Commission hearing on September 15,  we will be focusing on how incompatible levels of development and new roads pose serious risks to the integrity of the Sonoma Valley Wildlife Corridor. Roads and wildlife corridors don’t mix well, and insufficient buffers between new housing and commercial uses on the campus and the corridor itself threaten to eliminate an already narrow “pinch point” for wildlife movement.  

 
If you are looking for more information about SDC planning, sale, and open space transfers, here are some important links: 

·         California Department of General Services- SDC Surplus property RFP 

·         Council of Infill Builders:  www.councilofinfillbuilders.org 

·         Sonoma County Specific Plan website:  https://www.sdcspecificplan.com 

Please also remember that there is a parallel process underway for a long-held community goal of transferring the 750+ acres of SDC open space lands into state and county park ownership. To learn more about how this can happen, please review the SDC Land and Water Protection Proposal on our website. 

Keep an eye out for further communications from Sonoma Land Trust with future action items before the September 26 comment deadline on the Draft Specific Plan and EIR. 

Thank you, 

John McCaull 
Land Acquisition Director
Sonoma Land Trust

Free Webinar Sept 8

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Please join Sonoma Land Trust and their partners in a free webinar that will help you understand the Environmental Impact Report (EIR) and the County Specific Plan.

Public comments can be made at the September 15 Planning Commission meeting or via email or mail by September 26. We will discuss what you need to know to make your voice heard.

Understanding the Sonoma Developmental Center (SDC) Specific Plan and Draft Environmental Impact Report (EIR)

Zoom Webinar Online

Thursday, September 8, 6:30-8pm

Register HERE

Urge Sonoma County to Engage in Meaningful Planning for SDC: Align the County Specific Plan with the State’s Request for Development Proposals

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La versión en español está abajo

Please join Sonoma Land Trust in urging Sonoma County to engage in a meaningful planning process for the Sonoma Developmental Center (SDC).

On August 10, 2022, the County released its Draft Environmental Impact Report (EIR) and Draft Specific Plan for SDC. Despite the Board of Supervisor’s direction to pursue a specific plan with fewer than 1,000 homes, the Drafts propose 1,000 residential units with extensive commercial development. 

This disconnect highlights the inadequacy and inefficiency of our current approach to planning and development. The draft specific plan fails to respond to the challenges of our time—including wildfire, drought, and biodiversity loss.

Further, because the Specific Plan and EIR were released before the State selected a development proposal, the Specific Plan is hypothetical. Neither it nor the EIR disclose the characteristics or environmental impacts of the proposal that will ultimately be accepted by the State. 

Why this matters:

Aligning the Specific Plan and EIR with the State’s RFP, would increase efficiency, save valuable taxpayer resources, and ensure thorough planning and environmental review. 
Review of the Specific Plan and EIR must be paused pending completion of the RFP process.

Take action now by sending a letter or email before August 24 to the County at: Brian.Oh@sonoma-county.org (Subject Line: “Draft EIR Comments: SDC Specific Plan”). Make sure to cc the Department of General Services at Gerald.McLaughlin@dgs.ca.gov

Urge the County to:

  1. Engage in meaningful planning for SDC by aligning the County Specific Plan process with the State’s RFP process and by moving forward with the County Specific Plan and EIR only after the State announces the RFP selection on October 24, 2022. 
  2. Re-draft the County Specific Plan and EIR to describe and analyze the impacts of the actual proposal that the State selects for the SDC property. Only after a specific development proposal is identified can the County Specific Plan and EIR provide the streamlined process they are designed to provide.  

Inste al condado de Sonoma a participar en la planificación significativa para el SDC

Tome medidas ahora enviando una carta al condado

Inste al condado de Sonoma a participar en la planificación significativa para el SDC: Alinee el plan específico del condado con la solicitud de propuestas de desarrollo del estado

Únase a Sonoma Land Trust para instar al condado de Sonoma a que participe en un proceso de planificación significativa para el Centro de Desarrollo de Sonoma (SDC).

El 10 de agosto de 2022, el condado presentó su Borrador del informe de impacto ambiental (EIR) y el Borrador del plan específico para el SDC. A pesar de las instrucciones del supervisor de la junta para aspirar a un plan específico con menos de 1,000 hogares, los borradores proponen 1,000 unidades residenciales con un desarrollo comercial extenso. 

Esta desconexión destaca la falta de adecuación y la ineficiencia de nuestro enfoque a actual con respecto a la planificación y al desarrollo. El plan específico del borrador no responde a los desafíos de nuestro tiempo; lo que incluye los incendios forestales, las sequías y la pérdida de biodiversidad.

Además, como el Plan específico y el EIR fueron presentados antes de que el estado seleccionara una propuesta de desarrollo, el Plan específico es hipotético. Ni el plan ni el EIR divulgan las características ni los impactos ambientales de la propuesta que, a fin de cuentas, será aceptada por el estado. 

Por qué es importante esto:

La alineación del Plan específico y del EIR con la Solicitud de propuestas (Request for proposals, RFP) del estado aumentaría la eficiencia, ahorraría recursos valiosos de los contribuyentes y garantizaría tanto la planificación como la revisión ambiental exhaustivas. La revisión del Plan específico y el EIR debe suspenderse hasta que se complete el proceso de la RFP.

Tome medidas ahora enviando una carta o un correo electrónico al condado antes del 24 de agosto a: Brian.Oh@sonoma-county.org (Asunto: “Comentarios del borrador del EIR: Plan específico del SDC”). Asegúrese de poner en copia al Departamento de Servicios Generales en Gerald.McLaughlin@dgs.ca.gov

Inste al condado a:

  1. Participar en una planificación significativa para el SDC al alinear el proceso del Plan específico del condado con el proceso de la RFP del estado al seguir adelante con el Plan específico del condado y el EIR solo después de que el estado anuncie la selección de la RFP el 24 de octubre de 2022. 
  2. Volver a redactar el Plan específico del condado y el EIR para describir y analizar los impactos de la propuesta actual que seleccione el estado para la propiedad del SDC. Solo después de que se haya identificado una propuesta de desarrollo específica, el Plan específico del condado y el EIR podrán suministrar el proceso agilizado que están destinados a ofrecer.