by Teri Shore
For 20 years, Sonoma County’s community separator polices have prevented subdivisions, shopping malls and big box stores from sprawling into nearly 17,000 acres of natural and agricultural lands between our towns and cities. In 2016, Sonoma County must renew the voter-backed community separator measures that passed with more than 70% of the countywide vote.
Houses line up against farmland along Petaluma Hill Road south of Santa Rosa. This area is not in a community separator, but gives an example of the urban edge and rural lands that we see around the county that are at risk of development in the long term if not protected.
For the first time in decades, Sonoma County has an opportunity to review, revise and improve voter-backed open space policies.
Sierra Club’s Sonoma Group was among the first to send a letter to the Board of Supervisors urging them to develop and support a robust renewal, update, and expansion of community separators.
So far, the supervisors have not committed to anything beyond a bare-bones renewal. They will soon vote on a work plan to renew the community separators, so individual and organizational letters are needed now to urge them to extend community separator designations to:
• priority greenbelts
• lands around Penngrove
• lands between Cloverdale and Healdsburg
• lands with high natural resource values
Community separators protect agriculture, waterways, drinking water, groundwater and recharge, wildlife corridors, hillsides, and woodlands and preserve clean air, water, and climate resiliency – all key to public health and wellness across populations and income levels.
Greenbelt protections are strongly supported by voters in Sonoma County. Three supervisors are up for re-election in 2016: Supervisors Susan Gorin, Shirlee Zane and Efren Carrillo. To demonstrate their commitment to protecting Sonoma County’s natural and agricultural lands ease, they must direct the Permit Resource and Management Department to implement a community separator work plan for the 2016 ballot measure that includes renewal, revisions of 20-year old policies and consideration of additional designations in priority areas.
Pressure is once again mounting to sacrifice Sonoma County’s greenbelts and communities to sprawl like we’ve seen throughout the Bay Area.
Maintaining policies that prevent sprawl is cost-effective for government and cities. The need for housing in Sonoma County can be met through infill development within existing footprints.
Please write or call your supervisor at (707) 565-2241 to support community separator renewal and expansion now, not later.
Shirlee.Zane@sonoma-county.org
Efren.Carrillo@sonoma-county.org
David.Rabbitt@sonoma-county.org
An action alert with sample letter is posted on Greenbelt Alliance’s website. To join the campaign, contact Teri Shore at tshore@greenbelt.org or at 707-575-3661.