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: Written by: Noah Abrams; Published: 13 December 2022

An updated version of Sonoma County’s Local Coastal Plan is on the horizon. Some in the farming community concerned over what it might mean for agriculture along the Sonoma Coast.

One major priority of the California Coastal Act is the protection of productive agricultural lands within the “coastal zone”. Wendy Krupnick, president of the Sonoma County chapter of the California Alliance with Family Farmers says it is more important than ever.

"There's a real need for increasing local food security everywhere, but especially in more remote regions like the coast, which is so prone to being cut off from supply chains, increasingly so with climate change," Krupnick said.

Permit Sonoma’s Gary Helfrich is the planner behind the draft update of Sonoma County’s Local Coastal Plan.

"There are of course natural barriers, which is lack of water, poor soils, climate that isn't really that good for a lot of crops," Helfrich said. "Effects of sea level rise. Wells are progressively becoming saltier."

Despite the lack of suitable land as noted by Helfrich, over 2,000 coastal acres make the cut as “farmland of local importance.”

Permit Sonoma’s Bradley Dunn said the updated plan continues to protect against encroaching development.

"So the minimum parcel size is associated with subdivisions, not necessarily farming, and we are really trying to set it at a level that preserves farmlands and prevents subdivisions and conversions to non agricultural uses," Dunn said.

Helfrich said there are still a number of suitable agricultural properties.

"All this is, is a restriction on subdivision," Helfrich said. "It doesn't restrict your activity on the property. You can have a farm on, on any agriculturally zoned parcel. For reference, there are 304 agriculturally zoned parcels that are not owned by a public agency."

Helfrich said they are of many sizes too.

"136 of them are under 20 acres, so any one of those could be bought and turned into a small farm," Helfrich said. "And in fact, there's over a hundred of them that are under 10 acres. So there's lots of small parcels that already have agricultural zoning in the coast."

While there are limited but viable options for farming within the coastal zone, minimum parcel sizes do restrict the ability of landowners to breakup and sell arable farmland as small farming plots. That's something Helfrich said helps maintain viable farmland, but Krupnick said may put land far beyond the financial reach of would be small farmers.

: Written by: Noah Abrams; Published: 13 December 2022

A proposed substance rehab center in Santa Rosa drew a large virtual crowd to a recent Santa Rosa Planning Commission meeting with many concerns.

Tensions have been growing in the Skyhawk neighborhood in Northwest Santa Rosa over a proposed private residential treatment facility just off Highway 12.

City planner trainee Noor Bisla explained the project basics.

"It's a 24 bed community care facility for monitored detoxification and withdrawal management slash residential treatment," Bisla said. "It would be a 24 hour operation with three to five staff members for overnight shifts and six to eight or daytime shifts."

The treatment facility is proposed by Pura Vida Recovery services. Owner Alex Wignall addressed worries about the site’s proximity to local businesses - something he said wouldn’t be a first.

"Our current location was located directly next to a bar and restaurant for four years," Wignall said. "We never had a single issue with a client going to get a drink or relapsing there, but we did have several people from the bar wander over to ask us about quitting drinking."

Those tensions came through in hours of public comments from local residents at a planning commission meeting. David Paul said his concern is over city code.

"This project would violate the zoning code, the city code, and the general plan of the city of Santa Rosa," Paul said.

The commission, including commissioner Charles Carter, ultimately voted unanimously against approving the minor use permit, citing code concerns.

"You know, I really came into this thinking this was just a NIMBY situation, but I think there really are difficulties with this site," Carter said.

Commissioner Patti Cisco said the decision is straightforward.

"The fatal flaw for this project is that it does not fit our definition of a community care facility to be providing non-medical residential care," Cisco said.

Though the commission voted against the project, Chair Karen Weeks spoke against the harsh judgment many commenting residents passed towards those seeking substance rehabilitation.

: Written by: Marc Albert; Published: 13 December 2022

Considered a looming threat for decades, Congress has approved millions to address hazards at the seventy-six-year-old dam holding back the North Bay’s Lake Hennessey.

Money to greatly improve the earthen dam's antiquated spillway and funding to study dredging the Napa River was added to the recent, must-pass National Defense Authorization Act by Congressman Mike Thompson.

Although long awaited, convoys of earthmoving equipment won't be streaming in to make repairs for a while. Joy Eldredge, deputy utilities director for the City of Napa laid out how the project will likely proceed.

"We have to complete the feasibility study, my understanding right now is that the Corps of Engineers will be part of the review process with it, so, we are likely looking at a year or two until we have full approval, that's going to include the Division of Safety of Dams and the Corps of Engineers, if we're doing such a big project like this, we sure want to get it right. And, I'm a little bit guessing right now not having worked with these agencies recently, that that's probably a two-year process."

She said a five-year timeline for completion was a ballpark guess. She said issues with the dam, completed in 1946, have been known for decades.

"Frankly, since the 80s, but more poignantly NOAA has re-defined what they consider the maximum probable flood and that has changed the amount of flow that should be able to exit from our reservoir."

And that's a problem. Essentially, it's possible for more water to flow in, than engineers can eject.

And that could prove catastrophic for the dam and anything downstream, including Napa itself.

"It's an earthen dam. Should the spillway be flowing at max capacity and this deluge of water continues to drain into the reservoir, there's the potential it could exceed the top of the earthen dam, and that's not a good scenario."

That's because water pouring over the dam's face would likely lead to total failure and thirty-one-thousand-acre feet of water pouring down Napa Valley.

During its last inspection five years ago, the dam's condition was rated 'fair.' The 125-foot-high structure is also considered a 'high hazard' dam due to the number of people living in the floodplain below.

: Written by: Marc Albert; Published: 13 December 2022

Santa Rosa officials heard hours of public input Monday evening on the thorny issue of short term rentals, as the city looks toward revising its recently enacted rules this spring.

Barely more than a year old, in general, officials believe the regulations are working.

Monday's meeting was an opportunity for the public to disagree, and for the most part, they did.

Several called unfair a prohibition against operating a short term rental within a thousand feet of another. The rule is meant to reduce noise complaints.

However several people, including Christiani Gonzales, said they were counting on vacation rental revenue to help finance their home purchase and got stuck, unable to obtain a short term rental license when the rules took effect due to another homeowner operating one nearby.

"When I bought this house, I bought this house because I could do Airbnb, otherwise I would not be in Santa Rosa. I could have taken another place."

Others complain the process to obtain a permit is too complex, especially for seniors, and too costly. Several say the city isn't responding fast enough to complaints.

Others urge the city to raise it's limit. It currently allows 198 short term rental sites without the owner on site.

Stephanie Simons, like several others, urges further limitations, especially on un-hosted sites. She said the proliferation of vacation rentals has her feeling she no longer lives in a neighborhood.

"There's those of us who have to live next door to strangers. All the time. That come and go. And there's nobody checking their background. I have little kids and my kids are subjected to people, just strangers all the time. We don't know who they are."

Revisions to the ordinance are scheduled to be heard by the Santa Rosa Economic Development Subcommittee January 10th. And by the Planning Commission and City Council in the spring.