Page 38 - Sonoma County Gazette January 2016

Voter Protections Expire in 2016
Sebastopol Must Renew Urban Growth Boundary
By Denny Rosatti and Teri Shore
In 1996, Sebastopol was one of the first cities in Sonoma County, and the
“It Takes Stamina to Make Democracy Work.”
nation, to enact an Urban Growth Boundary (UGB) to protect farmland and open space on its borders from sprawl development. The UGB was locked in with voter approval by a significant majority, and had a twenty year time frame for those voter protections. The UGB expires at the end of 2016.
s Sebastopol’s Mayor for 2016, I endorse this quote by a local citizen about our civic process.
The UGB is a strong planning tool that removes the ability of the City Council to extend city services like water and sewer across the boundary without voter approval. This removes political influence from the process to push sprawl and development further from the city center.
than the county’s—and country’s—average. It compels responsibility and responsiveness from those elected to office.
On January 5, 2016, the Sebastopol City Council is expected to consider how to move forward on renewing its UGB next year. Due to city timelines, the voters of Sebastopol may need to collect signatures and place a citizen’s initiative on the ballot for November 2016.
Input takes time and its discussion takes even more time to integrate many points of view and filter them through our community’s values to a decision point. The result that I’ve observed: cheering from our dedicated public, after robust discussions during lengthy Council meetings, “Democracy in action!”
The City of Sebastopol is undergoing a General Plan update, but it is unlikely to be completed by the time the Sebastopol City Council would need to act to place the UGB back
before voters in early
According to me, that’s why Sebastopol is the top-ranked liberal city in Crowdpac’s survey of cities in Sonoma County, according to PD reporter Guy Kovner. We are 56th out of 4,994 nationwide.
August. The City Council is likely to be strongly in favor of renewing the UGB. But if they are not able to finish the General Plan Update and environmental review in time to place a measure on the ballot, then the voter protections
Sebastopol has stamina and it’s measured by engagement. We maintain
a tradition of door-to-door grassroots campaigning that generates close ties between the voter and the elected—a relationship that endures over the four- year term. I encourage you to keep that relationship vital. Contact me.
for the UGB would expire.
During the upcoming year, the City Council is likely to make crucial, long- range decisions about many of our community’s key issues:
• Our new General Plan
• The Laguna Preserve Management Plan
• The Pine Grove Square Development Proposal on the Burnett Street Parking Lot
• Our Improved Public Library Facility, proposed by LANTERN
• An updated Wayfinding System for Vehicle and Pedestrian Signage
• The Requirements of Community Impact Reports.
To extend the
UGB without a
ballot measure, the
Sebastopol City Council could pass a bridge ordinance to extend the UGB or adopt a moratorium on changes to the UGB until the General Plan update is completed. There could be other administrative options. However, with these options, the voter protections would expire in the interim.
The Council will appoint members to the Planning Commission and Design Review Board for four-year terms. Each of these volunteer boards directs the future of development in town, notably for 2016, the possibility of a new hotel or hotels.
Allowing the expiration of voter protections for Sebastopol’s UGB opens the door to development pressures and project approvals by the City Council with a simple majority instead of a vote of the people.
Our electorate will vote on our Urban Growth Boundary [UGB] to define where Sebastopol will develop: outwardly on the ground or upwardly with greater density.
If that happens, the voter protections for the Sebastopol-Santa Rosa community separator in adjacent county lands would also expire, according to existing county ordinance. The 1,400-acre community separator protects dairy, ag and wetlands areas from commercial development and subdivisions to higher density without a countywide vote. If voter protections expire, then the supervisors could change the use or zoning with a simple majority vote.
Our community will determine our financial future by buying locally and generously donating time and money to our local non-profits.
The Dairyman Winery is proposed for inside the community separator. While the community separator designation allows agricultural operations and associated structures such as barns, a new use permit is required for changes in use, and design and other construction guidelines apply. Since the Dairyman proposal is a major change of use, it must go through the use permit and associated public process.
I’d like to be creative about office hours and their location, other than City Hall, so that I can reach out to more citizens effectively. Any suggestions?
In order to avoid losing voter protections for both the Sebastopol UGB and the Sebastopol-Santa Rosa community separator, the voters of Sebastopol may need to step in and develop a UGB initiative and qualify it for the ballot.
In recent years, the Council has planned a few off-site meetings. Let me know where I might re-locate one of our Tuesday evening meetings so the Council can connect with another part of our community. It’d be great to see our community from another venue besides the Youth Annex on Morris Street on the eastern edge of town.
Greenbelt Alliance, Sonoma County Conservation Action, Sebastopol Tomorrow, Western Sonoma County Rural Alliance, and other open space enthusiasts are watching this issue very closely, and will be ready for action when the time arrives. The Sebastopol City Council is expected to hold a study session on the UGB issue at their January 5 meeting.
Drivers are likely to encounter Sebtowners on the sidewalks motioning with two-palms-down or calling out to them to slow down as they travel through town.
Sebastopol UGB Initiative Language from 1996: http://ci.sebastopol.ca.us/ sites/default/files/admin/measure_o_ugb_initiative_2-11-09.pdf
These signals are part of a new informal citizen campaign to encourage slower, safer speeds throughout town. 40-35-30 mph-none of these speeds is acceptable in our neighborhoods or on our main throughways that are heavily traveled by commuters and tourists.
38 - www.sonomacountygazette.com - 1/16
Folks want cars to slow down, so they can walk on the sidewalks, in the company of kids or dogs, and cross the streets without worrying about their
A
I believe that Sebastopol’s experience of democracy includes input from many more engaged citizens and local businesses
Crowdpac’s survey measured financial contributions to state and federal offices. Being a non-partisan city-office-holder in a small town, I prefer to measure local time and energy rather than money.
2016 as the Year about The Long Term
Additionally in November, voters will seat two Council Members.
Out and About
During my term as Mayor, I will work to be accessible and visible in our community. I am asking for invitations to attend your event, speak to your group, meet your neighbors and listen to your concerns.
Join the 2016 Campaign for a Safer Slower Sebastopol
safety. SEBASTAPPEAL cont’d on page 39