Page 30 - Sonoma County Gazette October 2018

Lately I’ve been asking myself, when so many issues are exploding like firecrackers, why I am putting so much energy into creating an “ecovillage” in Eldridge, on the site of the Developmental Center?
Coastal Clean Up Day 2018
Springs Residents and Mission Inn Clean Up Sonoma Creek!
When Donald Trump was elected, many of us felt we had a decision to make. Staring down the barrel of explosive fascism, we hit the streets. We joined Indivisible and started making phone calls in response to a barrage of Executive Orders; and to some extent our protests were effective.
I moved back here in 2014, back to the roots of localism that I had earlier put aside; and now, running to catch a train that had already left the station, I wanted to work in some cozy community to help manifest a new way of life.
But Sonoma County had changed. Corporate winemaking and tourism had seeped into the culture, especially at this end of the county, and it was beginning to look like we had lost the battle to build a locally rooted, sustainable culture.
Then the closure of the SDC was announced. Here was a nice big property with lots of water, safely cupped in a valley between two mountain ranges, where there had even been a small farm, and plenty of room to explore ideas about agriculture and local economies that I had begun writing about. I wrote a seed proposal for use of the land, and it began to grow. I didn’t know what I was getting myself into, but once begun, the project acquired its own life.
These wonderful people gathered in Larson Park on the shores of Sonoma Creek to gather bottles, trash, and other debris on Coastal Clean Up Day (9/15/18). Families and Mission Inn workers spoke with pride about improving the environment on Sonoma’s central water way.
While Washington continues to implode, and climate change accelerates, crafting the alternative while the old world collapses, as we always suspected it would, is more attractive than ever.
Creek walkers readily fOUND trash left by hikers or campers. During rainfall months that debris washes to the bay. Sonoma Creek is home to fish, animals, and other marine life. Historically the creek was the site of Native American villages. Springs residents say, “Thank you,” to the good people who cleaned up the Creek last month. Local volunteers also cleared refuse from the Sonoma Creek tributaries, Nathanson and Fryer Creeks. Bravo and thanks to each of them!
We could create a more local economy, where the money we make flows back to the community, instead of out to Wall Street.
We could have clusters of climate-resilient affordable homes with small “Victory” gardens, a community building with lots of activities for neighbors
in the surrounding communities, a nice café or two, a great restaurant serving produce from our own farm, athletic fields and a pool, workshops for craftsmen and artists, fields of dreams and even fields of hemp.
More housing in the Springs?
The Village at Eldridge could be a haven, a sanctuary for the huddled masses, a place to “occupy” with an alternative vision of how to live together without devouring the planet.
In late August a staff report from the County Planning Commission was revealed that proposes several changes affecting the Springs. Among the proposed changes are the following ideas.
• Rezoning to make it easier to build multi-family housing units.
It wouldn’t be as much fun if there were no obstacles, and guess what, the big one is money. Just replacing the obsolete infrastructure of SDC is estimated to cost $114 million. But when I talk with people like economist Michael Shuman, he seems unfazed by the figures. Michael is a fellow at the Post Carbon Institute based in Santa Rosa, a consultant, and the author of several books about local economies.
• Encourage greater population density within Urban Service Areas (UBS). Services provided within an UBS are sewers, water, police and fire protection, roads, and transit opportunities.
Ask people like Terry Garrett, publisher of Made Local magazine (which for some unknown reason isn’t distributed in Sonoma. Hello?), who understand the principles of creating a local economy. Or Larry Barnett, former mayor of Sonoma, who fought against allowing Big Box stores in Sonoma, and won.
• Change the standard population density per unit to allow a greater number of small rental units and discourage large developments.
But we are so addicted to the wine crush now that we simply can’t stretch our minds to include new mechanisms for re-creating the world taking shape on the other side of Trump’s tower obsession, the world that will save us.
Valley growth predicted.
In Sonoma Valley these changes would affect land areas outside the City of Sonoma. The city’s urban growth boundary (UGB) limits expansion beyond the city limits. However, in areas around the city with urban services such as sewers, police, and fire protection, increased housing and population density would be allowed! It is anticipated the Springs and areas along Eighth Street East would be candidates for more housing and population growth.
Environmental impacts?
These Planning Commission proposals were accompanied by a negative declaration stating there would be “no impact” on the environment. However, the Greenbelt Alliance (GBA) Regional Director, Teri Shore, filed a letter with the County stating the GBA supports increased housing and density but an environmental review is needed. GBA noted that increased population will have an impact on carbon emissions, transportation, schools, shopping services, traffic patterns, increased wildfire protection, police services, and medical services to mention a few.
SPRINGS cont’d on page 31
Public banking is one. Its great proponent, Ellen Brown, will be speaking here, with another great innovator, Gar Alperovitz, sponsored by PraxisPeace, October 17th. Sonoman Norm Wray is one of the people working on a public bank for Santa Rosa. See publicbanksantarosa.org/
What’s the difference between these ideas and what we have
now? Public benefit. We’ve finally figured out that true wealth depends on the wealth of the community. Los Angeles seems to get it; a public bank is on the ballot this November! These are the reasons why I’m working for an ecovillage at the old Developmental Center. We need affordable housing. We need land for farmers. We need space for children to play and a lifestyle that doesn’t contribute to GHGs.
Please join us. We’re going to need a lot of professional help! We meet every other week at the Methodist Church at 6:30. Contact me for info. SDC belongs to the State. That means it belongs to us.
30 - www.sonomacountygazette.com - 10/18
County proposes changes to housing density rules.
• Allow a new kind of housing in Urban Service Areas known as Cottage Housing which would allow for various kinds of structures on a single acre of land.
• Establish standards for condominium conversion and provide greater protection for residents in mobile home parks.