City wins water appeal

<p>A state court has ruled in favor of the city of Rohnert Park in a lawsuit over water concerns that has stalled the development of new homes for the past two years.</p><p>The state's 1st District Court of Appeal ruled Wednesday that the city complied with state law in its 2005 study assessing groundwater for 4,500 proposed homes.</p><p>"This is really good news for the city," Councilman Tim Smith said. "It was a time-consuming and expensive lawsuit."</p><p>The ruling overturns a June 2006 decision by Sonoma County Judge Knoel Owen favoring the Penngrove-based OWL Foundation.</p><p>The foundation had challenged Rohnert Park's water-assessment study in the city's approval of new eastside development, specifically the 1,645-unit University District development near Sonoma State University.</p><p>The city's assessment found that there was adequate water available for 4,500 homes envisioned in the general plan, and there was no overdraft of the water basin.</p><p>The foundation, however, successfully argued in Sonoma County Superior Court that the city needed to conduct a broader, basinwide study to meet state requirements.</p><p>The appellate court, however, ruled otherwise. It said it would have taken a "herculean effort" to study all 40,000 private and municipal wells in the Santa Rosa Valley Groundwater Basin.</p><p>It also ruled "there is nothing in the state statute to suggest that the only way groundwater conditions may be analyzed is by measuring pumping by all users throughout a groundwater basin."</p><p>H.R. Downs of the OWL Foundation said Thursday he had not seen the appeals court's ruling and, therefore, could not comment on it.</p><p>Darrin Jenkins, Rohnert Park public works director, said the city has moved from relying on groundwater to getting two-thirds of its water from the Sonoma County Water Agency, plus using recycled water.</p><p>The Sonoma County Superior Court decision had stopped the 1,645-unit University District development by Brookfield Homes of Danville, and would have stopped an additional 2,900 homes planned for the future if allowed to stand.</p><p>"It's back to being a business decision and not a legal issue," said Dan Schwarz, interim city manager. "They are private developments, and it is up to the developer to move forward, but obviously they have more options than they did two days ago."</p><p>Brookfield Homes' University District project is the farthest along of any new development.</p><p>"We will start construction when we feel the economy has settled down and we see some job growth and home prices stabilizing," said John Ryan, Brookfield president. "The earliest we would start now is 2010."</p><p>You can reach Staff Writer Bob Norberg at 521-5206 or bob.norberg@pressdemocrat.com.</p>