$1 billion village on cutting edge

<p>It's not the Codding Enterprises of old.</p><p>Sonoma County's best-known development company, with a half-century reputation for building shopping centers with sprawling parking lots that include Coddingtown in Santa Rosa and the Wal-Mart center in Rohnert Park, is going green in a global way.</p><p>And the company is doing it with the help of traditional adversaries of the building industry -- environmental, labor, wage and affordable housing groups that have joined together under the banner of the Accountable Development Coalition to exert their collective influence across Sonoma County's development and political landscapes.</p><p>The two sides have agreed to a 16-page pact that calls for cooperation in developing the Sonoma Mountain Village, a proposed $1 billion, Codding Enterprises mixed-use project that has gained national attention. A Washington Post story last year touted it as being on the cutting edge of environmentally sustainable development.</p><p>"We believe it is the future of development and responsible land use," said Kirstie Moore, Codding's development manager.</p><p>The plan is to develop a community of 1,900 homes and retail shops, office buildings and industrial sites.</p><p>The intent is to minimize the project's environmental footprint by restricting water consumption, relying on solar to generate most of the village's energy needs, maximizing the use of recycled products in construction and developing neighborhoods, street systems, parks and retail outlets geared to pedestrians and cyclists rather than cars.</p><p>It even includes promises that Codding Enterprises will set aside areas to support pollinating bee habitats, plant fruit trees and edible vegetation in open spaces that residents can pick to feed themselves, and ban the use of herbicides and pesticides.</p><p>1 of 4 worldwide</p><p>Those sustainable measures are key to Sonoma Mountain Village becoming one of the four communities worldwide to be designated One Planet Communities in recognition of their commitment to dramatically reducing their ecological impacts.</p><p>Many of those ideas came from the interest groups that make up the ADC and that have been negotiating with Codding for more than two years to reach the agreement signed last month.</p><p>"It was a collaboration," Moore said.</p><p>Michael Allen, a former Sonoma County union leader who heads up the ADC's executive committee and is its chief negotiator with Codding Enterprises, agreed.</p><p>"They want to establish a reputation in the North Bay as a cutting-edge developer that does deeply sustainable projects," he said.</p><p>"We both wanted what was good for the region, what was good for the community," Allen said, calling the lengthy negotiations "consensual."</p><p>Social conditions</p><p>Coalition members also had their own social agenda, pushing for as much union work within the development as possible, a living wage that pays substantially more than the state's minimum wage for other workers and demands that affordable housing be provided for families with the lowest incomes.</p><p>Allen said Codding officials were amenable to that. "They also were interested in human and social equity. They want to set the bar very high for their project," he said.</p><p>The joint agreement calls for the ADC to throw its collective political weight behind the project, by writing letters, attending public hearings and even formulating a traveling "road show" to promote it at various conferences and forums.</p><p>"What they are getting from us is support. We're basically working with the Coddings to establish a 'Good Housekeeping seal of approval' for the highest development standards possible." Allen said.</p><p>The deal, however, is not without controversy.</p><p>As part of the agreement, Codding paid the ADC $5,000 when it was signed and will pay the ADC $6,000 once residential construction begins, and the same amount every year until all 1,900 homes are built -- a process that could take 10 to 15 years.</p><p>Payments stir controversy</p><p>Some critics in Sonoma County's development community claim the payments are tantamount to "extortion" so that Codding Enterprises can avoid protracted political and legal challenges from coalition members that could threaten its project.</p><p>"I can understand the appearance that it was extortion or our arms were twisted, but that just isn't the case," Moore said.</p><p>"We believe the ADC is a well-organized group that is providing a service to the community," she said, adding that Codding Enterprises' patriarch Hugh Codding has historically been been financially supportive of nonprofit efforts.</p><p>"We don't see anything improper with it," Allen said.</p><p>Allen said Codding Enterprises "didn't want it to appear they were buying our support," but did want to help the ADC carry out its commitment to the project.</p><p>Allen said the payments will help finance both the ADC's ongoing promotional efforts on behalf of the project and monitor it for compliance as well.</p><p>"It's more of an administrative fee," he said.</p><p>You can reach Staff Writer Mike McCoy at 521-5276 or mike.mccoy@pressdemocrat.com.</p><p>Where: Former Agilent Technologies site, southeast Rohnert Park</p><p>Size: 200 acres</p><p>Residential units: 1,892 homes, apartments and condos</p><p>Population: 4,438</p><p>Commercial space: 825,000 square feet of retail, office and industrial sites, including renovation of four existing buildings totaling 700,000 square feet</p><p>Jobs generated: 4,414</p><p>Total cost: $1 billion</p>