Planning effort set to kick off for The Springs in Sonoma Valley

When bold colors were used to brighten several businesses in Sonoma Valley this summer, it set off a debate about the current and future identity of the area known as The Springs, off a busy stretch of Highway 12 north of Sonoma.

County officials have seized on that discussion to highlight a project aimed at assessing the needs of the underserved area - including Agua Caliente, Boyes Hot Springs, El Verano and Fetters Hot Springs - and guiding its development.

The effort is expected to build on revitalization work already underway, including a $5.2 million Highway 12 overhaul that resulted in a widened roadway, new sidewalks, streetlights and bike lanes.

“This is perfect timing because we’re nearing completion of the Highway 12 improvement project,” said Susan Gorin, chairwoman of the Sonoma County Board of Supervisors, who helped secure a $450,000 federal transportation grant last year for the new planning project.

The grant will pay for environmental studies and planning consultants, who will be tasked with looking at improvements to traffic flow, parking and bicyclist and pedestrian safety. They’ll also help develop design and land-use policies to promote mixed-use development and attract more affordable housing, businesses and alternative transportation to the area, Gorin said.

“The Springs communities have changed over the last couple decades,” said Gorin, who represents the area on the Board of Supervisors. “This is what is going to bring economic viability to the area.”

One key objective is to boost walking, bicycling and active living in the area, county planner Yolanda Solano said. The plan is expected to be completed in the spring of 2017.

“We’re anxious to see this process start to unfold,” said Rich Lee, chairman of the Springs Community Alliance.

He said residents welcome discussion about what their neighborhood ought to look like in the future, particularly after the recent heated debate over the vibrant new colors of several Springs businesses. They were the result of work done by a Sebastopol artist, Rico Martin, who was contracted by the businesses under a county facade improvement loan program.

Critics of Martin’s work - on the building that houses Plain Jane’s Consignments and La Michoacana ice cream shop, where he used a neon-orange base with yellow, lime green, pink and purple motifs - say he ignored design guidelines for the area adopted in 1994. Fans of the work say the area desperately needed a splash of color to boost business.

Lee says many residents complained that the design guidelines were outdated. They call for buildings to be painted peach, rose, gray or beige.

“I see that as an opportunity to revise (the guidelines) and make them more contemporary, more relevant,” Lee said.

County officials last week were interviewing potential consultants for the project, which they hope to jumpstart within the next few months.

Residents and business owners will have opportunities to weigh in on how they want the community to look, Gorin said. The consultant, expected to be selected this week, will work on engaging the public, including the non-English-speaking population, she said. She hopes the first of several community meetings will be held by the end of the year.

“There is so much energy, vitality and multicultural influences (in The Springs),” Gorin said. “The vibrancy can be further enhanced by community efforts.”

But some question whether more planning is the answer to the challenges facing local residents.

Alejandra Cervantes, a longtime Sonoma Valley resident who founded the nonprofit Nuestra Voz, said money could be spent on direct services, such as programs that would help locals start small businesses and secure affordable housing.

A $27 million affordable housing project recently broke ground in the area, home to a diverse population, including many lower-income and Latino residents. The first phase of the project calls for 60 units for low-income families to be built on the 6-acre site off Highway 12 and Rancho Drive. A second phase will include 40 senior apartments.

Cervantes said there’s also a need for programs that can help residents purchase homes at a low cost.

“Some people really want to buy (homes), so they explore other communities like Petaluma, Rohnert Park and Vallejo,” she said.

She attended meetings held by a nonprofit organization a few years ago to assess the infrastructure needs in the Sonoma Valley. Cervantes said she also took part in the community meetings that led to the highway improvement project and the design guidelines.

“The needs are clear,” Cervantes said. “We don’t need a study to know that traffic is congested on Highway 12 and that there is no parking when we go to the small Latino shops.”

Ellen Conlan, vice chairwoman of the Springs Community Alliance, said the latest project is much more extensive in scope than the design plan created in the 1990s, focusing on boosting housing, transportation and jobs instead of signs and building colors.

“The planning grant is very comprehensive,” she said.

It’ll also give residents who did not participate in previous meetings opportunities to talk about what their community should look like, she said. Since the controversy erupted over Martin’s paint jobs, she said more residents have shown an interest in what’s happening in their community.

“It is an opportunity for everybody to have an open discussion about what are the priorities,” Conlan said.

You can reach Staff Writer Eloísa Ruano González at 521-5458 or?eloisa.gonzalez@pressdemocrat.com. On Twitter @eloisanews.