Berg Holdings own the land north of Port Sonoma along highway 37. Ranch manager Brian Swedberg trims some of the oak trees grown on the amended soil reclaimed from the Petaluma River. January 23, 2012.

Sonoma County supervisors put dredge hearing on hold

The Sonoma County Board of Supervisors Tuesday postponed a hearing on a project that would raise farmland near the mouth of the Petaluma River by adding material dredged from the bottom of San Francisco Bay.

Local representatives of the Sierra Club had appealed approval of the project in July by the county zoning board. The group and others concerned about its impacts were pushing supervisors to require a full environmental impact report.

Until this week, Sausalito-based Berg Holdings, which owns the 528-acre ranch and backed the project, had resisted those calls, saying more basic environmental studies were adequate.

On Monday, a Berg Holdings representative announced the company would conduct a full EIR. A Berg Holdings attorney confirmed that decision before the board on Tuesday.

The plans call for adding up to 18.5 million cubic yards of material dredged from bay shipping channels over 20 years to the ranch to improve the acreage for farming.

The draft EIR is set to come back to the county zoning board, though supervisors reserved the right to act on the project once the study is complete. The board took no action on the Sierra Club's appeal.

- Brett Wilkison

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