STRETCH ALONG HIGHWAY 12 TARGETED IN COUNTY'S REDEVELOPMENT PLAN

The daylong parade on Highway 12 grinds to a halt in front of the window of the Barking Dog Roasters cafe, pausing for the procession of cars, schoolchildren and agricultural workers that waits for the light at Boyes Boulevard.

"When my dad opened the cafe here 11 years ago, we hoped the area would be an up-and-coming, eclectic place," muses Libby Hodgson, who manages the family-run cafe across the street from the Fairmont Sonoma Mission Inn.

"We hoped it would happen a lot sooner than it has, but these things take time."

Since 1984, the 2-mile stretch of Highway 12 north of the city of Sonoma has been one of the few areas designated for redevelopment efforts in Sonoma County.

The area, which residents affectionately dub "the Springs," received a boost this month when Sonoma County supervisors approved a redevelopment plan that prioritizes highway improvements, sidewalks, affordable housing and business enticements. Redevelopment puts money behind the projects.

Comprising Boyes Hot Springs, Fetters Hot Springs and Agua Caliente, the stretch of Highway 12 could be mistaken for an approach to any city in Mexico. Signs are bilingual, vendors pedaling bike carts are selling helados to schoolchildren, and people stroll the highway shoulders because the warren of sidestreets in the Springs rarely connect.

About 15,200 people live in the designated redevelopment area, with about 32 percent identified as Latino, according to a study for the county by Moore Iacofano Goltsman Inc. of Berkeley. Children under 18 and adults age 30 to 49 make up almost 60 percent of the population, and the average household is 2.73 people, well above neighboring Sonoma's average of 2.07.

The Barking Dog's window offers a clear view of a commercial strip marked on the redevelopment plan as one of three along Highway 12 that could be razed and replaced by a plaza.

"It would be nice as a place for kids and adults to congregate," Hodgson said.

Creation of a public plaza, or "activity hub," is near the top of the list of redevelopment projects that supervisors said needs immediate attention in order to attract businesses.

Other possible plaza locations are crowded intersections on the north end where schools are located, and the half-empty Fiesta Plaza shopping center on the south end where empty parking spaces outnumber cars.

"There are a number of underutilized, blighted or vacant properties and lots in the area, both in residential neighborhoods and along the commercial corridor," the consultants' report concluded.

"Absentee landlords, limited code enforcement in residential neighborhoods and lack of curbs, gutters and sidewalks throughout the area contribute to a negative perception of the area's safety and security."

Focus on the Springs has some speculating whether the area is on track to become the next Roseland, the unincorporated area moving toward annexation and development by Santa Rosa. Roseland, the Springs and Guerneville are Sonoma County's only designated redevelopment areas.

"There's been a lot of talk of the potential of incorporating, but the reality is not well understood," said Steve Cox, a civil engineer who represents community groups on the Sonoma Valley Redevelopment Advisory Committee.

"The City of Sonoma is averse to annexation, and you have to be like Windsor with some land to develop."

Cox said the redevelopment plan represents "a good compromise" because it commits county government to funding public improvements designed to attract business and reassure residents that the area won't suffer further neglect.

Redevelopment strategy centers on attracting small businesses, largely because lot sizes throughout the Springs are so small that there's not enough room to sprout a large commercial project.

That led Supervisor Mike Reilly, who represents the west county, to cast the board's lone negative vote against the Sonoma Valley Redevelopment project.

"The plan has nice neighborhood amenities but no economic drivers to generate dollars," Reilly said. "I am going to have the same concern in the Russian River redevelopment area, and that is whether there is land designated for economic improvements."

Cox conceded Reilly has a point, but he said improving streets, parking, building appearances, sidewalks and parks will attract small businesses.

"Ideally, we would like a big shopping center or office complex that would generate lots of jobs, but our strategy is to raise the overall quality of the area to attract small businesses and pedestrian traffic," Cox said.

To be successful, redevelopment of the Springs is going to have to attract more businesses like the architectural firm of Ross, Drulis and Cusenbery, which renovated and moved into a vacant bank building down the street from the Sonoma Mission Inn nearly three years ago.

Firm partner Michael Ross said his company was in downtown Sonoma, looking to expand and thinking of moving to Novato. But the redevelopment authority offered a low-interest loan that allowed the firm to double its space, triple its parking and locate in the midst of family Mexican and Asian restaurants.

"We were able to hire additional staff, and half our 25 employees live in Sonoma Valley," Ross said. "I like the texture and liveliness of the neighborhood, and it has what architects want . . . like coffee."

The next step is for county supervisors to consider putting more general fund tax dollars into the Springs redevelopment, which is currently operating under a lid of $20 million annually. With more funding, redevelopment is expected to get beyond street and sidewalk improvements with larger projects such as housing and a plaza getting funded in July 2008.

You can reach Staff Writer Bleys W. Rose at 521-5431 or bleys.rose@pressdemocrat.com.