Sonoma City Council drops push for dogs at Montini open space

The Sonoma City Council is turning the page on one of its most contentious disputes as it prepares for a year under a new mayor.

Council members, who on Monday selected Laurie Gallian to lead them as mayor in 2016, have put to rest a lingering debate over dogs at the Montini Open Space Preserve. They recently decided to abandon a push for an amendment to the preserve’s management plan that would have allowed dogs on the 98-acre county property.

The council previously directed city staff to continue to work with the Sonoma County Agricultural Preservation and Open Space District after the agency rejected a city proposal seeking the change. However, council members changed their minds last month, saying it was time to move on to other issues.

“It’s not going to happen,” Councilman David Cook said during a recent meeting, about the possibility of dogs being allowed at the preserve.

County officials raised concerns about the potential impacts dogs could have on the property’s natural resources.

“All we’re going to do is spend more staff time,” added Cook, who until Monday’s meeting served as the city’s mayor.

Gallian and Councilwoman Madolyn Agrimonti, who was named vice mayor Monday, also voted to drop the push for dogs on the property after the city wrestled with the topic for years.

“It’s a fish-or-cut-bait time. I’m done with this issue,” Agrimonti said.

Gallian said there is a need for more places for dogs to run around in Sonoma, but the preserve isn’t the best location. She said the land is a “gem” for the city and needs to be conserved.

“Someone has to be the guardian for nature,” she said.

The Open Space District purchased the site and an adjacent 59-acre conservation easement for $13.9 million a decade ago. Sonoma contributed $1.15 million for the purchase of the property, part of the ranch of Gen. Mariano Vallejo, who founded the city in 1835.

Council members Gary Edwards and Rachel Hundley wanted the city to keep pursuing the dog-friendly change, saying city staff spent much time working on the issue. Even so, Hundley said she wasn’t convinced the trail on the preserve was wide enough for dogs and Edwards, who opposes dogs on the preserve, expected county officials to reject the request.

“I have a fairly good idea of what the Open Space District will come back (with),” Edwards said. “I’d like to see it continue to be a preserve, but I’d like to move on to more important things.”

In the coming year, affordable housing and water conservation are expected to be major issues for the council, City Manager Carol Giovanatto said.

Council members also are expected to look at tightening rent-control regulations and possibly extending a sales tax to pay for road and infrastructure improvement projects.

However, Giovanatto doesn’t expect the new year to be as contentious as 2015.

“Our new council members are really getting their rhythm,” she said. “Next year will be a better, productive, year.”

Council members wrestled with contentious issues in 2015, from tobacco retailers to smoking in public places and noisy leaf blowers.

In May, they passed a measure that would not only require the 15 tobacco retailers in town to obtain a license with the city for $246 a year, but also prohibit new businesses from selling cigarettes and other tobacco products.

Council members hoped the tougher restrictions would make it harder for kids to get their hands on tobacco, but some tobacco retailers and users called the decision unreasonable.

Council members also were looking to tighten regulations on smoking in apartment complexes and public places. However, the issue was pulled from the agenda in October after city staff learned that the existing regulations had been approved more than two decades ago at the ballot box and the city likely could not change the rules without going back to the voters.

On Monday, Giovanatto said staff members since have determined that the council may be able to tighten some sections of the law without a ballot measure.

The council also decided to leave it up to the city’s voters to deal with leaf blowers. Council members in October rejected a ban on electric and gas-powered leaf blowers and favored putting it on the ballot for voters to decide in 2016.

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