Offer to extend sewer service to burned neighborhood in Sonoma County sows discord

When Phyllis Rogers rebuilds her Larkfield home, she doesn’t want the same old “railroad car” layout as the house that burned down more than five months ago.

Rogers, 80, envisions her new house on Dover Court designed in the shape of an “M,” with her living quarters on one side, a two-story space where her son and his family can live on the other and a shared kitchen and family room in between.

The whole thing would be slightly larger than her four-bedroom, two-bath home of 42 years that was destroyed in the October firestorm, which leveled her entire neighborhood and 740 homes all together in the greater Mark West Springs area.

But because of the size of her lot and the location of her septic tank - which she cannot build above - the only way for Rogers’ dream home to become reality is if she connects to the nearby sewer system. So she’s enthused about the Sonoma County Water Agency’s plan to extend the sewer throughout the 140-home Larkfield Estates subdivision, and to provide a package of financial incentives for rebuilding homeowners to hook up.

“This is the best news I could possibly have,” Rogers said of the Water Agency’s financing plan, including a one-time connection fee of $12,000, with ?20-year loans offered at 2 percent interest to fire victims. “I am thrilled because of the flexibility that they have built into it. I cannot tell you how happy I am.”

Annual loan payments would total about $750 starting in 2020, the year the sewer extension should be completed.

But while the Water Agency’s offer to connect the Larkfield Estates area sounds like a sweet deal to some, including Rogers, others are staunchly opposed.

“A lot of people are moving forward with reconstruction, like I am, planning on using our septic systems,” said Jim Dickey, who’s already had the foundation poured for his new Dorchester Drive home. “There’s people that have pulled permits to refurbish their septic system and replace lines. This is just causing havoc in the neighborhood and a lot of mistrust with the Water Agency.”

Each parcel that connects to the sewer also would owe about $45,000 to help cover construction costs, according to current estimates. The Water Agency is proposing to finance those costs through similar 20-year loans at 2.5 percent interest, but the annual payments of about $2,750 wouldn’t be required until 2030 and no interest would accrue in that time, providing homeowners a 10-year grace period after the system launches. Owners also could transfer their loan balances and payment schedules if they sold their property.

The annual service charge for the sewer zone is currently $901 per single-family home, and it typically increases between 4 percent and 5 percent each year, according to the Water Agency.

Agency officials say they are not trying to force anyone in Larkfield Estates to connect to sewer - property owners are free to stick with their septic systems if they want.

“We’re working to make this completely voluntary, just to give property owners the greatest flexibility to rebuild their property how they would like to,” Mike Thompson, the agency’s assistant general manager, said in an interview.

Previously, agency officials had suggested a provision that would have required septic-connected properties to switch to sewer once they were sold. But citing “valid concerns” about that plan raised at a Wednesday night community meeting, the agency backed off that idea in a letter to Larkfield Estates property owners Thursday. Under the revised plan, properties could stay on septic even after they’re sold.

“If some want to continue to be on their septic systems, that’s fine,” Thompson said. “And if others would like to connect to the sewer, that’s fine, too.”

Bringing sewer to Larkfield Estates could cost about $6 million based on current estimates, Thompson said. The Water Agency can pay for the upfront costs through the more than $4 million it received from selling its old West College Avenue headquarters to the county’s Community Development Commission last year. The agency also has various other funds it can “cobble together to make this work,” Thompson said.

Some “initial polling” from the Water Agency indicated about up to 40 percent of Larkfield Estates residents were interested in getting sewer service, but that was before the financing plan was hashed out, according to Thompson. And when a February neighborhood survey asked residents if there was one thing they would want to improve during the rebuild, the addition of sewer was a common answer.

Still, critics of the sewer system upgrade say a majority of the owners don’t want to switch off septic systems. Michelle Gillies, who lost her Brighton Court home in the fires, feared the presence of sewer in the area could open the door to larger residences that would dramatically alter the look and feel of Larkfield Estates.

“We liked this neighborhood for a lot of reasons,” Gillies said. “It wasn’t tract homes. It wasn’t 5 feet from your neighbors. It had a great feel. All the architecture was different ... We don’t want to go back to a ticky-tacky neighborhood that’s gonna have big homes built on our quarter-acre lots.”

Existing rules for septic system properties do come with tighter regulations. Lots in Larkfield Estates can’t be divided into smaller pieces without a public hearing process. And homes connected to septic can only be expanded as long as the number of bedrooms don’t change. Sewer connections would allow a homeowner to add more rooms, but they wouldn’t change the density allowed by the county in the neighborhood, planning officials said.

Supervisor James Gore, who represents the area, said he’s trying to address critics’ concerns and doesn’t want to “ramrod” sewer hookups if that is clearly not the right choice for the region. He said he’s not swayed by those who’ve relayed fears the county might later try to force residents to connect to sewer. He’s aware of no such plans in the works.

“I have to make decisions based, unfortunately, on what’s utilitarian: the greatest good for the greatest amount of people,” Gore said. “I’m gonna have to be really convinced of more than fears of bad government.”

Hooking up to sewer services would allow homeowners to make new use of the space on their lots previously reserved for the septic system. For Rogers, that enough is reason to move forward.

“I see no reason why I’ve got to own something that’s just a railroad car,” she said of her previous home design. “I don’t need to now and don’t plan to.”

Gore is planning to hold a community meeting about the sewer issue April 3. The Board of Supervisors, acting as directors of the Water Agency, would have to sign off on the financing plan, which is expected to come forward in May.

You can reach Staff Writer J.D. Morris at 707-521-5337 or jd.morris@pressdemocrat.com. On Twitter @thejdmorris.