Rebuilding Sonoma County: First home goes up in Larkfield, new sewer system on the way

Larkfield property owner Phyllis Rogers has been among the strongest supporters of expanding sewer service into her burned neighborhood as it’s rebuilt from the devastation wrought by the Tubbs fire. But she may not get to enjoy the new infrastructure herself.

The expanded sewer system, which the Sonoma County Board of Supervisors agreed to move forward with earlier this month, likely won’t be finished until 2020. And Rogers is intent on constructing a new home at her Dover Court property on top of where her septic system sits now - which isn’t allowed.

“I will still rebuild,” said Rogers, 80. “But I’m not gonna rebuild until I can flush my toilets.”

In theory, Rogers doesn’t have to wait: She could connect back to her old septic system and switch over to sewer when the project is finished. But that would force her to constrain her home design to the old “railroad car” it was before, and she won’t do that.

Instead, Rogers plans to move from her son’s place in Rohnert Park into a new home she’s buying in Oakmont. And she may not return to Dover Court.

“If I don’t live in it, I’m sure I’ll find somebody that would pay me some money to be there,” Rogers said of her Larkfield rebuild. “If I don’t need to move from Oakmont, I’ll stay. ... It may be a good fit for me. I can’t tell.”

Regardless of the uncertainty, Rogers said she’s “elated” the Larkfield sewer proposal is advancing. And at least in that regard, she is far from alone: When supervisors, who are also directors of the county Water Agency, agreed unanimously in early June to move the sewer project along, their vote was met with applause and even tears from a group of Larkfield fire survivors who came to show their support for the program.

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Community reaches milestone

The unincorporated community between Santa Rosa and Windsor also marked a few other major milestones recently. Perhaps most significantly, Fairfield-based Silvermark Construction Services finished the first completely rebuilt home in the area.

The home on Willow Green Place is among about 30 lots around Larkfield and Fountaingrove that Silvermark has bought - or is in the process of purchasing - from homeowners who don’t plan to rebuild. Silvermark is selling those homes, but the company is also rebuilding on some lots for homeowners who aren’t selling.

The Willow Green Place lot has come a long way since the company first got involved, said owner Greg Owen.

“When we went to the site, the fire had devastated it (so much), you couldn’t even tell where the lot was,” he said.

No one has bought the property yet, as the company is planning to use it as a model home, according to Owen. He said homes in that neighborhood were selling in the $800,000 range, which is where Silvermark is pricing its rebuilds.

Overall, the county has issued about 175 permits for single-family homes and granny units on fire-impacted properties in the greater Larkfield-Wikiup and Mark West Springs area, according to county planning data, which also includes Knights Valley. About 740 homes were lost in Larkfield and along the Mark West Springs corridor.

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Plans afoot for new county park

Some of the burned land in the hills off Mark West Springs Road is moving closer to becoming a new county park. In late May, county supervisors agreed to spend up to $5.35 million in public money to buy a 276-acre property from the family of John and Martha McCullough, who had lived there since the 1970s and lost their home on the property in the fires.

An adjacent 822 acres were already purchased by the county, which is hoping to buy two more nearby sites to form the nearly 1,200-acre Mark West Creek Regional Park and Open Space Preserve.

Given that much of the land burned in October, Supervisor Susan Gorin has described the future park as a “laboratory on fire recovery.” Bill Keene, general manager of the county’s Agricultural Preservation and Open Space District, has said the planned park will become the “crown jewel” of the county park system, in part because of the stunning views it will afford at higher elevations.

The purchases are currently being handled by the open space district, which will transfer the land later to the Regional Parks department. The sale of the McCullough family’s property is expected to close June 28, according to a spokeswoman for the open space district.

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PG&E burying power lines

Meanwhile, PG&E has been busy replacing the underground electric systems the Tubbs fire destroyed in Mark West Estates and Larkfield Estates.

Crews are trenching in both burned subdivisions, which lie on the north and south sides of Mark West Springs Road just east of Old Redwood Highway. PG&E plans to trench more than 19,000 feet in the two subdivisions, and a company spokeswoman said the work is now 27 percent complete.

Construction is expected to be done by the end of the year, and temporary power lines are serving the neighborhoods in the meantime. Gas lines were undamaged by the fires.

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