The Springs in Sonoma Valley jumping ahead with improvements

Revitalization of The Springs area of Sonoma Valley continues to gain momentum with plans advancing to build a small plaza, or a community hub, and bring in new businesses around it.

Sonoma County Supervisor Susan Gorin, who represents the area, said Thursday $2 million has been set aside in the county budget to potentially construct a community hub on an abandoned portion of Boyes Boulevard that’s long been pushed for a town square.

It could serve as a place to hold farmers markets, art exhibits or a corral for food trucks, as well as a spot to relax on a bench under a shade tree.

“The hub we have been proposing is a larger multipurpose space,” Sonoma architect Michael Ross said in reference to the closed-off street there now, which is also used for parking. “It could change its hue for lighting and socialization at night.”

He said it will help create “the sense of center and the heart of the community.”

“I think most people are excited,” said Rich Lee, chairman of the Springs Community Alliance Group. “One of the things The Springs is missing is a public, focal gathering space.”

News of the $2 million funding for the developing of a community hub, which can also be applied to other improvements in the Sonoma Valley Highway 12 corridor, comes at the same time a property owner announced plans to tear down the adjacent former Uncle Patty’s bar and restaurant, a long shuttered eyesore.

The Sonoma Index-Tribune reported that plans for a new pizza and small plate diner on the site with an alfresco garden and dining area have been submitted to county planners.

Also close by, the vacated Big 3 Diner is being eyed for a permanent conference facility operated by the upscale Sonoma Mission Inn, according to Gorin.

But a spokeswoman for the Mission Inn downplayed that possibility on Thursday.

“We don’t have any definitive plans as yet for that space. The ownership group is talking about a number of different options,” said SMI’s Michelle Heston, who declined to divulge the other options under consideration.

She said the hotel is almost 100 years old and built before the community that grew up around it. “We take great pride in the location of our resort,” she said, along with actively participating in the dialogue for improving the area.

Efforts have been ongoing to revitalize the culturally varied community, made up of Agua Caliente, Boyes Hot Springs, El Verano and Fetters Hot Springs, including a multimillion-dollar Highway 12 roadway overhaul project with new sidewalks, streetlights and bike lanes that is wrapping up this summer.

On June 29 at 6 p.m., the third of five community workshops to develop a vision for future development of The Springs is being held at the Sonoma Charter School, 17202 Sonoma Highway.

The workshop is part of developing the county’s Springs Specific Plan by early 2018, with a stated goal to “gradually shape the area into a more vibrant and sustainable pedestrian- oriented community.”

Wednesday’s workshop will focus on eliciting ideas for architectural designs, color schemes, materials, height and scale of buildings. Discussions on zoning and land uses are expected to be on the agenda at upcoming meetings.

Supervisor Gorin said the meetings and ongoing planning process are an attempt to engage the community in what it would like to see in The Springs.

“The corridor is very exciting right now. It is full of possibilities,” Gorin said. “There are many things that could happen over the next couple of years.”

Lack of parking is a hot topic, too. Approximately 70 parking spaces were lost with the roadway improvements, exacerbating a parking shortage.

“Parking is extremely scarce,” Gorin said, adding “the community is extremely nervous” about the paucity of both commercial and residential parking.

Housing is also a concern for the area’s population, which includes many lower-income and Latino residents. A $27 million affordable housing project is currently under construction on a 6-acre site off Highway 12 and Rancho Drive. The first phase is 60 units for low-income families followed by a second phase with 40 senior apartments.

Lee referenced the possibility that as the area becomes more attractive, it could drive up property values and push out lower-income residents.

“We are trying to maintain the character of the community as it exists now and make it affordable for the people who live there,” he said.

You can reach Staff Writer Clark Mason at 521-5214 or clark.mason@pressdemocrat.com. On Twitter @clarkmas