Healdsburg approves community event space, farmers market project

The Healdsburg City Council has approved a plan that renews its support for redeveloping a historic, city-owned site to make way for an open-air community event space that will also house the city’s weekly farmers market.

The City Council voted 5-0 last week to move forward with the plan first approved nearly three years ago at 3 North St., widely referred to as the Cerri or Purity property, which has sat vacant since late 2006.

The future of the 1.2-acre parcel became a flash point in the community after the council began considering the site for an affordable housing complex. But when a $7 million pledged donation surfaced in January from the Foley Family Foundation, the charitable arm of the Santa Rosa-based luxury wine brand, longtime supporters of the public pavilion project pressured the council to follow through on its prior decision.

An overflow crowd of more than 100 people jammed into Healdsburg’s City Hall to lobby council members to approve the 5,200-square-foot pavilion and 6,100-square-foot parking and open-air event space. The concept had been discussed since at least 2009 and received unanimous approval in May 2017.

The property, which includes a 1920s-era industrial warehouse and is located along the abandoned railway, will also be considered for Healdsburg’s future SMART commuter train station. The possibility could lead to a land swap where the city pursues housing on part of the 11.5 acres that Sonoma-Marin Area Rail Transit owns about a half-mile east of the Cerri site.

You can reach Staff Writer Kevin Fixler at 707-521-5336 or kevin.fixler@pressdemocrat.com. On Twitter @kfixler.