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NEW STUDY FINDS FOURFOLD INCREASE IN WILDFIRE GROWTH RATES
October 25, 2024
A new study published in the journal Science analyzed the daily growth rates of more than 60,000 fires from 2001 to 2020 across the contiguous United States. The study determined that nearly half of the country's ecoregions experienced destructive, fast-moving fires that grew more than 3,888 acres in one day. These fires accounted for 78% of the structures destroyed and 61% of the suppression costs ($18.9 billion).
The study reports that from 2001 to 2020, the average peak daily growth rate for these fires more than doubled (+249% relative to 2001) in the Western US. Nearly 3 million structures were within 2.5 miles of a fast-moving fire during this period across the US. Given recent devastating wildfires, understanding fast moving fires is crucial for improving firefighting strategies and community preparedness.
The Science journal study is available on the FILES page of our website.
More detail on the spread rate of wildfires specifically in California, provided by one of the authors of the Science journal study, is found in an October 2024 article in the San Francisco Chronicle. That author - Crystal Kolden at the University of California, Merced - indicates that the fastest moving fires identified in the study were in grassland-dominated ecosystems, which occur both in Sonoma Valley and elsewhere in California.
The San Francisco Chronicle article is available on the FILES page of our website.
SDC Specific Plan EIR Rejected by County superior Court
April 26, 2024
Sonoma County Tomorrow and Sonoma Community Advocates for a Livable Environment (SCALE), a coalition of Sonoma Mountain Preservation, Eldridge for All, the Glen Ellen Historical Society, and the Valley of the Moon Alliance, announced they have prevailed in their lawsuit challenging approvals of the Sonoma Developmental Center Specific Plan and the related Environmental Impact Report (EIR) process.
The results of the lawsuit were announced at the close of a court hearing on April 26, in which Sonoma County Superior Court Judge Bradford DeMeo ordered that the Specific Plan and EIR approvals be set aside.
In its decision, the Superior Court held that Sonoma County violated California Environmental Quality Act (CEQA) requirements, such as the EIR's inadequate project description regarding the number of housing units allowed; insufficient descriptions of impacts on biological resources, wildlife corridors, and wildfire evacuation concerns; and inadequate consideration of cumulative impacts of the proposed Hanna Center project located on Arnold Drive. The ruling also stated that the EIR did not adequately respond to comments received from community members on the Draft EIR.
The Court also addressed the lawsuit’s overarching challenge to the Specific Plan for the project, which used a “self-mitigating" approach, ruling that “purported mitigation measures in the Plan are, as a whole, ineffective, vague, and devoid of any semblance of performance standards in violation of CEQA.”
The ruling, which is tentative, effectively voids the existing EIR and Specific Plan, such that a new EIR and Specific Plan must be prepared by the County, approved by the Board of Supervisors, and then certified by the Court before the redevelopment project can proceed.
The tentative ruling is available on the FILES page of this website.
Board of Supervisors Approves tree protection ordinance
April 17, 2024
The Sonoma County Board of Supervisors approved on April 17, 2024 an expanded version of the county’s tree protection ordinance, which will preserve more of the county’s trees and help to combat climate change given that woodlands pull carbon from the atmosphere.
The updated Tree Protection Ordinance protects more native species, lowers the size threshold of protected trees to support forest health, and exempts removals for public safety, defensible space and basic property maintenance. A second ordinance specifically enhances protections for oak woodlands, a sensitive and valued natural resource.
“Trees and woodlands are essential elements of Sonoma County’s rural and urban lands. They provide a range of fundamental services to the community including clean air and water, wildlife habitat, natural cooling and climate moderation, cultural and historical value,” said Supervisor Lynda Hopkins. “Climate change, natural disasters and development continue to imperil the health, diversity and distribution of local trees and the benefits they provide. This action will help mitigate those hazards.”
The original Tree Protection Ordinance, adopted in 1989, protected eleven tree species with trunks 9 inches in diameter or greater. The updated ordinance includes thirty-one tree species with trunks 6 inches in diameter or greater. The protected species include big leaf maple, black oak, blue oak, boxelder, California black walnut, California buckeye, canyon live oak, coast live oak, two cottonwood species, interior live oak, madrone, Oregon ash, Oregon oak, red and white alder, valley oak, two willow species, two cypress species, grand fir, six pine species, redwood, western hemlock.
To mitigate the impact of removing trees, the ordinance requires new trees to be planted or payment of an in-lieu fee. The supervisors increased the fees based on changes to the Consumer Price Index since 1989. Fees in the original ordinance ranged from $200 to $1,400, and are now $500 to $3,500 per tree removed, depending on the size of the tree. A use permit would be required for the removal of protected hardwoods greater than 36 inches and redwoods greater than 48 inches, and an appraisal would be required to determine the fee for removing those trees.
The tree policy was developed after Permit Sonoma conducted an extensive three-year outreach campaign including 8 public meetings, more than 30 meetings with representatives of targeted stakeholder groups and a community survey with more than 500 respondents.
The ordinance is available at Comprehensive Tree Ordinance Update website.
VOTMA commissions sonoma area fire evacuation (SAFE) study
SONOMA AREA FIRE EVACUATION (SAFE) STUDY
On March 1, 2024, the Valley of the Moon Alliance (VOTMA) entered into an agreement with KLD Associates to conduct an independent evacuation time estimate (ETE) study for much of Sonoma Valley, specifically the area bounded to the north by Oakmont and to the south by the northern boundary of Sonoma. The study area will include Oakmont, Kenwood, Glen Ellen, Eldridge, Fetters Hot Springs-Agua Caliente, Boyes Hot Springs, El Verano, and all unincorporated inhabited areas in between these communities and the mountain ranges to the east and west. In addition, the study will consider a "shadow region" surrounding the valley. A shadow region is an area outside the declared evacuation area wherein people may voluntarily evacuate, thus potentially delaying egress of those people in the declared evacuation area. Given the widespread impact of wildfires in recent years, it is highly likely that communities neighboring the valley will also choose to evacuate.
Along with ETE studies conducted for numerous cities including Berkeley, Laguna Beach, Ashland (OR), and the Counties of Santa Barbara and Santa Cruz, KLD Associates also recently completed an ETE study for Oakmont Village.
With a focus on wildfires, the ETE study will determine how long it could take to evacuate the valley under various circumstances and will explore the sensitivity of ETE to numerous factors including, but not limited to, the following:
- the number of evacuating vehicles per household
- police performing traffic control at critical intersections
- the impact of development and resulting increased population
- the mobilization time or time to prepare to evacuate, based in part on a demographic survey of residents
With respect to assessing the impact of development and resulting increased population (residents and visitors), the study, which is anticipated to take six months and cost approximately $85,000, will consider the Sonoma Developmental Center, Hanna Center, Elnoka and other proposed and foreseeable developments in the study area.
First and foremost, the ETE study is about public safety. The study seeks to understand the magnitude of the wildfire evacuation problems valley residents and visitors will face should these large-scale developments proceed as outlined in project applications. The study does not seek to solve these problems. However, data from the ETE will be widely shared, and it is our hope that County officials and fire professionals will use it to enhance public safety by updating evacuation protocols and plans as well as looking to the study for guidance regarding local development.
Grassroots fundraising is necessary to make this study a reality. The ETE Task Force (Roger Peters, Kathy Pons, Kevin Padian, Bean Anderson, and Alice Horowitz) is committed to working closely with KLD and the people of Sonoma Valley to ensure accurate data-based results.
sdc Project application confirms Community concerns
For immediate release
Glen Ellen. February 28, 2024. Sonoma County Tomorrow and SCALE, Sonoma County Advocates for a Liveable Environment, a coalition including Sonoma Mountain Preservation, Eldridge for All, the Glen Ellen Historical Society, and the Valley of the Moon Alliance, urge concerned Sonoma Valley and Sonoma County residents to participate in the upcoming County review of the February 20 application filed by the developer to redevelop the former Sonoma Development Center (SDC).
The public has until March 21, 2024 to submit comments on the oversized development proposal for the SDC by developer Keith Rogal under the recently created Eldridge Renewal LLC. Written comments on the application should be emailed to Permit Sonoma, either to PlanningAgency@sonoma-county.org or to planner Wil Lyons at Wil.Lyons@sonoma-county.org. Sonoma County Tomorrow and SCALE urge Sonoma County residents to participate in the County review of the development application, which exceeds the out-of- scale project allowed by the County in its SDC Specific Plan.
The developer asks for approvals of a “major subdivision” and “design review” at the SDC site, currently owned by the State of California. He is proposing 400,000 square feet of commercial space — including a 150-room hotel and conference center — and 930 residential units, of which only 123 units (13%) are designated affordable rentals.
“The project is far beyond the capacity of the site and will create a host of unaddressed environmental problems, as well as seriously increase wildfire evacuation risk,” said SCALE spokesperson Alice Horowitz. “It will triple the size of Glen Ellen without providing adequate infrastructure for emergency evacuation and traffic. In addition, Eldridge Renewal proposes large-scale commercial uses, including a resort hotel, which will cause irreparable harm to the critical wildlife corridor.”
Key concerns cited by SCALE and Sonoma County Tomorrow include:
· The lack of a wildfire evacuation plan and flawed environmental analysis, which grossly underestimates emergency evacuation times, putting nearby communities at risk.
· The negative cumulative impacts on the entirety of Sonoma Valley caused by the SDC project, coupled with other large proposed development projects in the Valley, including a massive residential and commercial project at the Hanna Center; the Elnoka Project north of Oakmont at Melita; Kenwood Ranch, opposite Lawndale Road in Kenwood; the Verano Hotel and Housing Project at the junction of Highway 12 and Verano Avenue; and the new Siesta Senior Housing Development in Boyes Hot Springs.
· The siting of a four-story hotel and conference center within and adjacent to the Sonoma Valley Wildlife Corridor in a hillside location that is not consistent with the Specific Plan and will require massive grading. The failure to conform to the Specific Plan, minimize construction impacts, and create a permeable site plan to allow for critical wildlife movement are major concerns.
· The absence of sufficient dedicated land in an appropriate location to meet Intellectual and Developmental Disabilities housing needs, as called for in the state legislation.
· There is no commitment or requirement to build housing before the hotel and commercial property.
· The lack of sufficient affordable housing, failing even to meet California minimum requirements that 25% of new housing units be affordable.
“Affordable housing is critical for our community, and the paltry number designated in the developer’s plan is completely unacceptable,” said Horowitz.
Last year, SCALE and Sonoma County Tomorrow filed a lawsuit in Sonoma County Superior Court challenging approval of the County environmental impact report associated with the SDC Specific Plan, which failed to address numerous environmental problems. The lawsuit is pending.
The application can be found here: https://parcelsearch.permitsonoma.org/parcelreport?APN=054-090-001&PN=PLP24-0005&RP=permitSearch.
PERMIT SONOMA ANNOUNCES CENTER FOR CLIMATE ACTION AND INNOVATION AT SDC
On January 5, 2024, Permit Sonoma, in partnership with the California State Coastal Conservancy, announced its Center for Climate Action and Innovation Business Plan (Business Plan) at the Sonoma Developmental Center (SDC). The California State Coastal Conservancy has approved a grant of up to $250,000 to the County of Sonoma to fund this opportunity.
As a core occupant of the site, the Center for Climate Action and Innovation (Center) could act as a future hub for collaboration and innovation, providing an area where key stakeholders, leaders, institutions, and private enterprise can work together to find new responses to the ongoing climate crisis. The center could provide valuable economic contributions in the form of research and development activity that would add new jobs and diversity to the county economy while confirming Sonoma County’s place at the forefront of climate resilience and adaptation research.
The proposed center would work in conjunction with any proposed housing or commercial opportunities that might be built at the SDC site in the future. This might include research into innovation in water reuse, microgrid and alternative energy production, low-carbon mobility, vegetation management, fire safety technology, regenerative agriculture, vermiculture technology, equitable farm starts and their contribution to climate adaptation. This center would be a hub for climate leaders, innovators, entrepreneurs, institutions, and the public to come together to find and demonstrate novel solutions and mitigations to address the climate crisis using the beautiful SDC campus as a backdrop.
Visit the webpage for the business plan announcement and read the business plan document itself at Permit Sonoma's website: Business Plan for a Center for Climate Action and Innovation at SDC (permitsonoma.org)
Designated OPEN SPACE AT SDC TO BE DEVELOPED FOR CALFIRE USE
Sonoma Mountain Preservation Observes that Area Designated for Open Space Instead will be Developed for CalFire's Use
The group Sonoma Mountain Preservation recently submitted a letter to Senator Dodd, Senator McGuire, and Assemblymember Connolly to express concern that a 50-acre parcel in the southeastern corner of the former Sonoma Developmental Center property, originally intended for preservation as public parkland, will be transferred to CalFire to construct offices. The offices are to be built on what is presently and was intended to remain as open space. The area designated for CalFire's use lies within the voter-approved community separator, encompasses a seasonal stream and pristine oak savanna, an abuts both the Eldridge Marsh and the western outlet of a Highway 12 underpass that has been identified as one of the ways wildlife safely traverse the highway to access the Mayacamas Mountains, part of the Sonoma Valley Wildlife Corridor.
Read the letter by going to the Sonoma Development Center section of the FILES page of this website.
SDC OPEN SPACE TRANSFERRED TO sTATE pARKS
For Immediate Release: 1/4/2024
Sonoma Developmental Center’s Open Space Lands Transferred to California State Parks
Contact:
Newsroom@parks.ca.gov
ELDRIDGE, Calif.— California State Parks today announced the transfer of jurisdiction of approximately 650 acres of Sonoma Developmental Center’s (SDC) open space property to State Parks. SDC’s open space area is connected to Jack London State Historic Park (SHP).
Sharing a common boundary, watershed, critical wildlife corridor, connecting trails, and view shed, the property is an integral part of the region’s biodiversity and recreational opportunities.
The transfer of SDC lands to State Parks is the largest addition to state park lands in Sonoma County since 2010. These lands will provide a connection from Jack London SHP to Sonoma County Regional Park, maintaining a critical regional wildlife linkage connecting the Marin Coast to Blue Ridge and Lake Berryessa. The property includes high-quality oak woodlands, mixed evergreen forests, coast redwood and riparian forests, grasslands, and wetlands.
“California State Parks looks forward to stewarding this property, working through the planning process with the public, and advancing public outdoor access to more Californians,” said California State Parks Director Armando Quintero. “By transferring these open space lands to the State Park System, we are conserving California’s critical biodiversity and helping ensure that future generations will be able to enjoy these protected lands.”
“Bringing this land into State Parks is a big win for the environment, outdoor recreation and local communities,” said California Natural Resources Secretary Wade Crowfoot. “It protects an important wildlife corridor, safeguards diverse local ecosystems, and will expand opportunities for local residents and visitors to hike and enjoy the outdoors.
State Parks will operate the open space lands in an interim state until a general plan amendment process is conducted with public input.
General Plan Update before the BOS Dec. 12, 2023
GP Amendment Kick-off at Board of Supervisors
Recommended Action: Review and provide comments to Permit Sonoma staff on the Department’s proposed initial work plan to scope the General Plan update and plan to solicit a consultant to commence the update.
Executive Summary: The General Plan is a shared community vision that reflects community priorities and values while shaping our future growth, encourages housing and job development, fosters healthy and resilient communities, guides the protection and management of natural resources, and promotes social and economic equity. The State General Plan Guidelines recommend that General Plans be updated every five to ten years to ensure that they remain relevant and reflect local physical and demographic changes and broader changes in culture and technology. The Sonoma County General Plan 2020, that has served our community since 2008, needs a comprehensive update to address State law requirements and more closely reflect shifts in community values that have been shaped by recent events such as including recent flooding and wildfire recovery.
This item presents a preliminary work plan to scope the General Plan update which includes the following components:
• Recruit and hire a consultant to begin scoping for the larger project and planning work with an initial phase to:
o Perform a detailed audit of General Plan 2020, including specific and area plans, and its consistency with current State guidance for General Plans;
o Market the planning effort, conduct community outreach, and establish a reliable engagement platform that will carry through the entire planning process;
o Establish a timeline and budget for the General Plan update and associated Environmental Impact Report. This includes evaluating any grant or other funding that may be available to support plan development.
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Where are we headed?
On March 1, 2024, VOTMA entered into an agreement with KLD Associates to conduct an independent evacuation time estimate (ETE) study for much of Sonoma Valley. An anonymous survey of evacuation needs and behavior is now available. Click on the button below to learn more about the Sonoma Area Fire Evacuation (SAFE) Study.