projects that votma is following

VOTMA commissioned KLD Associates, an internationally recognized engineering firm with extensive experience in evacuation analysis, to conduct the Sonoma Area Fire Evacuation (SAFE) study of a large portion of Sonoma Valley. The SAFE study was completed in January 2025. 

Also, refer to the Evac Study page of our website to read the study report and related information.

The Specific Plan involves the transfer of shuttered State Hospital buildings on a 200-acre campus in Eldridge to developers for housing, affordable housing, commercial buildings, a hotel, and other projects to be determined by the final Specific Plan that was adopted on December 16, 2022. Approximately 750 acres of open space land will remain undeveloped and transferred to state and local parks and perhaps placed in trust for wildlife protection.

The Applicant, Eldridge Renewal, LLC, submitted its Development Permit Application for the SDC to Permit Sonoma on February 16, 2024.  Click on LEARN MORE below to view the submitted February 16 Development Permit Application files.

Then, on March 15, 2024, Permit Sonoma sent a letter to Eldridge Renewal that stated that the Permit Application was incomplete. The letter indicated that to process the application to completion, Eldridge Renewal should provide revised or supplemental application material as needed to ensure that the application is consistent with County standards and requirements.  The range of deficiencies or lack of detail in the application pertained to water supply and sewage disposal, riparian corridors and biological resources, wildfire and evacuation, affordability levels of housing, and other issues.

Previously, 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, filed a lawsuit challenging the adequacy of the Specific Plan and associated Environmental Impact Report (EIR). The results of the lawsuit were announced at the close of a court hearing on April 26, 2024, 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.

The FILES page of this website contains Permit Sonoma's March 15 letter describing how of the application was incomplete, as well as VOTMA's September 26, 2022 comments on the SDC Specific Plan and DEIR that was submitted to Permit Sonoma.

A good summary of the current status of the proposed project in the aftermath of the Superior Court ruling, as well as a discussion of the increased community opposition to the project, was published in the Sonoma Sun on September 1, 2024.  The Sonoma Sun article is available on the FILES page of this website.

Also on the FILES page is a letter from Sonoma Mountain Preservation to Senator Dodd, Senator McGuire, and Assemblymember Connolly expressing concern that a 50-acre parcel in the southeastern corner of the SDC property, originally intended for preservation as public parkland, will be transferred to Cal Fire to construct offices.

On January 14, 2025, the nonprofit organization Sonoma Valley Next 100 filed a lawsuit against the California Department of General Services (DGS) in Sonoma County Superior Court, challenging the state’s plans to allow large-scale, unfettered development of the former Sonoma Developmental Center (SDC) property.   The lawsuit seeks declaratory relief and a writ of traditional mandamus to prevent DGS from transferring the site to the developers selected by the state—Eldridge Renewal, LLC, Rogal & Partners, and the Grupe Company.  Sonoma Valley Next 100's press release on the lawsuit is available on the FILES page of this website.

On February 4, 2025, Eldridge Renewal, LLC, resubmitted its SB 330 Builder's Remedy completeness application to Permit Sonoma.  The files that comprise that application can be viewed on Permit Sonoma's website at County of Sonoma. 

The latest development in the planning process for the project was announced on March 6, 2025 in a letter from County planner Wil Lyons to Eldridge Renewal. Mr. Lyons' letter informed Eldridge Renewal's partners Keith Rogal of Rogal and Associates and Rob Toste of The Grupe Company that Permit Sonoma had determined that the partnership's application was "complete for processing". This determination means that Eldridge Renewal can proceed in preparing an environmental impact report (EIR) to comply with the California Environmental Quality Act (CEQA), and well as other steps in the planning process.  For a more complete description of the next steps in the planning process, read the March 15, 2025 Kenwood Press article by Tracy Salcedo on the FILES of this website.  

In March 2025, Hanna Center officials announced their abandonment of its proposed 60-acre development plan at the intersection of Arnold Drive and West Agua Caliente Road. The proposed project, sited on undeveloped land, was intended to address the housing needs of a wide array of Sonoma Valley residents, including providing a mix of senior, market-rate, and affordable housing options. The plan would have offered new resident amenities such as neighborhood-serving retail uses and public open space. The project also envisioned a preschool/child development facility and a vocational training center. 

Hanna officials confirmed they dropped the plan partly in response to community concerns about the project’s scale and issues such as traffic congestion and increased wildfire evacuation times. Neighbors were concerned that the project could exceed water and sewage system capacities. Adverse air quality effects, seismic safety and the rural feel of the area were other community concerns, as was the limited proportion of low-income housing. However, Cameron Safarloo, president and CEO of Hanna Center stated that Hanna Center officials "... believed those concerns could have been addressed during an extensive environmental review process.”

The project was proposed in part to add another revenue stream for Hanna Center, a nonprofit organization affiliated with the Catholic Diocese of Santa Rosa.  Hanna Center officials indicate that they will instead focus resources on bolstering mental health, trauma-informed training and community recreation programs.

A new winery consisting of a 35,679-square-foot process facility with an annual production capacity of 30,000 cases, a public tasting room, wine cave storage, 28 promotional events per year, and 20 acres of permitted vineyard development, located on a 58.68-acre site at the intersection Highway 121 and Napa Road, at the former Stornetta Creamery site, 4310 Fremont Drive.

Currently under construction, a 50-room destination resort, 10,000 case winery with tours, tasting room, retail sales, 125-seat restaurant, 60 special events per year, and a 13-lot subdivision on 477 acres requiring a General Plan amendment, Specific Plan amendment, Zone Change, Major Subdivision, Lot Line Adjustment and use permit. Additionally, 11 luxury hilltop homes on a total of 183 acres. Located approximately two miles northwest of Kenwood at the end of Campagna Lane on the north side of Highway 12.

VOTMA will attend the next Board of Supervisors hearing on the project on September 24, 2024, where we intend to discuss the new proposed alternate road as well as outline the Oakmont evacuation time estimate study at the BOS as it relates to the Kenwood Ranch and give a preview of the Sonoma Area Fire Evacuation study as well. 

At the meeting, we also intend to suggest a requirement that the Kenwood Ranch winery and other similar businesses be shut down for events on Red Flag days.

Located south of the intersection of Highway 12 and Melita Road, a 69-acre property owned by Burbank Housing may be used for an affordable housing project. Burbank is reportedly working with the City of Santa Rosa and its consultants to understand the site’s history and its opportunities and constraints.