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Home Resource Center In the News Home Greenbelt Alliance in the News |
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Greenbelt Alliance In the News
March 31, 2008 Growth boundary vote date up in air Clark Mason Cloverdale, the last city in Sonoma County without a voter-approved urban growth boundary, may have to wait to get the issue on the ballot. City officials, who had been aiming to put one before voters this year, now say it may not happen until mid-2010. " We really wanted to get it on the ballot for this November," said Mayor Jessalee Raymond, who added there was not enough time to conduct the required environmental documentation. There is talk, however, that some citizens may not want to wait and could gather voter signatures to force it onto the November ballot. The City Council since last year has held public hearings on the topic and eventually agreed on the most controversial issue -- where the southern boundary would be drawn and whether it would extend to Asti. But in deciding what the urban boundaries should be, officials also were trying to fit it into the ongoing update of the city's general plan. " We assumed all along it wouldn't be that big of a problem to meet all the required deadlines," Councilman Bob Jehn said. "We got to really scrutinizing the date and discovered this is probably not going to work." Because the city wants to avoid the expense of a special election, he said the next opportunity probably will not be until June 2010. City Clerk Michele Winterbottom said Friday, however, there is a possibility it could be consolidated with a local district election in late 2009. " It's very clear the vast majority of Cloverdale residents are expecting an urban growth boundary by the end of the year," said Daisy Pistey-Lyhne, representative for the Greenbelt Alliance. She noted that efforts have been under way since 2005 to get one passed in Cloverdale. Urban growth boundaries are seen as a way for voters to control development on city fringes. They are intended to limit sprawl, promote in-fill development and preserve agriculture and community separators. Once in place, they are set for 20 years and can only be changed by voters. Beginning in 1996, Santa Rosa, Healdsburg and Sebastopol voters approved growth boundaries and in the next few years, the other cities joined in. Except for Cloverdale. " We're disappointed it's taking so long," said Virginia Greenwald, a member of the Cloverdale Committee for an Urban Growth Boundary, but she said it is uncertain what the next step will be. "We're still looking at options, trying to figure out the best approach so we move ahead together." The City Council has agreed in the meantime to proceed with an ordinance that will establish new urban growth boundaries until the voters can weigh in. " We want to be proactive to show the public we're committed to the urban growth boundary concept," Jehn said. Greenwald said there still is some controversy about the "South Area Small Boundary" the council has agreed upon. Although it limits the city's expansion to the south, it would allow for two exception areas where city services such as sewer can be extended. One area is the old Italian Swiss Colony site at Asti where development would be limited to winery/destination commercial and hotel uses. There also would be an "industrial exception area" for a swath of land surrounding Redwood Empire Lumber. City Council members said they want to allow those exceptions to be able to generate jobs. ### |
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