By Teri Shore
A new survey of Sonoma County voters commissioned by Greenbelt Alliance found that 75 percent would definitely or most likely vote “yes” on a potential county ballot measure to renew and expand protections from sprawl for greenbelt lands designated as community separators between Sonoma County’s towns and cities. By the end of the poll that rose to 78 percent.
We need to renew and add to community separators or risk losing more agricultural lands and open space to housing tracts, malls and big box stores. The existing protections for community separators that voters approved by 70 percent nearly two decades ago expire at the end of 2016.
Sierra Club, Greenbelt Alliance and its allies are now calling on the Board of Supervisors to go beyond a renewal to strengthen protections and add priority greenbelts to community separators. Priority additions should also include lands around Penngrove and between Cloverdale and Healdsburg that are identified for designation in the 2020 General Plan. Groundwater recharge areas, prime agricultural lands and wildlife habitat should also be considered for community separator designation for long-term preservation.
The Board of Supervisors is expected to decide by year’s end whether to just renew or to strengthen and expand community separators with a ballot measure in 2016. If the voter protections expire, a vote from just three of five members of the board of supervisors could allow inappropriate development in community separators.
As Board elections approach, 67 percent of voters stated they would view their supervisors more favorably if they placed a measure to renew and expand community separators on the ballot.
About 17,000 acres of agricultural and natural lands in eight areas are designated as community separators around Sonoma County. They serve as green buffers and hold back sprawl, complementing urban growth boundaries around cities. Community separators also protect agricultural lands, waterways, woodlands and wildlife habitat from development.
Together, UGBs and community separator policies protect the places in Sonoma County most likely to be targeted by sprawl developers and encourage growth to occur within urban boundaries.
With the expiration approaching, Sierra Club is working to gather support and to safeguard these policies now. We are also helping to improve the policies so that they better protect Sonoma County’s landscape for years to come.
Take Action: please write or call your supervisor to support community separator renewal and expansion now, not later.
Shirlee.Zane@sonoma-county.org
Efren.Carrillo@sonoma-county.org
David.Rabbitt@sonoma-county.org
An action alert with sample letter is posted on Greenbelt Alliance’s website, greenbelt.org. To join the campaign, contact Teri Shore at tshore@greenbelt.org or 707 575 3661.