The most important green measure in Sonoma County this November is the renewal and strengthening of voter protections for “community separators”—the greenbelt lands in between the county’s cities and towns.

Now is the time to mark our calendars to stand up for community separators at first public review of the draft ballot measure and proposed priority designations at a public hearing at the Sonoma County Planning Commission in June. (Date TBD)

Then the Board of Supervisors is expected to review community separators on July 12 (tentative – check calendar) before finalizing the ballot measure on August 9 (last date to place measure on the ballot).

Our goal is two-fold:

1. Ensure the passage of a countywide November 2016 ballot measure that will extend voter protections for Sonoma County’s community separators for 30 years or more as a key tool for protecting the county’s natural and agricultural landscapes

2. Add priority lands to existing community separators to protect priority natural and agricultural lands through a concurrent amendment to Sonoma County’s General Plan that will be voted on by the Board of Supervisors.

For more than a year, we’ve marked maps, written letters, spoken up at public hearings and gathered together to organize and plan.  Over the past two months, several hundred people have turned out for public workshops held by the county planning department in Santa Rosa, Kenwood, Cloverdale, and Petaluma.

Sierra Club, Greenbelt Alliance, Sonoma County Conservation Action and our many allies are building steady support across the county from residents, cities, elected officials, organizations and business.

So far, we’ve generated support letters from the cities of Petaluma, Windsor, Sebastopol, Cotati, Cloverdale, and Healdsburg.

And now we need to keep the pressure on by attending the public hearings and generating more letters and support for community separators.

While Sonoma County residents are strong supporters of open space protection, we recognize that we may face opposition from those who would rather profit by paving over our agricultural and rural lands for housing subdivisions, strip malls and commercial centers.

Others may want to break the community separators and UGBs in the name of affordable housing. But we don’t need to do this. There is plenty of land within our existing cities and communities to provide for housing for all.  More than 10,000 units of housing have been approved but never built in Sonoma County. Sierra Club is committed to supporting our elected officials as they tackle the housing crunch.

We all need both: protected greenbelts to prevent sprawl and pollution and attainable housing in neighborhoods near transit, shops, schools and businesses where we can live, work and play.

Greenbelts are goldmines for our environment, people and economy. By standing up for greenbelts and smart growth, we can have it all. But we need you with us at the upcoming public hearings on community separators and on the campaign trail through the summer until the vote on November 8.

To get involved, contact Teri Shore at tshore@greenbelt.org or 707 575 3661

COMMUNITY SEPARATOR TIMELINE

Ballot Measure

June  – Planning Commission Review and Public Hearing

July – Board of Supervisors Review and Public Hearing

August – Board of Supervisors Finalize Ballot Measure and Call the Election

September – November Campaign to Pass Ballot Measure

November 8 – Election Day

Community Separator Designations – General Plan Amendment

June  – Planning Commission Review and Public Hearing

July – August Board of Supervisors Review and Public Hearing

August – November Board of Supervisors Vote on Community Separator Designations (General Plan Amendment)

Teri Shore

Sierra Club, Sonoma Group Executive Committee