City of Sebastopol
Northeast Area Specific Plan
Upcoming City Workshops: April 1, 10 a.m. at the Community Church and
May 6, 10 a.m. at Brook Haven School

March 9, 2006

The City of Sebastopol has initiated the process to prepare the Northeast
Area Specific Plan.

The Plan Area is bounded by Laguna Parkway on the north, the Laguna de Santa Rosa on the east, and the properties along the south side of Sebastopol Avenue on the south, and Petaluma Avenue on the west.

This includes much of the City's Downtown Core area, as well as a much of the area in the City that is designated for light industrial use. A major portion of the area is occupied by very large former apple processing buildings, including those once used by the Barlow Company, Sebastopol1s last apple processor that closed doors in 2004. Some other land in the area is vacant, or like the old lumberyard on Petaluma Avenue, presently unused, and there are also active businesses located in the area.

Development and implementation of a Northeast Area Specific Plan represents a major opportunity for transformation of the City's older industrial area to provide dynamic and inviting public and semi-public spaces, as well as addressing a number of housing, economic development, circulation, and environmental needs in a manner consistent with Sebastopol's character and values.

Several potential developers have expressed serious interest in the City's plans for the area and potentially could implement the concepts of the community's Plan.

The Plan provides an opportunity to improve circulation by extension of streets and creation of new streets in the Northeast Area, which comprises one of the key entry areas into Sebastopol.

One example of possible circulation changes is extension of McKinley Avenue from Petaluma Avenue, where it presently terminates, to Morris Street. There may also be an opportunity for a new north-south street in the planning area. Such changes have the potential to enhance circulation in the downtown area.
This may be one of the most important Sebastopol planning efforts in recent years.

Major objectives include creating a strong, positive relationship with the downtown area to the west and the Laguna de Santa Rosa to the east; strengthening the City's economy; creating a pedestrian-oriented district; consideration of the effect of the plan on existing businesses; and creating an environmentally sustainable form of development.

The Plan will express the City's objectives for land use (do we want to focus on industrial uses, residential, retail, public, or a combination of these?), will establish development standards and design guidelines, and will lay out objectives for circulation in the area.

Once adopted, implementation of the Plan is expected to take a number of years, with some uses and buildings likely not changing as a result of the Plan, and new development being phased over a long period.

Traffic circulation and floodplain development issues are the subject of special study. Although most of the area is already developed, it is subject to flooding, and how this issue is addressed, from both an environmental as well as urban design perspective, will be an important part of the Plan.

A report on flood issues is on the City web site. Environmental issues are also critical. An extensive biological resources report has been prepared and is on the City web site. It found no significant biotic resources in the primary plan area (which is already heavily urbanized), but did identify important resources on the periphery of the area.

There may be the opportunity to address unmet retail needs through this plan. What businesses are we lacking that may be desired by the Sebastopol community? How might this benefit the community? What effects might there be on existing businesses?

There will also be a special focus on community facilities that could potentially be located in the area possibilities include a new Library, Community Center, Center for the Arts, or City Hall. There will be tradeoffs in the Plan--for example, substantial redevelopment could create added traffic. The question for the Sebastopol community will be whether the benefits of the Plan outweigh such impacts.

The Plan will build on the Northeast Area Alternatives Report previously prepared by the City with significant public input.

Development of the Plan is planned to be completed in 2007. The City has retained Design, Community & Environment (DC&E) of Berkeley to prepare the Plan. Assisting DC&E are a team of consultants, including Fisher and Hall of Santa Rosa, who will be responsible for preparing an innovative form-based code for the area.
There will be an extensive community process for the Plan, including workshops and hearings.

The first phase of the Plan preparation process included extensive technical studies of the area which may be found on the City's web site, on the Planning Department page.
Two public workshops on the Plan are coming up.

A public workshop is scheduled for Saturday, Apri1, 2006 at 10 a.m. at the Community Church, located at 1000 Gravenstein Highway North. This workshop will include background information on the Plan, opportunities for member of the public to questions of the City's technical consultants (including urban design, hydrology, traffic, and economics), discussion of key planning issues, and discussion of goals for the area.

Another workshop will be conducted on Saturday, May 6, 2006 at 10 a.m. at the Brook Haven School gym, located at 7905 Valentine Avenue. This workshop will focus on planning and design issues.

The plan will be shaped by the community. If you are interested in this plan, please plan on attending, or write us with your thoughts. Numerous reports about the Northeast Area planning effort can be found on the Planning Department page of the City web site, located at www.ci.sebastopol.ca.us. These reports provide extensive background on plan issues, and also include notes from several public meetings that have been conducted. Key reports that you may want to review include the March 2004 Background Report; the 2/22/05 Draft Alternatives Report; and the 1/14/06 workshop presentation documents that summarize key information and issues.

There are a number of other documents on the web site that you may also want to read. We recommend you check the web site periodically for updates and new reports.

Although not sponsored by the City, there is also a community discussion forum about the Plan on a local web site at: https://www.waccoBB.net
For more information or to get on the City's mailing list, contact the Sebastopol Planning Department at 823-6167.