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Commission reviews draft Conservation and Open Space element, sends comments to staff
Summary
Staff reviewed the draft Conservation and Open Space element of the general plan, requested comments from the commission and set a Sept. 18 comment deadline; commissioners discussed biological resource mapping, nesting-season buffers, groundwater recharge, dark‑sky/lighting impacts and park/open‑space designations.
The Parks, Recreation and Open Space Commission on Sept. 10 reviewed the draft Conservation and Open Space element of Sonoma's general plan and provided staff comments for incorporation into the consultant's draft. Staff will combine comments from commissions and the general plan task force and forward a consolidated document to the consultant; the deadline for comments on several elements was set for Sept. 18.
Senior Planner Jennifer Gates led the presentation, noting the city's pending project EIR scoping meeting (scheduled Monday at Vintage House) and that the draft element contains goals and actions ranging from biological-resource protection to parks, recreation and open-space acquisition. Staff said the city has contracted Planet Geo for an inventory/canopy study that will feed into action items in other sections.
Commission discussion focused on several technical and policy points: the need to explicitly reference the urban forest/urban canopy management plan within the element, practicalities of nesting‑season buffers for tree removals and development‑linked habitat studies, the scope of biologist surveys (staff said surveys typically cover the project site and visible adjacent features from the public right of way, not private yards), groundwater recharge references and coordination with the Sonoma Valley Groundwater Sustainability Agency, and the potential for lighting/dark‑sky considerations to affect habitat and migratory species.
Staff said the element will include a parks and open-space master plan and that land-use mapping will show open-space overlays versus underlying uses. Several commissioners recommended cross-commission review of the inventory/canopy deliverable and suggested using examples of urban forest management plans from other cities (Petaluma, Windsor) as templates.
Staff asked commissioners to send any individual or commission comments to jgates@sonomacity.org or generalplan@sonomacity.org; Gates said the team will compile comments and include them in the consultant's next draft and in the EIR scoping materials.
