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Staff updates: FEMA mapping appeal window opens; Colgan Creek restoration completes construction, enters planting phase

Waterways Advisory Committee (City of Santa Rosa) · February 26, 2026

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Summary

Planning staff outlined a 90‑day FEMA flood‑map appeal period (Jan. 20–Apr. 20, 2026) and the South Santa Rosa specific plan timeline; water department staff said the Lower Colgan Creek Restoration has finished construction, reached >100‑year capacity and is installing ~9,000 native plants and monarch habitat.

Senior planner Sheila Walski told the committee the South Santa Rosa Specific Plan has kicked off engagement, covers roughly 2,000 acres along Santa Rosa Avenue, is not proposing annexation and has public workshops scheduled for March 4 and March 5. Walski said staff expects the plan to go to City Council on March 24, 2026. Walski also explained that FEMA’s flood‑risk mapping for Santa Rosa Creek and tributaries is in a 90‑day appeal period that began Jan. 20, 2026 and runs through April 20; property owners can submit appeals and the city will collect and forward material to FEMA. "90 days began on 01/20/2026 and will run through April 20," Walski said.

Water department environmental specialists Kyle Sponberg and Kellen Johnston updated the committee on creek stewardship and the Lower Colgan Creek restoration. Sponberg said the stewardship program engaged over 10,000 people last year (about 8,000 of them youth), ran more than 130 volunteer cleanups and reported removal of more than 1,200 cubic yards of trash from city waterways. Johnston said construction on the three‑phase Lower Colgan Creek Restoration is complete and the project is now in a planting phase: roughly 9,000 native plants are being installed, along with about 2 acres of monarch butterfly/pollinator habitat and an ADA‑accessible pathway and pedestrian bridge. "It's now at over 100 year flood capacity," Johnston said, adding that planting events are scheduled for March 21 and April 18 and Laguna Foundation is leading the planting work.

Committee members asked about appeal documentation availability (staff recommended records requests), whether the committee will review map changes or Citywide Creek Master Plan updates, trash composition monitoring tied to the MS4 permit and the possible impacts of jurisdictional boundary changes on long‑term tracking. Staff said FEMA’s mapping process largely controls timing but the city will present outcomes to the committee and explore ways to share project updates by email or other briefings.

What’s next: the appeal period closes April 20, 2026; final FEMA maps are expected in 2027. Staff will email committee members engagement details for the South Santa Rosa Specific Plan and consider ways to provide interim updates on projects the committee previously reviewed.