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Rohnert Park residents press council for permanent fixes after repeated Hartwood Drive floods
Summary
Residents described repeated floods on Hartwood Drive — citing events from 2005 through Nov. 22 — and urged the city for a permanent engineering solution, not just monitoring, pumps or temporary sandbags.
Residents of the Hartwood Drive area pressed the Rohnert Park City Council on Dec. 10 for a permanent fix to recurring flooding after a storm on Nov. 22 left streets and yards inundated.
Tracy Franco told the council she brought photos documenting full floods in December 2005 and January 2023 and partial events in 2014 and 2017, and said the most recent event again filled yards and roadways. “Monitoring is not a solution. Patrolling isn't a solution. Placing flooded signs isn't a solution,” Franco said, urging the city to develop a concrete plan such as deploying pumps or staging sandbags before storms.
Neighbors described a rapid onset: Danny Huckel said the street can become impassable in about 50 minutes and that water at times pushes up from storm drains. Linda Tillman, who said she lives two doors from Franco, described wading through knee-deep water and noted the lack of city personnel or trucks during the event; she asked the council to consider hiring an outside engineer to evaluate long-term options. Debbie Benson Miller said her subdivision of roughly 36 homes has suffered repeated damage, including about $10,000 in losses to her property in 2005.
Resident Jake McKenzie suggested the city convene a meeting with Sonoma Water and public-works staff to coordinate regional flood-protection responsibilities.
Mayor Susan Adams acknowledged the comments, thanked volunteers who helped set up a neighborhood sandbag station and said the city manager would work on finding a solution: “We have in our city manager a woman who sets aside everything that happened that day and says, let's find a solution to this problem so it stops happening,” Adams said. City Manager Piedra later praised staff responsiveness and said the city values community engagement as it evaluates next steps.
The council did not vote on a formal action at the Dec. 10 ceremonial meeting; residents asked the council to report back with a plan and suggested options included strategic pump staging, sandbag reserves, a neighborhood diversion strategy, or an engineering study to identify longer-term infrastructure fixes. Council members acknowledged the urgency and said staff would follow up in the coming weeks.
