Builder’s Remedy

Back in 2023, a bill was passed by the California State Legislature (SB330) which said, in short, that if a City or County did not have its Housing Element in place, a developer could file a plan under what became known as the Builder’s Remedy and it would overrule the present zoning or General Plan.

Under the Builder’s Remedy, the developer could then file a ‘final application’ within 180 days, and after only 5 public meetings, the project would automatically be approved. Under the Builder’s Remedy, the developer enjoys additional density bonuses and is not required to provide a full Environmental Impact Report.

This is the loophole which the developers selected by the State for SDC used to expand their proposal. At the time of filing, the County of Sonoma did not have its housing element in place, and was therefore ‘out of compliance’ under SB330. The Rogal/Grupe partnership used the opportunity to its own advantage, and submitted an outrageous plan that called for 930 residential units and for demolishing virtually ALL the buildings on the SDC site (see link to illustration HERE). Multi-story housing would then be built wall-to-wall along Arnold Drive plus 40,000 square feet of commercial space and an out-of-scale luxury hotel on the edge of the sensitive wildlife corridor. (see map HERE)

There is so much wrong with this proposal, it would take a ream of paper just to put it all down.

However the team at Sonoma Valley Next 100 was on top of this. We thoroughly read the text of the bill that enacts the Builders Remedy and found some loopholes of our own that are applicable but unfortunately are at the discretion of the County as the reviewing agency. We pointed these loopholes out in a letter submitted on July 24, 2024 to the Director of Permit Sonoma, Tennis Wick in which we encouraged him to DISAPPROVE the application based on the provisions in Section 65889.5(d)(4) of the law that established the Builder’s Remedy.

A copy of the legislation is available HERE on our website, and a copy of our letter is available HERE on our website.

Please take a look at the logic we used in our letter, and at the legislation itself, and write your own letter to Tennis Wick, Director of Permit Sonoma. Tell him to work on behalf of the community he represents and remind him that he does have the ability (and the law is behind him) to DISAPPROVE the use of the Builder’s Remedy at SDC. Strongly encourage him to DISAPPROVE the Builder’s Remedy application by Rogal/Grupe and Eldridge Renewal.

For greater effect, please use your own words. Take a small part of the issue, or take the whole issue, as you choose. But let your feelings be heard ONE MORE TIME.

Now is not the time to throw up your hands and give up. Now is the time to further resolve to do anything possible to reduce the size of development at SDC, and to have the wishes of our community heard and acted upon – finally!

Send a copy of your letter to Susan Gorin and copy us at Sonoma Valley Next 100 as well. All addresses are below. Thank you for your letters and your support.

Addresses for email:

Tennis Wick, Planning Director
Permit Sonoma
Tennis.wick@sonoma-county.org

Susan Gorin, Supervisor District 1
Susan.Gorin@sonoma-county.org

Sonoma Valley Next 100
SDCNext100@gmail.com