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Presentation for April 25, 2015 Laguna de Santa Rosa Management
Plan Community Workshop, Kenyon Webster, Planning Director
First, a little history: in about the last 75 years, prior uses of what is now the Laguna
Preserve included a City dump, sewage disposal, and apple waste disposal.
These uses exemplify how people used to view wetlands: as useless, low-value areas
that can be dumped on.
In the 1970’s and 80’s attitudes and laws changed. There were local, decades-long
efforts to protect and restore the Laguna.
In 1992 the City Council adopted the Laguna Park Master Plan, which created a vision
for protection and enhancement of the Laguna in the Sebastopol area, and guided the
later creation of the Laguna Preserve.
As expressed in the Master Plan, the Preserve is not intended to be an intensely
developed or active recreation area; rather it is intended to focus on maintaining and
restoring natural ecological functions and values, with low-impact public access.
When the Park Plan was being created, there were intense debates
about appropriate uses of the City’s Laguna lands---and whether other
community goods, like more playing fields or community buildings,
should be allowed.
A line was drawn back then, but quite frankly, through the years there have continued to
be efforts to blur, or cross that line to facilitate other desirable uses, where sometimes it
seems that proponents may either have other priorities, or may not fully appreciate the
fundamental purposes of the Preserve.
The basic idea of the Preserve is protect and restore space for plants and animals, have
minimal built improvements, and relatively minimal access.
While the City adopted the Master Plan in 1992, it had no funding to actually build it.
The first construction of the Preserve began in 1998, sparked by a completely
unexpected $200,000 donation from a local citizen, Emmett Blincoe.
Since then, the Preserve has been developed in multiple stages on several distinct
properties, transforming areas once used for waste disposal into a valued public park.
Thousands of native trees and shrubs have been planted, and several miles of trails
developed.
Right now, there is a forest growing on Meadowlark Field and other parts of the
Preserve—which is really pretty awesome!
A major funding partner has been the Open Space District, which helped the City
purchase the Railroad Forest and Tomodachi Park properties, provided a major
restoration grant at Meadowlark Field, and provided a substantial amount of funding for
construction of Tomodachi Park.
Conservation easements were recorded to protect the values of lands where the District
provided the City with financial assistance.
Under the easements, the City is obligated to maintain these values.
After some activities that the District felt might be in conflict with conservation values, the
District asked the City to prepare a management plan to set forth its protocols for
maintenance, restoration and improvement of the properties with District easements.
Since the Laguna Preserve sites without such easements have the same environmental
and management issues, the Management Plan will also encompass those properties.
We are here to hear what you think, but there are known issues regarding how
maintenance should be conducted, how to deal with invasive plant species, what to do
about the lack of public identity for the Preserve, insufficient connectivity with
surrounding properties and between Preserve areas, and protocols for restoration and
improvement projects.
Recognizing these issues, the City Council set aside funding in this year’s budget to
prepare a Laguna Preserve Management Plan.
Key Management Plan Project objectives include:
• To inventory Preserve properties;
• To review existing City policies;
• To document existing restrictions;
• To identify opportunities for restoration and enhancement;
• To describe the target condition of properties---what are we aiming for?
• To identify maintenance needs;
• To establish best management practices;
• To set forth protocols for improvements, such as native plant restoration projects and
trails, including how volunteers should be utilized;
The draft Management Plan will be reviewed in a public process, with hearings at the
Planning Commission and City Council.
In conclusion, we’re here to see what you think the issues, needs, and opportunities are,
and I am looking forward to hearing from everyone here.
Thank you!