Sebastopol General Plan Updates — January 2013 Community Meetings

Sonoma State University (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

 

January Community Meetings

 

 

Many people attended the joint Planning Commission and City Council Meeting November 27, 2012 where Sonoma State University students presented the results of two community surveys and a land use inventory they conducted as part of their senior project. While the student project is not an official General Plan Update, the information the students are gathering will be useful to any future committee tasked with creating Sebastopol’s next General Plan.

 

 

The second stage of the SSU project involves significant community input.  In fact, seven meetings have already been scheduled from 6:00 – 7:30 p.m. at the Veterans Memorial Building (282 S. High St.). The purpose is to learn more about the concerns and priorities of Sebastopol residents in the following topic areas:

 

 

• Environmental Sustainability: Monday, January 7th
• Economic Vitality: Thursday, January 10th
• Community Health: Monday, January 14th
• Housing: Thursday, January 17th
• Conservation: Thursday, January 24th
• Parks & Open Space: Monday, January 28th
• Community Identity: Thursday, January 31st

 

 

Three other topics have yet to be scheduled: Land Use, Safety, and Circulation (Traffic).

 

 

The format for the meetings will be a fast-paced brainstorming session. Consistent with qualitative research, the goal is to collect as many ideas/issues as possible from all persons in attendance. Then attendees will use a democratic process to prioritize the results.

 

 

There will not be any discussion of the relative merits of the ideas/issues. The priorities will simply be identified and then the SSU students will select a few of the issues from across all the meetings to serve as the focus of a half day Community Workshop to be held February 23, 2013. The identified priorities will also likely inform the student’s Policy Report to be delivered to the City Council on April 23, 2013.

 

 

The prioritized findings from each of the 10 community meetings will be posted in the General Plan Update section of the city website. In addition, they will be available for any future groups to reference at such time that Sebastopol engages in the formal update of its General Plan.

 

 

To learn more about the Community Meetings, or to be added to the email list for updates concerning the SSU project and the eventual General Plan Update, call the Planning Department Monday through Thursday at (707) 823-6167, or email rmansour@cityofsebastopol.org.

 

Core Project Entries at the Library

SEBASTOPOL’S CORE PROJECT ENTRIES ON DISPLAY AT SEBASTOPOL PUBLIC LIBRARY THROUGH SEPTEMBER 5 Informational Talk on Wednesday, August 29 Hello again, The Core Project welcomes you to join us at the Sebastopol Public Library! WHAT: Exhibition of selected entries from The Core Project international design competition. Informational talk on The Core Project and the design competition. WHERE: Sebastopol Public Library Forum Room, 7140 Bodega Ave., Sebastopol, CA 95472 WHEN: Now through Wednesday, September 5, entry boards from Sebastopol and around the world will be displayed in the Forum Room during regular Library hours (Tues – Fri 10am-6pm, Sat 10am-4pm, Wed 10am-8pm). The informational talk about the boards will be on Wednesday, August 29th, at 6:30 pm. COST: Exhibit and talk are free and open to the public. DETAILS:  The Core Project is a grassroots effort led by Sebastopol residents and business owners.  Our goal is to explore how the physical presence of Sebastopol can become more economically thriving and aesthetically vibrant, while reflecting the natural beauty of the region and the character of the community.  We believe this can be achieved by revitalizing the downtown core and fostering growth that reflects community interest by providing a vision for this region’s unique character and for the town’s future. Launched in August 2011, The Core Project hosted an international design competition to generate ‘out of the box’ ideas for renewing Sebastopol’s downtown core.  The competition challenged entrants to explore traffic, commerce, and strengthening the connection between built and natural landscapes.  48 students and professionals from around the world responded enthusiastically with 24 designs to improve the physical presence of the core of Sebas­topol and vie for $2,500 in cash awards. Over 300 guests attended the awards reception on February 11 held in the RS Basso Building in downtown Sebastopol.  Now, anyone who didn’t get a chance to view the designs at that time can head over to the Forum Room at the Sebastopol Public Library to see the entries!  Hope to see you there! The Core Project is honored to have the support of community residents, local business sponsors, the City of Sebastopol, and the Redwood Empire Chapter of the American Institute of Architects.    friend us on Facebook | forward to a friend Copyright © 2012 The Core Project, All rights reserved. You opted in to receiving updates about Sebastopol’s The Core Project. Our mailing address is: 108 Petaluma Ave. Sebastopol, CA 95472