Tag: community gardens

Author SuzannePosted on Categories Land UseTags , , ,

Southeast Greenway celebration honors decade-plus work to acquire Santa Rosa’s newest park

Paulina Pineda, PRESS DEMOCRAT

With Santa Rosa’s purchase of the property, supporters shift focus to planning for the city’s newest park.

A late autumn sun warmed a small group of government officials and community members Tuesday afternoon as they set off to cross the length of a 2.2-mile-long, 300-foot-wide expanse in eastern Santa Rosa.

Leading the tour aboard Rosie the Trolley was Thea Hensel, who listed off ideas for what the property, known as the Southeast Greenway, could one day become.

As the group cut through neighborhood streets, up Hoen Avenue and toward Spring Lake Regional Park, Hensel pointed toward the flat lands where play equipment and picnic areas could one day stand.

Maybe the space could host educational programs in partnership with the six nearby schools. There could be room for a community garden, too. “Obviously it’s easy to envision lots of things because there’s nothing here,” she told the group.

For 15 years, Hensel and other residents who live around the greenway spearheaded efforts to preserve as parkland the former state property, once meant for the extension of Highway 12.

Their dedication culminated with Santa Rosa acquiring 49 acres of the former right of way in October.

Now the long-held vision for a future park — a sort of Central Park for Santa Rosa — is closer to becoming reality as the resident coalition, its partners and the city shift their focus to planning.

Read more at https://www.pressdemocrat.com/article/news/santa-rosa-southeast-greenway-park-development/

Author SuzannePosted on Categories Land UseTags , , Leave a comment on Santa Rosa signs off on deal for Southeast Greenway property

Santa Rosa signs off on deal for Southeast Greenway property

Kevin McCallum, THE PRESS DEMOCRAT
Santa Rosa signed off Tuesday on long-sought deal paving the way for Caltrans to transfer a strip of land to the city and county for what proponents hope will become a future urban greenway.
The unanimous vote by the City Council, which followed a similar nod by the Sonoma County Board of Supervisors last month, was cheered by dozens of supporters wearing green shirts reading “Imagine a greenway to Spring Lake and beyond.”
The members of the Southeast Greenway Campaign have worked for years to convince Caltrans officials to turn over 52 acres of former Highway 12 right-of-way to groups that can preserve the land for public open space, bike paths and other uses.
“There’s been long-standing interest in pursuing this once-in-a-lifetime opportunity for our community,” said Linda Proulx, co-chair of the campaign.The agreement states that Caltrans will offer the city and Sonoma County Water Agency the right of first refusal to purchase the property. The city has agreed to take ownership of the largest portion, from Farmers Lane to Summerfield Avenue, while the county has said it will take the portion running east uphill to Spring Lake. Caltrans has already agreed it does not need the land it acquired decades ago for a now-defunct plan to extend Highway 12 over Spring Lake, bypassing the busy Farmers Lane area.
Convincing the state agency not to just declare the property surplus and sell it to the highest bidder was considered a crucial step. Vice Mayor Chris Coursey doubted it would ever happen.

“When I first heard this proposal, I thought, ‘Caltrans is never going to give up that land,’ ” Coursey said.

Much work remains to be done. The property still needs to be appraised, a price agreed upon, money raised, and a plan for the land approved.

Read more at: Santa Rosa signs off on deal for Southeast | The Press Democrat

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Pushing forward with Southeast Greenway in Santa Rosa

Angela Hart, THE PRESS DEMOCRAT

A long-envisioned proposal that would turn a narrow plot of land in southeast Santa Rosa into a public open space with bike paths, walking trails and other recreational amenities is expected to gain additional support Tuesday, when a coalition of community and environmental groups as well as government agencies will for the first time present to the Sonoma County Board of Supervisors a formal proposal to take ownership of the 55 acres.

The city of Santa Rosa has agreed to take primary ownership of the state land, which park supporters hope to transform into a linear open space called the Southeast Greenway. Other partners would manage the land.

The big hurdle remains how the state intends to part with the property, once slated for the Highway 12 extension from Farmers Lane to Melita Road.

via Pushing forward with Southeast Greenway in Santa Rosa | The Press Democrat.