Thank you for highlighting the Apple Blossom Trail. This trail should be #1 Priority as it would be a great way to bike around Sebastopol and 100% preferable to the bike lanes on Bodega, which will be a total joke like the ones on Petaluma Blvd. They should make the sidewalks wider instead of installing bike lanes on both Petaluma Blvd and Bodega. People should give their input to the Active Transportation Plan. Let them know you think Apple Blossom should be #1. Tell them you want better sidewalks and ask them to close the sidewalk gaps around town. https://fp.mysocialpinpoint.com/sonoma-county-atp
I am a firm believer in spending public money on good projects but the "aspirational" Apple Blossom Trail is not a good idea. It is all uphill (downhill if you ever got to the top) and thus would be used only by "fit" cyclists, certainly not by children who attend the elementary school where it dead-ends.. It is not part of a network. And it would construct a new asphalt path (along the northern perimeter of the St. Stephens property) when a perfectly good already paved path exists - through the St. Stephens parking lot.
The availability of public money - Federal, State or local - should not be considered a freebie. Projects should not be approached with the idea the "funds are available, lets dream up some way to spend it".
I think if you walk the trail, you will see that the grade is not significant and could be managed by most cyclists. It certainly is no greater than the proposed bike lanes on Bodega Highway and clearly safer. In addition, it could be a multi-use trail for walking. I agree that Federal, State and other monies come with strings. Sebastopol's Council has made many bad decisions with the idea of "free" money, specifically the two Homekey projects (the first of which permanently removed TOT, sales tax and tourist traffic from downtown). Yet, money for a multi use trail has a lot of positive benefits, especially if it increases usable bicycle and walking paths.
I walked the trail years back - with Lynn. And there is no way you can get from Main St. to the cemetery without going up a significant hill! I never understood the bike lanes along Bodega Highway from Pleasant Hill to Atascadero Creek but never had the opportunity to comment (I don't think). Please elaborate on "Homekey projects". The only Homekey I am familiar with is the housing proposed for Gravenstein Hwy across from Taco Bell, which I am all in favor of.
Walter, you might want to read this article on Homekey as treatment is optional for residents and many have drug habits that aren't so great for a small town like Sebastopol. In 2020, Council approved converting the Sebastopol Inn, the only downtown hotel, to a Homekey Project. The people who owned the hotel made off like bandits as the County bought it for over $6 million (40% above appraised value) and then DEMA ran it and milked the County more, charging $3.6 million to run it for 18 months. You might have read about the DEMA fraud in the Press Democrat. Since DEMA left, it's been vacant for 2 years, meaning that Sebastopol residents lost all the income the hotel would have generated for those two years. Now, the project across from Lucky will most likely depress real estate values in the neighboring properties as not that many folks want to live next door to fentanyl addicts.
I believe 1) there will always be people who require help from the community, 2) it is the responsibility of the community to help them, 3) efforts to "help them" will always have some element of "screw up", 4) "screw ups" should not deter the community from continuing to try to help. ¶What do you think we should do about such people as the future inhabitants of "the projects"?
Sebastopol is in a fiscal crisis and is a tiny town that has to generate all of its revenue within 2 square miles. Sebastopol has to pay for all of its City services like police, fire, roads, parks, City administration with revenue generated from sales tax, TOT and property tax within City limits. The County should be providing services as they have a huge land mass to generate revenue and a budget of over $2.5 BILLION dollars. Tax payers approved Measure O, which generates over $20 million annually yet Sonoma County has zero psych beds. In short, the County should be providing services for people who have serious health issues with mental health and addiction. It should not be the citizens of Sebastopol's fiscal responsibility because they don't have the means to provide the necessary social and medical services. Currently, 50% of the police budget is spent on homeless individuals, which is a huge drain on the City's finances. In addition, when you use limited land in a small town for purposes that don't generate income like sales or TOT tax, you reduce the tax base and thus reduce the amount of funding for citizen/City services. In the case of HomeKey, you reduce the tax base and increase City expenses and also bring harmful drugs into a small community that also has a lot of school aged children. What is needed are professionally run medical institutions that treat drug addiction and mental illness. These should be run by the state and the County with County dollars on County lands. Sadly, many facilities that did this work in Sonoma County have. been shut down. Best case scenario would be for the County to reopen facilities and use all this money to actually help people. Sebastopol is also home to Park Village, which also houses formerly homeless people. Park Village was supposed to be a public park, which is what voters approved when the City took out a loan to purchase the property. Instead, citizens pay for the loan and other expenses so the WCCS can run a private housing development.
Caltrans loves to spend taxpayer money painting stripes on roads. They could waste an equal amount of money just painting pretty pictures. The bike lanes that were added several years ago caused much confusion and resulted in literally no one riding on 116. Now they are going to paint more lines on Bodega Avenue? One solution would be for citizens to take the initiative but the 14 year Odessey to do the right thing, described in this article leaves us with little hope. Maybe new city council members after the election will take a greater interest in listening to citizens and welcoming their contributions. Maybe a little less eye rolling!
Agreed. It's an easy way to achieve "green" carbon reduction goals while most likely increasing carbon emissions. I'm sure the stalled traffic on Petaluma avenue creates way more emissions that what is removed by the 1 bicyclist who uses it every few days.
Other towns in Sonoma County have obtained funding for trails very much like the Apple Blossom Trail. Towns do not pay for regional transportation infrastructure like this themselves but the State, County and Federal Government do.
Thank you for highlighting the Apple Blossom Trail. This trail should be #1 Priority as it would be a great way to bike around Sebastopol and 100% preferable to the bike lanes on Bodega, which will be a total joke like the ones on Petaluma Blvd. They should make the sidewalks wider instead of installing bike lanes on both Petaluma Blvd and Bodega. People should give their input to the Active Transportation Plan. Let them know you think Apple Blossom should be #1. Tell them you want better sidewalks and ask them to close the sidewalk gaps around town. https://fp.mysocialpinpoint.com/sonoma-county-atp
I am a firm believer in spending public money on good projects but the "aspirational" Apple Blossom Trail is not a good idea. It is all uphill (downhill if you ever got to the top) and thus would be used only by "fit" cyclists, certainly not by children who attend the elementary school where it dead-ends.. It is not part of a network. And it would construct a new asphalt path (along the northern perimeter of the St. Stephens property) when a perfectly good already paved path exists - through the St. Stephens parking lot.
The availability of public money - Federal, State or local - should not be considered a freebie. Projects should not be approached with the idea the "funds are available, lets dream up some way to spend it".
I think if you walk the trail, you will see that the grade is not significant and could be managed by most cyclists. It certainly is no greater than the proposed bike lanes on Bodega Highway and clearly safer. In addition, it could be a multi-use trail for walking. I agree that Federal, State and other monies come with strings. Sebastopol's Council has made many bad decisions with the idea of "free" money, specifically the two Homekey projects (the first of which permanently removed TOT, sales tax and tourist traffic from downtown). Yet, money for a multi use trail has a lot of positive benefits, especially if it increases usable bicycle and walking paths.
I walked the trail years back - with Lynn. And there is no way you can get from Main St. to the cemetery without going up a significant hill! I never understood the bike lanes along Bodega Highway from Pleasant Hill to Atascadero Creek but never had the opportunity to comment (I don't think). Please elaborate on "Homekey projects". The only Homekey I am familiar with is the housing proposed for Gravenstein Hwy across from Taco Bell, which I am all in favor of.
Walter, you might want to read this article on Homekey as treatment is optional for residents and many have drug habits that aren't so great for a small town like Sebastopol. In 2020, Council approved converting the Sebastopol Inn, the only downtown hotel, to a Homekey Project. The people who owned the hotel made off like bandits as the County bought it for over $6 million (40% above appraised value) and then DEMA ran it and milked the County more, charging $3.6 million to run it for 18 months. You might have read about the DEMA fraud in the Press Democrat. Since DEMA left, it's been vacant for 2 years, meaning that Sebastopol residents lost all the income the hotel would have generated for those two years. Now, the project across from Lucky will most likely depress real estate values in the neighboring properties as not that many folks want to live next door to fentanyl addicts.
https://www.pressdemocrat.com/article/news/st-vincent-de-paul-sonoma-county-homeless-housing/?ref=home-A1top#login
I believe 1) there will always be people who require help from the community, 2) it is the responsibility of the community to help them, 3) efforts to "help them" will always have some element of "screw up", 4) "screw ups" should not deter the community from continuing to try to help. ¶What do you think we should do about such people as the future inhabitants of "the projects"?
Sebastopol is in a fiscal crisis and is a tiny town that has to generate all of its revenue within 2 square miles. Sebastopol has to pay for all of its City services like police, fire, roads, parks, City administration with revenue generated from sales tax, TOT and property tax within City limits. The County should be providing services as they have a huge land mass to generate revenue and a budget of over $2.5 BILLION dollars. Tax payers approved Measure O, which generates over $20 million annually yet Sonoma County has zero psych beds. In short, the County should be providing services for people who have serious health issues with mental health and addiction. It should not be the citizens of Sebastopol's fiscal responsibility because they don't have the means to provide the necessary social and medical services. Currently, 50% of the police budget is spent on homeless individuals, which is a huge drain on the City's finances. In addition, when you use limited land in a small town for purposes that don't generate income like sales or TOT tax, you reduce the tax base and thus reduce the amount of funding for citizen/City services. In the case of HomeKey, you reduce the tax base and increase City expenses and also bring harmful drugs into a small community that also has a lot of school aged children. What is needed are professionally run medical institutions that treat drug addiction and mental illness. These should be run by the state and the County with County dollars on County lands. Sadly, many facilities that did this work in Sonoma County have. been shut down. Best case scenario would be for the County to reopen facilities and use all this money to actually help people. Sebastopol is also home to Park Village, which also houses formerly homeless people. Park Village was supposed to be a public park, which is what voters approved when the City took out a loan to purchase the property. Instead, citizens pay for the loan and other expenses so the WCCS can run a private housing development.
Caltrans loves to spend taxpayer money painting stripes on roads. They could waste an equal amount of money just painting pretty pictures. The bike lanes that were added several years ago caused much confusion and resulted in literally no one riding on 116. Now they are going to paint more lines on Bodega Avenue? One solution would be for citizens to take the initiative but the 14 year Odessey to do the right thing, described in this article leaves us with little hope. Maybe new city council members after the election will take a greater interest in listening to citizens and welcoming their contributions. Maybe a little less eye rolling!
Agreed. It's an easy way to achieve "green" carbon reduction goals while most likely increasing carbon emissions. I'm sure the stalled traffic on Petaluma avenue creates way more emissions that what is removed by the 1 bicyclist who uses it every few days.
Other towns in Sonoma County have obtained funding for trails very much like the Apple Blossom Trail. Towns do not pay for regional transportation infrastructure like this themselves but the State, County and Federal Government do.
Caltrans is going to install bike lanes on Bodega Avenue? Really?
Great write up! Lynn is a treasure for our town. Would love to see a similar write up for the Gravenstein Trail
I started laughing when I read "if money was no object" and then the ideas about funding.
Sounds a lot like my Book Published 2 years ago! Apple Blossom Trail by Daniel Dawson