Plans for the future of the Sonoma Developmental Center campus have been in discussion since the facility closed in 2018.
California State Parks got 650 acres prettier this week—as a vast swath of open space at the former Sonoma Developmental Center was transferred to the parks department’s jurisdiction.
The transfer of SDC lands is the largest addition to state parks in Sonoma County since 2010, according to the parks department.
California State Parks Director Armando Quintero said the department looks forward to stewarding the property and advancing its public outdoor access.
“By transferring these open space lands to the State Park System, we are conserving California’s critical biodiversity and helping ensure that future generations will be able to enjoy these protected lands,” Quintero said in a press statement.
The more-than-a-century-old Sonoma Developmental Center in Glen Ellen was shuttered by the state in 2018 and much of the land surrounding the main campus is in the planning stages to be developed for housing. The 650 acres now folded into state parks will provide a connection from adjacent Jack London State Historic Park to Sonoma County Regional Park, maintaining a critical regional wildlife linkage connecting the Marin Coast to Blue Ridge and Lake Berryessa, according to state parks officials. The former SDC property includes oak woodlands, mixed evergreen forests, coast redwood and riparian forests, grasslands and wetlands.
According to the announcement from state parks, the department will operate the open space lands in an interim state until a general plan amendment process is conducted with public input. During the interim state, the public should expect:
- Continued and enhanced public access to the lands for recreational purposes. Currently, the land is accessible on the west side. Once additional trail and maintenance signs are installed, the east side will be open to the public.
- Vegetation and wildfire management.
- Trails maintenance and management.
- Installation of informational/interpretive/wayfinding signs and portable restrooms.
- Installation and service of garbage cans.
