Plans for the future of the Sonoma Developmental Center campus have been in discussion since the facility closed in 2018.
The County of Sonoma is pressing re-set on the EIR for the Sonoma Developmental Center. Revisions to the environmental impact report for Eldridge Renewal LLC’s redevelopment of the more than 900-acre Sonoma Valley property began this week, focusing on the 160-acre core campus that, until the state closed the facility in 2018, had served the developmentally disabled for more than a century.
Eldridge Renewal’s proposal includes 990 residential units (of which 124 are affordable); 400,000 square feet of commercial, institutional and retail space, including a 130-room hotel; adaptive reuse of existing structures; new and upgraded infrastructure; and multiple parks and greenways connecting to the surrounding 750 acres of open space.
An initial Specific Plan and EIR were adopted by the Sonoma County Board of Supervisors in 2022. But a court ruling in 2024 invalidated those approvals and, in turn, the Board of Supervisors voided certification of the EIR and set aside the Specific Plan. The board also approved $914,000 for Dyett and Bhatia, the consulting firm that prepared the initial Plan and EIR, to revise the plan and report and include review of the development application. A Notice of Preparation of the EIR is anticipated to be published in August, with public scoping sessions scheduled soon after. Comments are welcome at SDC@sonomacounty.gov.
