Sonoma County News & Developments

[Animo]

Sonoma County, located on the northern coast of the U.S. state of California, is the largest (in area) and northernmost of the nine San Francisco Bay Area counties. Its population as of July 2008 is estimated at 466,741 by the United States Census Bureau's American Community Survey. Its population at the 2010 census was 483,878. Its largest city and county seat is Santa Rosa.
Sonoma is the southwestern county of California's Wine Country region, which also includes Napa, Mendocino, and Lake counties. It has 13 approved American Viticultural Areas and over 250 wineries. In 2002, Sonoma County ranked as the 32nd county in the United States in agricultural production. As early as 1920, Sonoma County was ranked as the eighth most agriculturally productive U.S county and a leading producer of poultry products, hops, grapes, prunes, apples and dairy products, largely due to the abundance of high quality irrigation water. More than 7.4 million tourists visit each year, spending more than $1 billion in 2006. Sonoma County is the home of Sonoma State University and Santa Rosa Junior College.

Sonoma County was once home to several Native American tribes; by 1850, European settlement had set a new direction that would prove to radically alter the course of land use and resource management of this region. As of 2007, Sonoma County has rich agricultural land, albeit now largely divided between two nearly monocultural uses: grapes and pasturage. The voters have twice approved open space initiatives that have provided funding for public acquisition of natural areas, preserving forested areas, coastal habitat, and other open space.

[ElDudarinodotcom]

Judge clears way for Saggio Hills development

By CLARK MASON
THE PRESS DEMOCRAT

A judge on Tuesday cleared the way for Saggio Hills to proceed, delivering a victory to the City of Healdsburg and developers of the proposed luxury resort and housing on the city’s northern fringe.

Sonoma Superior Court Judge Rene Chouteau ruled that proponents of the $310 million project had addressed the deficiencies in the environmental report for the 130-room “world class” resort and 70 high-end homes.

“This is one big, big hurdle,” said Healdsburg Vice-Mayor Gary Plass. “It’s good news. I’m excited for the community of Healdsburg.”

“We can go forward now and put into place what we already had in place,” he added.

But ground apparently will not be broken soon. Developer Robert S. Green, the developer and Saggio Hills applicant who has been behind several Four Seasons luxury resort projects, has been unwilling to predict when work would begin on the project.

He did return calls Tuesday, but stated earlier this year the hotel and housing market will have to recover first...

full article: http://healdsburg.towns.pressdemocra...s-development/

[Animo]

By JULIE JOHNSONTHE PRESS DEMOCRAT

The nation's lingering economic recession was a distant memory Sunday for bidders raising their hands to offer $50 and $100 more than the last at an intimate brunch auction for Sonoma County's Face to Face AIDS network.

The event raised thousands for the cause, all the more important with funding cuts and continued efforts to educate people about the disease, said Mark Vogler, an event organizer and Healdsburg native.

“To see this kind of support is very moving to me, being a rural Sonoma County guy,” said Vogler.

The brunch was the closing feast of Sonoma County's inaugural Gay Wine Weekend 2011, three days of wine tastings, feasts and a twilight dance, all held in Sonoma Valley.

[ElDudarinodotcom]

Shed in the works
Author: biteclub | posted 06/14/11



Uploaded with ImageShack.us

Cyrus is about to get a new neighbor.

The owners of Home Farm in Dry Creek Valley are about to break ground on SHED, a 9,700 square-foot multi-use market, cafe and event center in downtown Healdsburg. Replacing the former appliance store along Foss Creek, owners Cindy Daniel and Doug Lipton hope to curate a space for local produce, kitchen and garden tools and sustainable living.

“We’ll encourage our community of neighbors to enjoy what our regional farms offer, and we’ll explore local food crafts and revive forgotten tools and skills,” says Cindy. “SHED will reflect and respect the day-to-day, seasonal blending of agriculture, food and wine in our community.”
SHED will include indoor and outdoor features: observation deck over Foss Creek, al fresco and indoor dining, wood-fired oven, communal tables, quiet corners and a room for private events and public meetings. Finished with recycled steel siding, the design is inspired by historic market halls. SHED will include green features: natural cooling, photovoltaic cells, natural lighting, rain catchment system, recycling and composting. The second floor will feature an event space available for workshops, meetings, performances and private parties. The metal building currently on site (a former appliance store) will be removed and recycled, mid June 2011.
Owners hope to have the site completed by October 2012.

http://www.biteclubeats.com/2011/06/shed.html

[ddxv]

101 Widening South of Petaluma

$45 million OK'd for Highway 101 bridges in Petaluma
By BOB NORBERG
THE PRESS DEMOCRAT
Published: Thursday, June 23, 2011 at 1:32 p.m.



PD FILE, 2002
The bridge over the Petaluma River.
The California Transportation Commission Thursday approved $45 million for rebuilding the Highway 101 bridges over the Petaluma River, a key part of the freeway widening work through Sonoma and Marin counties.

The $45 million is part of $123.5 million in Proposition 1B highway bond funds being allocated in Northern California. The money is from savings from projects coming in under estimates during the economic downturn.

The money will be used to replace two of the four separate bridges at the south edge of Petaluma. Two of the bridges are north and southbound structures that cross the river and two cross Highway 116.

The $45 million is designated for what is expected to be a $57 million replacement of the bridges over the river with wider structures that will allow carpool lanes.

The southbound bridge over Highway 116 has been replaced. A new northbound bridge will cost $35 million to $40 million, but funding has not been authorized.

[ElDudarinodotcom]

Gateway entertainment project pitched
Monday, July 25th, 2011
By CLARK MASON

THE PRESS DEMOCRAT

A 25-acre property at Windsor’s southern gateway is being eyed as a potential site for tourism and entertainment uses that could include a movie theater, hotel, and restaurants.

“We like the exposure to the freeway,” planning and development consultant Peter Stanley said Friday of the property southeast of Highway 101 and Shiloh Road, close to Walmart and Home Depot.

Stanley, who represents the longtime property owners, the Vicini family, went before the Windsor Town Council last week to gauge its receptivity to changing plans for the site.

The numerous wetlands on the property have reduced the amount of buildable land to approximately nine acres. As a result, the Vicinis proposed dropping the “compact residential” zoning designated for part of the property and instead concentrating on commercial development.

“It’s a big disappointment to lose all that acreage,” Mayor Steve Allen said of the restrictions. But he was supportive of the applicants’ revisions and their intent to fill in less than half an acre of wetlands.

“I think the solutions are well thought out,” he said.

Other council members also showed an openness to dropping plans for intense residential development of up to 24 units per acre towards the center of the Vicini property, which was called for in a “Vision Plan” of the Shiloh Road area adopted in 2004.

Council members said they would like to see some residential dwellings built above commercial space on the “Boulevard-mixed use” zoning along Shiloh Road.

“The heights could be three-to-four (stories) rather than two-to-three,” Councilman Sam Salmon said of commercial buildings that could include overhead apartments.

The council workshop was a conceptual review. Applicants still need approval from state and federal regulators to incorporate the wetlands and Pruitt Creek into their construction plans, as well as come up with specific designs.

The project also will have to come back for further consideration by the Planning Commission and Town Council.

Stanley, president of Archilogix, a Santa Rosa design and development company, said Friday his clients are looking at “entertainment venues, whether movie theaters, or some type of hotel – hospitality. We’d love to get a boutique hotel.”

The Vicinis also own Trecini Winery in Santa Rosa and the vineyards to the south of the Windsor site.

“They’ve thought about a tasting room,” Stanley said of one possible addition to the project.

Along the Shiloh Road part of the property, he said there could be more general merchandise offerings needed for Windsor, such as furniture, or clothing stores.

The Vicinis might end up partnering with a developer, or selling the land once the approvals are obtained.

Stanley predicted ground could be broken on a project as early as 2013, “depending on how the economy moves.”

“It could be quite a draw and quite a gateway project,” Councilwoman Robin Goble said.

http://windsor.towns.pressdemocrat.c...oject-pitched/

[ElDudarinodotcom]

Windsor planners to discuss Bell Village tonight

By CLARK MASON
THE PRESS DEMOCRAT
Published: Tuesday, July 26, 2011 at 1:06 p.m.
Last Modified: Tuesday, July 26, 2011 at 1:06 p.m.

Bell Village, one of the largest projects ever proposed in Windsor, is on the Planning Commission's agenda again tonight.

Planned for 25 acres on the site of the old Windsorland trailer and mobile home park, Bell Village would consist of 403 residential units and a 77,500 square-feet of retail and office space.

“It is a a monumental project sure to have a defining impact on downtown Windsor,” Planning Commission Chair Kim Voge said in a recent memo.

This is the second of four preliminary reviews on Bell Village scheduled by the planning commission.

After the initial meeting last month, commissioners requested a site visit to better visualize which trees will be kept and which will be removed.

The commission also had comments on the design of the streets, the desirability of wider sidewalks and the need for more parking facilities for alternative transportation such as bicycles, scooters and electric vehicles.

Planning commissioners wanted to see more effort at architectural diversity and spoke of the need to “soften” the project's appearance from adjacent Highway 101.

The location of the commercial buildings along Old Redwood Highway is also expected to be a continuing topic of discussion.

Bell Village is proposed by OSL Management LLC, a sister company of Oakmont Senior Living, headed by developer Bill Gallaher.

Tonight's meeting begins at 5:30 p.m. at Windsor Town Hall, 9291 Old Redwood Highway.

http://www.pressdemocrat.com/article...illage-tonight

[ddxv]

Taken yesterday in Guerneville, a small apartment complex being built. It will feature rent based on income apartments.

[ddxv]

Airport talk:

Planners raise questions about Sonoma County airport expansion
By STEVE HART
THE PRESS DEMOCRAT
Published: Thursday, September 22, 2011 at 5:30 p.m.

John Burgess / PD
The proposed $84 million renovation of the Charles M. Schulz Sonoma County Airport includes longer runways, a new control tower and new terminal.
County planners on Thursday raised questions about expanding Charles M. Schulz-Sonoma County Airport, an $84 million project that calls for longer runways, more flights and a new passenger terminal.

The county should consider a scaled-down version of the project, said Planning Commissioner Greg Carr.

“Let's look at something that begins to address the impacts,” he said.

The Planning Commission will make a recommendation to Sonoma County supervisors, who have final say over the project. The commission didn't take action Thursday, however, waiting for the county to respond to more than 100 comments from individuals, businesses and agencies.

Critics complain the 20-year expansion would bring larger aircraft, more noise and more traffic around the airport. Supporters argue the project would help Sonoma County's economy and make air travel more convenient.

Much of the opposition comes from the town of Windsor, just north of the airport's main runway. Windsor's Town Council said this week it is against the project unless the county can resolve some of the environmental problems.

On Thursday, county planning commissioners said they're aware of the concerns.

“It's going to complicate some people's lives, especially in Windsor,” said Commissioner Jason Liles.

The project's environmental report doesn't consider a more modest project with fewer flights, shorter runways and less noise, Carr said.

“Why are we not looking at a lower-growth scenario?” asked Carr. “What's lacking is an alternative that is more responsive and not quite as ambitious.”

The planning commission is expected to take action on the project next month.

Airport manager Jon Stout noted the county's general plan already allows up to 21 flights a day at the airport. Currently, Alaska Airlines operates five flights a day to Los Angeles, Seattle, Portland and Las Vegas.

The county-owned airport is in talks with Alaska, Frontier and U.S. Air about more destinations, including San Diego, Denver, Salt Lake City, Phoenix and Orange County.

But the airport's existing runways are too short for most regional jets. The runways also need to be extended to meet new federal safety standards.

The expansion calls for 21 flights a day by 2030, with passengers growing from about 88,000 a year to nearly 300,000.

Work could start next year if Sonoma County and federal aviation authorities give the go-ahead.

An environmental report said the project would affect sensitive plants and wildlife, and recommends measures to reduce the impacts. It also identified noise, traffic, water and air quality impacts.


Copyright © 2011 PressDemocrat.com — All rights reserved.

[ElDudarinodotcom]

Windsor approves Bell Village development

Posted by Ted Appel in Cities on December 8th, 2011

By CLARK MASON
THE PRESS DEMOCRAT

It looks as if Windsor is finally going to get a supermarket on the west side of town.

Oliver’s Market is planning to open a store near Windsor’s Town Green as part of a large commercial-residential project approved Wednesday by the Town Council.

“We have a letter of intent with Oliver’s Market to be the anchor for the grocery store. It’s fantastic,” said Jeff Civian, the project civil engineer for Bell Village, one of the biggest developments proposed in Windsor for years.

A new grocery store next to Windsor’s Town Green has been something town officials have sought for awhile, as a convenience for nearby residents and to help bring more business to the Town Green Village shops.

“There’s excitement you are in town. You will see us as your customers,” Mayor Debora Fudge told Oliver’s officials before the council unanimously approved Bell Village.

There are two supermarkets — Safeway and Raley’s — on the other side of the freeway, but no comparably-sized grocery stores in Windsor west of Highway 101.

“I think Windsor needs some choices. The choices here are pretty limited,” Oliver’s General Manager Tom Scott said after the meeting. “We think it’s an exciting project. We think we can do a good job for the town.”

The Sonoma County-based Oliver’s has two stores in Santa Rosa and one in Cotati and touts its natural, conventional and gourmet products, with an emphasis on buying from local companies.

While council members expressed excitement over Oliver’s, they shared qualms with planning commissioners about the orientation of the proposed store and other buildings and how they fit into the pedestrian-oriented downtown.

“I feel the project is too auto-oriented,” Fudge said, adding she would have preferred the store be more market-like and open to the street.

But she and council members said the positives outweighed their misgivings. Those included bringing 1,100 more residents downtown, creating two traffic roundabouts on Old Redwood Highway, reverse-angle parking and bike lanes.

The store is proposed to be 25,000 square feet, roughly the size of the Oliver’s Market on Montecito Avenue in Santa Rosa.

It will require final review from the Planning Commission and design approval, but Civian said the expectation is that Oliver’s could be open in the latter half of 2013.

Bell Village and the new market are to be located on 25 acres that once comprised the old Windsorland trailer and mobile home park.

The site is located between Highway 101 and Old Redwood Highway, just east of the Town Green.

The mixed-use project includes 387 rental apartments and townhomes to be built in phases, beginning with 70 residential units. Forty percent of the units will be for low- and very-low income tenants, allowing the developers to take advantage of tax-benefit financing for the affordable housing portion.

The $80 million to $100* million project is proposed by OSL Management LLC, an affiliate of Oakmont Senior Living, headed by developer Bill Gallaher.

The firm is known for projects in Oakmont and other retirement communities such as Varenna and Fountaingrove Lodge in Santa Rosa.

“We have a track record. We’ve built a number of projects in the Western United States. We are confident we can build it and get financing,” Civian said in an interview prior to the council meeting.

There would be 80,000 square feet of commercial space including the supermarket and a pharmacy. Oakmont Senior Living and its affiliates also plan to relocate their offices to Bell Village.

Bell Village has been in the works for almost three years. It was the subject of five Planning Commission meetings this year as well as conceptual previews by the Town Council.

Councilwoman Robin Goble said it has been an arduous process, but “it’s a really, really solid project for the town.”

http://www.watchsonomacounty.com/201...e-development/

[ddxv]

and this for Petaluma

SMART to buy a (draw)bridge
By BOB NORBERG
THE PRESS DEMOCRAT
Published: Monday, February 13, 2012 at 4:46 p.m.

SMART handout
Sonoma-Marin Area Rail Transit officials are planning to buy a used drawbridge in Galveston, Texas, to replace the district's swing bridge over the Petaluma River that, while historic and repairable, is badly in need of replacement.
Sonoma-Marin Area Rail Transit officials intend to buy a used drawbridge in Galveston, Texas, to replace the 109-year-old swing bridge over the Petaluma River.

Rather than launch a $20 million rehab of the aging structure at Haystack Landing, and then perhaps spending $30 million to replace it in 20 years, SMART says that for $20 million it can buy and install the used bridge and have it last 75 to 80 years.

“I was looking for a different solution than retrofitting it,” said Farhad Mansourian, SMART's general manager.

SMART says it will have daily commute rail service on the line within four years.

The Texas bridge is on the BSFN Railway line linking the Texas mainland to Galveston Island. It was built in 1985 and is being replaced by a new vertical lift bridge to increase the channel width.

“It is a really solid bridge,” said Bill Gamlen, SMART chief engineer. “We will have to do some mechanical upgrades, but it is a very stout bridge. The BNSF doesn't want to get rid of it, but the Coast Guard is driving the replacement.”

It is called a bascule drawbridge, meaning it uses a counterweight to lift the “leaf,” or rail bed, into an almost vertical position. It is on the historic vehicle causeway that was converted to a rail line.

Gamlen said the new bridge would open or close in about 90 seconds, instead of the 2½ to 3 minutes needed for the swing bridge.

It also is long enough to allow the Petaluma River channel to be widened from 56 feet to 87 feet, and allow SMART trains to cross at higher speeds.

The bridge over the Petaluma River was built in 1903. It uses a 5-horsepower electric motor, fabric belts and bevel gears to pivot slowly on a turntable that is 10 feet in diameter.

“One of the problems with the swing bridge is the reliability,” Gamlen said. “I have been out there and have seen it take three or four tries to get it closed.”

SMART's long-range plan was to rebuild the bridge knowing it would need to be replaced within 20 years.

The 26-year-old bridge in Galveston can be purchased for $4.2 million and shipped to Petaluma by rail, then refurbished and reassembled on new supports for an additional $14 million to $16 million.

That would create a crossing good for about 80 years, district officials said.

Parts of old swing could be used in other areas on the SMART line, primarily at creek crossings and to replace existing wooden trestles.

“We have a consultant looking at where it might fit and what opportunities we might have,” Gamlen said. “We would hate to spend money to dispose of it, and it is a historic element, we would like to keep it in the corridor.”

Mansourian said SMART needs to move quickly because the Galveston bridge is being dismantled this week. The SMART board is being asked to waive the competitive bidding process to buy the bridge, and then seek bids from BSNF Railway Co. and Union Pacific Railroad to transport it by rail to Petaluma.

The board is meeting at 1:30 p.m. Wednesday at San Rafael City Hall.

You can reach Staff Writer Bob Norberg at 521-5206 or bob.norberg@

pressdemocrat.com.

Petaluma

Friedman's signs agreement to open store in Petaluma
By JULIE JOHNSON
THE PRESS DEMOCRAT
Published: Monday, February 13, 2012 at 4:54 p.m.

Sixty-six years after getting its start in Petaluma, Friedman's Home Improvement announced Monday it plans to return to its hometown with a store in a proposed shopping center on the city's eastside.

David Proctor, Friedman's chief financial officer, said the three-store chain had been searching for a Petaluma site for about five years and signed a 35-year lease with developer Merlone Geier Partners to become the anchor tenant at the Deer Creek Village Shopping Center, proposed for Rainier Avenue at North McDowell Boulevard.

Petaluma has yet to approve the proposed shopping center, which earlier was to house a Lowe's home improvement store. But Proctor said Friedman's hoped to break ground on the site this summer and to open next year.

“There's plenty of time,” he said. “The city of Petaluma needs to evaluate the documents in front of them and make a decision. We certainly want to come back.”

Friedman's would be the main tenant of the 36.5-acre, shopping center, which would include 344,000 square feet of commercial space, mostly retail, as well as a gym, banks, offices and restaurants. Friedman's would occupy about 120,000 square feet, according to a drawing on the developer's website.

The new Friedman's store could create nearly 100 jobs and could generate $30 million to $35 million in annual sales, Proctor said.

The site would increase the company's size by about a third. The company currently employs 320 people, with stores in Santa Rosa, Ukiah and Sonoma.

Petaluma's City Council is scheduled to vote Feb. 27 on whether to certify an environmental impact report on Deer Creek and give the project city approval.

But the city Planning Commission last month rejected the report, saying it didn't address issues related to the planned Rainier underpass for Highway 101.

Five of six planning commissioners said the report failed to look at traffic impacts in the area if the only improvement to Rainier Avenue is the underpass.

They also said the report didn't address whether it's “reasonably foreseeable” that a long-planned Rainier Avenue freeway interchange would be built.

Mayor David Glass said Monday that Petaluma long has needed a home improvement store and he welcomed Friedman's return to city.

But he said he was concerned about air quality issues the new development could create.

“We're still a long way short of opening up a retail site there and selling product,” Glass said.

Proctor said Friedman's wasn't ready to say how long it would be willing to wait if the city approval process drags on.

“As far as our tolerance for delay, we certainly hope it's sooner rather than later,” Proctor said.

Brothers Benny and Joe Friedman opened their first store in Petaluma on April 6, 1946, and sold only 75 cents worth of scrap metal that first day.

Despite that day's meager returns, the company thrived. The original store on East Washington Street at the Petaluma River was destroyed in a fire in the 1970s. Friedman's is the largest locally owned home improvement retailer on the North Coast.

Lowe's had been a proposed anchor tenant for Deer Creek since 2004. But the North Carolina-based retailer pulled out last October, blaming the slow pace of the city's permit review process.

The withdrawal came as Lowe's announced it would curb new development and close under-performing stores nationwide. Proctor said industry sources told him Lowe's pulled out of all projects nationwide that hadn't yet broken ground.

You can reach Staff Writer Julie Johnson at 521-5220 or julie.johnson@pressdemocrat.com

[ElDudarinodotcom]

RP casino has supporters, detractors

Some residents see benefit from jobs, revenue; others cite crime, traffic possibilities

By KERRY BENEFIELD
THE PRESS DEMOCRAT

Rohnert Park’s Philip Naber lived in Rocklin in 2003 when Thunder Valley Casino opened about 10 miles down the road, so he has seen what happens in a community when a major gambling and entertainment operation emerges.

“I saw it bring more jobs, it brought more people to the area. I think it has been a positive for the area,” he said Saturday in the parking lot of Home Depot, not far from where a Rohnert Park casino could be built.

His observation came a day after Gov. Jerry Brown announced approval of plans by the Indians of the Graton Rancheria for a 3,000-slot machine gaming operation. The $433 million project also would include an unspecified number of roulette wheels and table games, as well as a hotel, nightclub, three bars, restaurants and a 20,000-square foot spa.

“I welcome it,” Naber said. “I think it will bring jobs to the area and more money to the county.”

If built to completion, the complex would become the county’s largest private employer. The compact approved by Brown requires the tribe to funnel $100 million into Sonoma County in its first seven years of operation, with more after that. About $40 million would go to the county and another $60 million would go to Rohnert Park.

But Josh Widick of Rohnert Park isn’t convinced it is a good fit.

“I could see it bringing some revenue into the local economy, but I’m not sure it would outweigh the negatives,” he said.

Traffic on Highway 101 through Rohnert Park and parallel routes along Stony Point Road could become nightmarish when the 534,000-square-foot complex opens its doors, Widick said.

“This is an area people commute to work through,” he said. “If it got blocked up with traffic, it could be devastating.”

Those divergent viewpoints were reflected in conversations with Rohnert Park residents Saturday evening, and in more than 60 online comments on The Press Democrat’s website.

The pro perspective touted jobs and the tourist money coming into the community, as well as the possibility of a new entertainment venue.

But others warned of prostitution, crime, a huge increase in traffic and a Las Vegas-type operation independent of workplace and environmental regulation.

Rohnert Park’s mayor, Jake Mackenzie, said Saturday that the city still has many unanswered questions.

“At some point in time, clearly the tribe is going to contact the city and say, ‘These are our plans and these are thing we expect to discuss with you,’” he said. “I don’t know what to expect.”

Especially important, he said, is a clearer picture of the economic benefits to the city from a casino on land that Rohnert Park had once eyed for commercial development.

Located west of the Scandia Family Fun Center on the west side of Highway 101, the project could create 750 construction jobs when it is under way and 2,250 jobs when it is complete, according to tribe documents.

Tribal Chairman Greg Sarris did not return phone calls or an email seeking comment Friday, and when reached by phone Saturday, he refused to comment.

The state Legislature and the federal Department of the Interior still need to ratify the compact, although such actions are typically routine. The Legislature is believed to have rejected only one similar deal.

For Joyce Elliott of Petaluma, having a casino in Rohnert Park means shortening her monthly trek up to the county’s only other Indian gaming establishment in Geyserville.

“I would love to have it. As seniors, we all go up to River Rock,” she said. “In Sonoma County, we need more entertainment.”

http://www.watchsonomacounty.com/201...rs-detractors/

[kylenelson]

Originally Posted by ElDudarinodotcom

http://www.watchsonomacounty.com/201...rs-detractors/

That would draw some major revenue for the county but is there a need for a 3000 machine casino? That is huge! To put that in caparison the average Las Vegas casino has 2500 machines . . .

Where exactly is it going to be located?

[Cal_Escapee]

Something I never thought I'd see: An SSC post about a project in Guerneville

[ElDudarinodotcom]

Originally Posted by kylenelson

That would draw some major revenue for the county but is there a need for a 3000 machine casino? That is huge! To put that in caparison the average Las Vegas casino has 2500 machines . . .

Where exactly is it going to be located?

Uploaded with ImageShack.us
http://www.watchsonomacounty.com/wp-...12/03/map1.jpg

[ddxv]

Sonic.net builds super-fast network for future

CHRISTOPHER CHUNG/Press Democrat
By CATHY BUSSEWITZ
THE PRESS DEMOCRAT
Published: Sunday, May 6, 2012 at 4:15 a.m.
Last Modified: Sunday, May 6, 2012 at 8:33 a.m.
On a small, quiet street in Sebastopol, in a neighborhood better known for its eclectic sculptures than for early adopters of the hottest technologies, residents are surfing the Internet at some of the fastest speeds available in the country.

Sonic.net, the Santa Rosa-based Internet provider, has strung a network of fiber-optic cables delivering Internet speeds up to 1 gigabyte per second, about 100 times faster than most household Internet connections.

The company is expanding the network's reach to about 700 homes in Sebastopol within the next month, and plans are underway for a total of 2,000 Sebastopol homes and a similar number in San Francisco over the next few years.

Woohoo! 1GB PER SECOND!

http://www.pressdemocrat.com/article...p=all&tc=pgall

[ElDudarinodotcom]

Rohnert Park hotel could break ground in 2013

COURTESY PHOTO
By JEREMY HAY
THE PRESS DEMOCRAT



Rohnert Park could see a new hotel break ground on its west side late next year, a project that could help boost the local economy and the city's finances.

The five-story, 163-room Oxford Suites is proposed for a 4.5-acre site at the north end of Redwood Drive at Wilfred Avenue, which is to be renamed Golf Course Drive West.

It would be the closest hotel to a 3,000-slot machine casino the Federated Indians of Graton Rancheria plan to open just south of the Home Depot store.

The tribe, which is now waiting on federal government approval for that project, is delaying construction of its own six-story, 200-room hotel until a later date. It hopes to start work on the casino this summer and finish it by the end of 2013.

The Oxford Suites project will help Rohnert Park serve tourists who are visiting the casino and the Green Music Center at Sonoma State University, said Linda Babonis, the city's economic development director.

"They're going to be able to meet demand for rooms when the casino opens and the Green Music Center, because not everybody is going to stay in a 4-star hotel," she said. "This is going to be a big deal from that perspective, keeping the dollars and the people in the city"...

full article: http://www.pressdemocrat.com/article...ground-in-2013
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[peacedot]

Sonoma is cool.

[ElDudarinodotcom]

$850 million secured for Rohnert Park casino, backer says

By GUY KOVNER
THE PRESS DEMOCRAT
Published: Wednesday, August 15, 2012 at 6:08 p.m.
Last Modified: Thursday, August 16, 2012 at 7:24 a.m.

An $850 million financing package, said to be the largest in the history of Native American gaming, is now secured, the Las Vegas-based backer of the casino next to Rohnert Park announced Wednesday.

The package will pay for the Federated Indians of Graton Rancheria's 3,000-slot-machine casino and resort on Wilfred Avenue, according to Station Casinos, which will manage the facility.

Station Casinos announced the financing -- which includes a $375 million loan and a $450 million combination of bonds and a development loan -- in its financial report for the quarter that ended June 30.

The company did not identify the financial institutions providing the funding.

Also included in the package is $25 million worth of revolving credit to be used after the casino opens.

Station Casinos said the financing will close Wednesday and reported the "blended cost" of the package was about 9.6 percent.

The Graton tribe, which had sought a casino for nearly a decade, broke ground on the 64-acre site just south of Home Depot in mid-June. The casino is expected to open before the end of next year, Station Casinos said...

full article: http://www.pressdemocrat.com/article...o-construction