Santa Rosa Greenway Project Moving Forward Despite Homeless Designation

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A decade-long effort by community volunteers to turn a 2 mile strip of east Santa Rosa into a park and housing development is still moving forward, this despite uncertainty over how Governor Newsom’s recent announcement making state lands available for emergency homeless solutions will affect the project’s future.

The project aims to turn Cal Trans property stretching from Farmers Lane to Spring Lake Park in east Santa Rosa once planned for a Highway 12 extension into parkland, more than 200 units of housing, and trails. In July, the Santa Rosa City Council gave the project the green light to move forward with acquiring the land from the state, which requires assessing the land’s value.

But a bit of uncertainty was introduced a few weeks ago when Governor Gavin Newsom included the land in a list of state owned properties that could be used for emergency homeless shelters. That list included dozens of surplus state properties in Sonoma County, including the Cal Trans strip that is envisioned for the greenway project.

So far, the Greenway Campaign has raised $1.75 million toward funding the project, and leaders say the city council has not said whether the land might be considered for homeless projects. The open space currently has no infrastructure like electricity or paving, and that would be expensive to add.

In early March Sonoma County Supervisors will decide where to locate two indoor-outdoor shelters that are at the center of an almost $12 million dollar suite of solutions designed to address the needs of the county’s homeless, including those formerly occupying the Joe Rodota Trail in west Santa Rosa.

Leaders of the Greenway Campaign told News of the North Bay that they support efforts to find local solutions to the homeless crisis, but at the same time are confident that the greenway project, and it’s promise of housing and parkland, is still on track.