Transfer of SDC Parcels Is A Survey Away

by Pat Eliot

Sonoma Developmental Center's (SDC) Parcel 2, placed on the state's list of surplus properties in l995, is now close to transfer to the California State Parks Department.

Parcel 2 lies between 600 feet and 1,000 feet of elevation on Sonoma Mountain, above SDC's Eldridge facility on Arnold Drive and on the south boundary of Jack London State Historic Park. The addition of Parcel 2 will add 280 acres to the Park. Parcel l, a 260+ acre parcel above Parcel 2 and stretching to the ridgeline, will be transferred to JLSP at the same time. A portion of the Sonoma Mountain Trail, a segment of the Bay Area Ridge Trail, which is nearing completion and is scheduled to be open in summer 2002, runs along Parcel l's ridgeline.

All that needs to be done before hand-over of the parcels to state parks department is the survey and legal definition of SDC's excluded lands, which include CampVia and the SDC's water facilities. Dave Nelson, Superintendent of Parks, Silverado District, hopes that final transfer will come before the end of the fiscal year.