Open Space or Ridgetop Mansions?

Plans for Galvin Ranch still in limbo

By John Barinaga

With the spring of 2001 came the good news that the Galvin family will consider selling the bulk of the Triangle G Ranch rather than developing it.

The Sonoma County Open Space District and the California Coastal Conservancy confirmed in April that they are in negotiations to acquire most of the 1,746-acre Triangle G Ranch. Since the original application for subdivision was submitted to the county, one of the original six parcels, the one south of Stage Gulch Road, was sold and has been planted as a vineyard. Another 96 acres has been leased to the UCC Vineyards Group (see the related article on page ?). That part of the property and unspecified additional agricultural land is proposed to remain in the Galvin family.

The success of negotiations to acquire the ranch is critical to the preservation of the ridgeline of Sonoma Mountain between Petaluma and Sonoma. The ridgetop that forms the visual field from Petaluma, from Sonoma, and from scenic roads in both valleys, has been threatened with the development of a subdivision.

The subdivision application submitted to county planning in 1996 was plagued with problems and controversy. The applicant requested amendment of the county’s General Plan; a change in zoning; exemption from the regulations governing clustering; and the transferal of housing density into a scenic landscape area, among other issues.

The visual impact of the ridgetop development would be a terrible precedent and threaten the rest of the ridge of Sonoma Mountain, as well as all the mountain ridges in the County. In an article in the Press Democrat on April 22, 2001, a Galvin representative said that if negotiations fail, they would pursue housing development. The application for subdivision has not been withdrawn from the county planning department.

We should encourage our county Board of Supervisors and other county officials to acquire the Galvin Ranch for open space, and preserve the ridge of Sonoma Mountain for posterity.