A Petition from Wake Up Sonoma 

We, the undersigned residents of the Springs, express our opposition to the scoping agreement developed by real estate investor Ken Mattson and County Supervisor Susan Gorin that plans to explore the development of an underground parking lot next to the Boyes Hot Springs post office building (18092 Sonoma Highway).

For updates please go to WakeUpSonoma.com.  Please note that donations made on Change.org go to Change.org, not Wake Up Sonoma.

We oppose this particular project, not the idea of a plaza per se, for the following reasons:

The current proposal for a “plaza” at the Mattson owned Post Office Building has not been developed through a transparent process as required for meaningful community decision-making. Previous private meetings between Ken Mattson and the County were not effectively made known to the public and occurred during closed county Board of Supervisor sessions. Additionally, Lefever/Mattson paid $50,000 for a minimum of three public meetings (two of which were held 11/15 and 11/17). The next meeting will occur sometime towards the end of January 2023.

The meetings were tightly scripted by a county paid facilitator. This complex situation requires a larger expansive view and should not be viewed through a myopic lens. The community was advised to stick only to the predetermined narrative: does the community desire a plaza or not. Anything that diverged from that was circumvented and diverted by the facilitator.

Community Meetings Feedback Analysis
There is an abundance of language in the scoping agreement that directs the developer to do outreach and seek community engagement. While this sounds good on paper, there is no description of exactly how that public input is to be managed or collected or how or by whom it will be evaluated, such as by an independent unbiased representative of the people providing the feedback itself. This seems to leave team Mattson as the keeper and the final arbitrator of the feedback and opinions being provided by the people. 

The proposed plaza will be adjacent to the Post Office building that the Mattsons own. The Mattson organization has a documented history of not finishing any of the 3 projects they have broken ground on in the Springs (Moon Mountain, Lanning, and Boyes Food Center).

When they purchased the Post Office Building, they were aware that the county owned the surrounding parking. They need parking to develop the building. To date, they have not declared their business intentions with respect to this structure. We are concerned that granting Mattson access to the parking lot only benefits Mattson's investments without any advantage to community interests. It will simply add another property onto the long list of 65+/- properties owned by the Mattsons–the majority of which are are currently vacant throughout Sonoma Valley (Please note–the Mattsons would lease this property–not own it).

There are safety and environmental impact concerns with this space which have yet to be explored. Mattson properties has been in conversation with the 2 adjacent properties for possible acquisition (Old Uncle Patty’s and Armando's Tires). Perhaps they can create much needed parking for the area on one or both of these lots.

We desperately need to develop economically sustainable businesses in the Springs with community minded partners. Mattson and his partners unfortunately have demonstrated a disregard and disrespect for our community and are only interested in gaining full and complete access to the Post Office Parking lot–without giving back to our community.

In light of these concerns, we as residents of the Springs and Sonoma Valley would like action from the County Board of Supervisor on the following:

• A community assembly in the near future to democratically discuss a genuine community plan not facilitated by the Mattsons.
• A Springs Specific Plan revision and update. While this document (not yet approved by the BoS) floats the idea of a plaza, the Post Office Parking lot was not specifically designated and is not an ideal location.
• As a community determine how best to invest the $2 million in redevelopment funds towards the betterment of our community and its infrastructure.