Friends of Chanate

RESPONSIBLE, TRANSPARENT, AND HONEST GOVERNMENT.

• We want the Chanate property to be developed into the best project possible.
• We want Sonoma County to solicit public input, get a fair return for the taxpayers, and follow the law.

On July 11, 2017 Sonoma County finalized the sale of the 82 acre historic Community/Sutter hospital property on Chanate to a favored private developer, who plans up to 800 new homes at this location. This is a bad deal for our community health care, supportive services, non-profits, local taxpayers and for the preservation of historic landmarks and open spaces. This property is also in Santa Rosa’s Urban/Wildland Interface, and is in a high fire hazard location, which has become very important to all of us after the Tubbs Fire.

On August 9th we filed suit against Sonoma County to attempt to change this bad deal.

Friends of Chanate filed this lawsuit because we strongly believe that citizens lawsuits are an effective – and sometimes the only – means to hold local government accountable to the law. We are not seeking to stop the project; we do want to improve it.

Friends of Chanate is a group of concerned Sonoma County residents. Some of us are concerned neighbors of the proposed project, some are concerned about the loss of the property’s uses for health care, some want to ensure that the historic significance of this location is preserved, some want the non-profits to stay in their current locations, some want to ensure the maximum amount of affordable housing possible, some are disgusted by the giveaway of our County property and all of us care about responsible and safe land development and transparent and honest government.

Friends of Chanate wants the Chanate property to be developed into the best project possible, but we want the County and Santa Rosa to solicit public input, get a fair return for the taxpayers, and follow the law.

Mailing address: 887 Sonoma Ave, #23, Santa Rosa, CA 95404