VOTMA gives 2007 update

About forty people attended the annual update given by the board of directors of the Valley of the Moon Alliance (VOTMA) at a meeting held April 17 at the Kenwood fire house.

VOTMA is an organization of 1400-plus members with a stated vision of promoting the “preservation, protection and maintenance of the agricultural character, natural resources and rural beauty of the valley.”

VOTMA president Del Rydman spoke about VOTMA’s participation and monitoring of the county’s ongoing update of the General Plan, the document that guides land planning decisions in Sonoma County. Rydman said that a number of proposals regarding environmental protections and agricultural tourism limits, first proposed by a citizen advisory group, have been diluted or removed by the county’s Planning Commission. The county’s Board of Supervisors will have the final review of the General Plan Update, probably starting in early 2008.

Also discussed at the meeting was VOTMA’s litigation challenging the county’s approval of the Sonoma Country Inn resort development in Kenwood. Last year, a California state appellate court issued a ruling unfavorable to VOTMA, determining that the county’s decision to place much of the resort on a hillside was legal. VOTMA decided not to appeal the decision to the California Supreme Court.

“I thought the case was important and had great merit,” said VOTMA’s attorney, environmental law specialist Susan Brandt-Hawley of Glen Ellen. “It was the right thing for you and the community to do.”

Other topics discussed included transportation issues, VOTMA’s involvement on a panel that’s developing a Sonoma Valley groundwater management plan, and the monitoring by VOTMA of various developments in Sonoma Valley.

VOTMA board members said that its present goals are to continue to be active in the General Plan update, expand the group’s membership, continue to provide forums for the community to give input on important issues, and to monitor the progress of the construction of the Sonoma Country Inn.

“VOTMA and the community should have its eyes and ears open as to what’s going on up there,” said Rydman.

VOTMA can be reached by calling 833-6695, or going to www.votma.org.