Plan To Move Landmark, Demolish Celebrated Culinary Site Create Opposing Forces In Sonoma

SONOMA, CA — A developer wants to move the General's Daughter from its longtime location, demolish the former Ramekins property, and build 46 homes on nearly four acres near West Spain Street in Sonoma.

Tidewater Capital presented the preliminary proposal during an Aug. 18 Sonoma Planning Commission study session.

The properties include a barn, the former Ramekins restaurant, bed-and-breakfast, and event venue, now Seven Branches, and a vacant parcel on Casabonne Lane.

But the most controversial was the proposal to move the General's Daughter, originally constructed in 1878, and most recently used as a restaurant with an event space.

The proposal calls for 46 two-story single-family homes, cottages, and "duets," including seven deed-restricted affordable homes.

Five affordable homes would serve very-low-income households, and two would serve moderate-income households, although Tidewater said that mix could change. The developer proposes 18 density-bonus units.

The homes would range from about 1,580 to 2,310 square feet, with two or three bedrooms, 2.5 to 3.5 bathrooms, and private parking. Plans also include an accessory dwelling unit, pedestrian paseos, a play grove, and a central community space.

Tidewater reduced the project from an earlier 52-home proposal after a June 18 open house with neighbors, including the Willows Wild homeowners association.

Residents raised concerns about density, height, traffic, fire safety, and moving the General's Daughter.

Tidewater subsequently eliminated all townhomes and three-story buildings and reduced the project to 46 homes.

Historical Significance

The General's Daughter would remain the centerpiece of the development but would be moved closer to West Spain Street.

Tidewater wants to reopen the building as a neighborhood restaurant and gathering place and said a new foundation would bring it up to current codes.

Tidewater hired historic preservation firm Page & Turnbull to evaluate the properties. The firm found that neither Seven Branches nor the existing barn is old enough for historic consideration.

The General's Daughter is not listed on the National Register of Historic Places, California Register of Historical Resources, or Sonoma's locally designated historic resources, according to Tidewater's report.

Page & Turnbull is studying how relocating the building could affect its historical significance.

More Housing

The former Ramekins property would not survive the redevelopment.

The building is too new to qualify for historic consideration. But residents said the 12,000-square-foot former culinary school has a place in Sonoma's culinary history.

Suzanne Brangham, who restored and operated the neighboring General's Daughter restaurant, developed Ramekins to showcase Sonoma food, wine, and agriculture.

"We're here to produce housing in this application," Tidewater Development Director Kyle Winkler told commissioners. "So unfortunately, the plan for the Ramekin structures is for it to be removed."

Commissioners questioned whether Tidewater could instead leave the General's Daughter in place. Winkler said the company could revisit that option but said doing so could require denser housing, including three-story row townhomes, to achieve a similar number of homes.

The current plan provides 89 off-street parking spaces, including 73 residential spaces and 16 for the General's Daughter. City code requires 62 spaces for those uses, according to Tidewater's plans.

Primary residential access would come from West Spain Street, while homes along Fourth Street West generally would have direct driveway access.

Tidewater is considering a secondary connection through private Casabonne Lane, where it said a recorded easement appears to permit access.

Winkler said most Willows Wild residents appear to oppose that connection. He said Tidewater does not have a strong preference for opening it unless emergency access or another need requires it.

Fire safety, traffic, parking, water, and evacuation dominated much of the public discussion. Winkler said the property sits in a very high fire severity zone and that the project would use required fire-resistant materials.

City staff said a future traffic analysis could determine whether changes are needed at the Fourth Street dead end for emergency access or evacuation.

Several residents urged the city to require a full environmental impact report and opposed moving the General's Daughter.

Patricia Cullinan, president of the Sonoma Valley Historical Society, said the organization wants an environmental impact report examining traffic, bicycle and pedestrian circulation, historic and cultural resources, infrastructure, fire safety, emergency access, and the possible historical significance of Ramekins.

Pitched roofs, front porches

Robert Demmler, executive director of the Sonoma League for Historic Preservation, told commissioners the organization "strongly discourages development of any kind where significant historical, cultural, and landscape resources and features are already established."

Other neighbors raised concerns about parking, setbacks, stormwater, water use, school traffic, and evacuation.

Carol Campbell, a Spain Street resident, disputed comparisons between traffic generated by housing and the site's existing event uses.

"Our housing is constant wear and tear on a community," Campbell said. "That constant wear and tear cannot be compared to event, ninety-two cars that leave occasional events. So this is daily, not once in a while."

Planning commissioners also questioned how the development would fit into the surrounding neighborhood, which includes one- and two-story homes and borders Sonoma State Historic Park. Tidewater said the homes would draw from the area's pitched roofs, front porches, traditional siding, and farmhouse architecture.

Commissioner Barnett cautioned residents that state housing laws have sharply reduced the city's discretion over housing proposals and said commissioners cannot base approval or denial on subjective criteria such as neighborhood context, compatibility, look, feel, or character.

At the end of the study session, the Planning Commission chair asked Tidewater to prepare an alternative plan that would leave the General's Daughter in its existing location.

"Preserving a historic building and preserving a historic site are not necessarily the same thing," he said.

Tidewater must submit a formal application before the city begins its development review. The study session did not constitute project approval.