(rshsdepot) Windsor, CA

[I95BERNIEW_@_aol.com]

From the San Francisco Chronicle.
 
Original article with photos at:
_http://sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/c/a/2008/04/18/BA71VMOGJ.DTL_ 
(http://sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/c/a/2008/04/18/BA71VMOGJ.DTL) 
 
Bernie Wagenblast
 
+++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
 
Windsor Rebuilds Depot Sans Train

The cozy community of Windsor is, at heart, a railroad town.
 
It grew up in the 19th century around the railroad just like almost every  
other city in Sonoma County. But Windsor is unique in that it recently rebuilt  
its historic downtown train station for the 10,000 or so residents within  
walking distance of the tracks. 
 
The suburb is about as close to the ideal of a modern transit village as  
there is anywhere in the Bay Area, except for one thing: There is no  train.
 
The people of Windsor - in fact the vast majority of the residents in  Sonoma 
County - want desperately to bring back passenger trains after an absence  of 
50 years. It would offer an alternative - the only alternative - to  
perpetually gridlocked Highway 101. 
 
The problem is that neighboring Marin County is a crucial participant. It  is 
home to major job centers like downtown San Rafael, the Marin County Civic  
Center and the Larkspur ferry terminal, where train passengers could transfer 
to  San Francisco.
 
But Marin voters have repeatedly rejected ballot measures that would bring  
commute trains to the North Bay, preventing Windsor and other towns along the  
railroad tracks from adopting the conservationist mantra that espouses 
building  communities around transit.
 
A good many residents of Marin are afraid that a train system would lead to  
more growth, and they point to BART in Contra Costa County as an example of 
how  transit can inspire development. 
 
"A lot of Marinites have not supported it, and I can understand why," said  
Hal Beck, the executive director of the Windsor Chamber of Commerce. "But  
transit-oriented villages are an ideal that we should all be working  toward."
 
The conflict shows how difficult it can be to adopt what are called smart  
growth concepts. What is seen as eco-friendly in one place can be viewed as just 
 the opposite somewhere else, even right next door.
 
Nevertheless, growing alarm over climate change and the role that fuel  
emissions have played has put pressure on Marin County to pass a transportation  
tax this fall aimed at building the train system. A measure similar to the  
quarter-cent sales tax that barely fell short in 2006 will be on the ballot in  
November.
 
To be fair, it is exceedingly difficult to pass transportation taxes, which  
require a two-thirds vote. In an attempt to make things easier, Sonoma and 
Marin  created a two-county special district called the Sonoma Marin Area 
Transit, or  SMART, district. The arrangement would allow rail service to be 
established with  the approval of 66.6 percent of the counties' combined voters.
 
The proposed tax would pay for passenger train service along 70 miles of  
track, including 14 stations, between Cloverdale in Sonoma County and Larkspur  
in Marin. The plan would also include a bicycle and pedestrian path along the  
entire route.
 
Polls have consistently shown traffic to be the No. 1 problem facing the  
region. 
 
Windsor was so eager to create transit alternatives for its residents that  
it built a $1.4 million intermodal station along the railroad tracks without 
any  guarantee that a train would ever come.
 
Several other Sonoma County communities along the tracks, including  
Cloverdale, Healdsburg, Rohnert Park and Cotati, are counting on SMART's  eventual 
success to invigorate their downtowns. Santa Rosa is planning 5 1/2  acres of 
mixed-use housing and retail around historic Railroad Square, where the  train 
depot built in 1904 was featured in the Alfred Hitchcock film "Shadow of a  
Doubt."
 
Population and job growth
The need for alternative transportation will  continue to grow, especially in 
Sonoma County, where the population of 467,000  is nearly double the number 
of people who live in Marin. 
 
Pressure is also coming from job growth, which has outstripped population  
growth in the two counties since 1990, according to census figures. The  
Association of Bay Area Governments predicted that Sonoma County would add  98,480 
jobs and Marin County would add 35,280 jobs between 2000 and 2025. The  new jobs 
will undoubtedly bring more commuters into both counties.
 
Residents of Marin often look at Sonoma County as a haven for developers -  
which may explain the tendency to pass off the notorious traffic problems on 
101  as a problem that only Sonoma should pay to solve. In addition to their 
fears of  train-induced growth, some Marin environmentalists say the proposed 
bike trail  would require wetlands to be filled. 
 
Sonoma County officials insist they have always advocated smart growth over  
suburban sprawl. Voter-approved Urban Growth Boundaries preventing sprawl have 
 been enacted in eight of the nine cities in Sonoma County, and the ninth,  
Cloverdale, is considering one this year. Such mixed-use, higher-density  
development in cities reduces car emissions while still allowing business growth  
and affordable housing, according to planners.
 
Efficient in-fill
A commute train would make this in-fill development  even more efficient, 
proponents say.
 
There are signs that Marin is warming up to the idea, as many  
environmentalists, including the powerful Sierra Club, have agreed to support  SMART. 
 
"With the increased awareness of global warming and the need to reduce  
greenhouse gas emissions, we think that our environmental vote will be strong in  
both counties," said Cynthia Murray, the president of the North Bay Leadership  
Council.
 
Charles McGlashan, a Marin County supervisor and environmentalist, said  much 
of the opposition in the past was the result of misinformation by  opponents.
 
"The good news is that 2008 is going to be a different story," McGlashan  
said. "As SMART gets approved and begins to move toward implementation, that  
will help transit-oriented development efforts everywhere, which is good news  
for reducing climate gas emissions."
 
Until then, frustration will continue to grow in Windsor as the congestion  
on Highway 101 increases and the train tracks remain there rusting and unused. 
 
Online resources 
For information, go to: _www.sonomamarintrain.org_ 
(http://www.sonomamarintrain.org) 
 

Peter Fimrite, _pfimrite_@_sfchronicle.com_ (mailto:pfimrite@sfchronicle.com)  
 
_http://sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/c/a/2008/04/18/BA71VMOGJ.DTL_ 
(http://sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/c/a/2008/04/18/BA71VMOGJ.DTL) 
 
This article appeared on page W - 14 of the San Francisco  Chronicle



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End of RSHSDepot Digest V1 #1714
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