Update: We are thrilled that voters in the city of Sonoma passed Measure W with a supermajority of 80% to renew the city’s Urban Growth Boundary for another 20 years!
Clearly, the people of the city of Sonoma and beyond continue to strongly support the protections of open space by preventing sprawl and encouraging affordable housing and climate-smart growth within existing city boundaries.
Measure W in the City of Sonoma renews the existing Urban Growth Boundary for another 20 years to protect open space, prevent sprawl, and encourage growth near jobs, schools, and shops. We call that climate SMART development!
When it comes to affordable housing, Measure W contains stronger provisions requiring that any land added to the Urban Growth Boundary (UGB) be for 100% affordable housing. Right now, there is room to build more housing without expanding the UGB.
Greenbelt Alliance partnered with community leaders to pass Measure W. We had incredible support from hundreds of people who endorsed the Yes on W campaign early on, including Sonoma’s City Council, former mayors, and Council members, all City Planning Commissioners, and many others. Local environmental, affordable housing, climate, and labor groups also supported Measure W.
In particular, we are thrilled that Generation Housing endorsed Yes on Measure W. This influential new housing advocacy group has an impressive board of directors representing Burbank Housing, MidPen Housing, Housing Land Trust of Sonoma County, and other housing experts. Check out the full list of endorsers here.
Thankfully with Measure W passing, the city’s Urban Growth Boundary cannot be modified by the vote of a simple majority on the City Council at any time. This strengthens the voice of the voters when it comes to the city’s future growth. Having an established UGB relieves development pressure on the city and avoids triggering skyrocketing land prices that would make affordable housing almost impossible to build. By passing Measure W, Sonoma residents can revise the UGB before the 20 years is up if needed with a vote of the people.
Measure W is good for open space, our climate, and affordable housing! Read more about Measure W and learn about the campaign here. Get the full ballot measure, impartial analysis, and arguments here.
The 80% result exceeded our expectations. It is among the highest approval rate of any measure in Sonoma County and up there with the community separators vote in 2016 that also reached 80% approval. We could not be happier about this result!
