Fitch Mountain, the scenic
backdrop for the city of Healdsburg, is one of Sonoma
County's most significant landmarks. Its distinctive profile
is instantly recognizable, as highlighted in this 1910
postcard.
Urge
Sonoma County and the
Open Space District to purchase
Fitch Mountain for public parkland!
* Update * The
community forum on January 24 at the Raven Theater was a
resounding success. |
:Situated as it is on the edge of a growing city, it is remarkably still mostly undeveloped, with forests of oak, madrone, fir, and redwood, and with sweeping views overlooking north county hills, vineyards, and the Russian River.
178 acres of upper Fitch Mountain is already protected by a SCAPOSD conservation easement. As seen in this 1999 SCAPOSD inventory document, part of the justification for that 1994 easement purchase was it's "Potential fee acquisition for park."
Now, December 2002, the owner has placed the entire 258-acre property, nearly all of the mountain including the summit, on the market, with an expressed preference to sell the property to the Open Space District to become public parkland.
This Press Democrat article of December 16, 2002, describes the current situation, as does this Healdsburg Tribune article.
A group of mostly Healdsburg residents has formed to encourage the county and Open Space District to avail themselves of this unique opportunity to create a new public park, and in so doing preserve one of the county's most scenic signature landforms from estate-home development. They point out that the property already has a ready-made trail system in the form of over three miles of existing fire roads, and trailhead facilities (parking, restrooms) at the adjoining, city-owned Villa Chanticleer.
Here is how you can support their efforts to preserve Fitch Mountain as public parkland:
Mark your calendars to attend the community forum on Fitch Mountain at the Raven Theater in Healdsburg at 7:00 p.m. on Friday evening, January 24, 2003. CORP Chair Larry Modell will moderate this forum. Details here.
Circulate this petition and mail it to the address at the bottom. (Note: The petition is in RTF format, which can be read by most word processors and cannot carry macro viruses.)
Contact County Supervisors (who are also Directors of the Open Space District), and North County Supervisor Paul Kelley in particular, to urge acquisition of Fitch Mountain for parkland.
Contact Friends of Fitch Mountain at (707) 431-1301 (Royce), or rmeyerott@earthlink.net
UPDATE: The first hurdle for Open Space funding has been cleared! On Tuesday, January 7, 2003, the Sonoma County Agricultural Preservation and Open Space District Advisory Committee voted, by a vote of 6-0 with three absentions, to proceed with consideration of the Fitch Mountain Project. The project will ultimately need to be approved by two more bodies, the Open Space Authority, and the Sonoma County Supervisors, acting as the SCAP&OSD Board of Directors. Dates for consideration by those bodies have not yet been set, but will be announced here when they are known.
NEW: Press coverage and editorials about the proposed Fitch Mountain acquistion published in the Healdsburg Tribune and the Press Democrat.
