Citing a need to strengthen and develop its new programs to better serve the Sonoma Valley community, Hanna Center has abandoned plans to develop a 60-acre property adjacent to its campus.
“The decision to cease development plans for the 60-acre property was finalized approximately a month and a half ago,” said Cameron Safarloo, president and CEO of Hanna Center. “However, this decision followed a comprehensive planning process that began three years ago.
“Ultimately, and in light of our current fiscal objectives, we determined that our resources should be directed toward strengthening and expanding our new mental health, residential, community and trauma-informed training programs to better serve the community.”
The decision to drop plans for the 60-acre site was made by Hanna Center’s board of directors, in collaboration with Safarloo.
“However, the input of many stakeholders — including community members — was integral to the strategic planning process,” he said. “As a community-centered organization, we prioritized listening to and incorporating community perspectives into our long-term strategic decision.”
The Hanna Center project
Hanna Center’s proposal for the 60-acre project, submitted to Permit Sonoma on Oct. 19, 2023, states that the project would include a vocational training center, market-rate housing, affordable housing, a continuing care residential community, a hotel, extensive open space and retail/office development to house child care, preschool and adult day care services.
Community members expressed some concerns about the vastness of the plans, fearing they would cause a considerable traffic increase, depletion of water and sewage, increased air pollution, earthquake vulnerability and deterioration of the overall feel of the area as well as contain an insufficient amount of low-income housing.
“We took concerns about traffic, environmental impact, housing and infrastructure seriously,” he said. “However, we also believed those concerns could have been addressed during an extensive environmental review process.
“While these concerns were a component of our decision-making process, the primary driver was ensuring alignment with Hanna’s updated vision and current fiscal priorities. Our goal is to serve the community in the most effective way possible, and after careful evaluation, we determined that focusing on our core programs was the best path forward.”
Work on an Environmental Impact Report on the project was expected to begin early this year, but the County of Sonoma first needed to determine if Hanna Center’s application for approvals was complete.
“That determination had not been made by the time we decided to terminate the project, so no environmental report was prepared,” Safarloo said.
Looking ahead
He hopes that in the future, Sonoma County will continue to prioritize some of the “much-needed” services and initiatives contained in the project, adding that Hanna Center will carefully assess any future initiatives to ensure they support Sonoma Valley residents as well as Hanna’s own objectives.
Safarloo said that before considering any possible new development on the 60 acres, Hanna Center wants to give its team the opportunity to fully establish the new mental health, residential, trauma-informed training and community recreation programs and ensure their long-term sustainability.
“However, we recognize the potential of the property and will continue to evaluate opportunities that align with our mission, our new programming and community needs,” he said.
Safarloo noted that Hanna Center decided last year that one facility planned for the 60-acre site — a vocational training center — would be better located within the main campus, west of Arnold Drive. An opportunity assessment is currently being done on the feasibility of the center there.
“It would provide skills training and certifications to help underserved individuals secure meaningful employment,” Safarloo said.
He said that establishing a vocational training center is consistent with Hanna Center’s new focus.
“Hanna Center has undergone a transformation, shifting from an insular model to one that is deeply integrated with the broader community,” he said. “We have listened to stakeholders, adapted our vision and prioritized initiatives that directly serve the youth, families and individuals of Sonoma Valley and that our consistent with current fiscal objectives.”
He said that the center has “opened up” to the community in many ways since the 60-acre project was first conceived, noting that it has moved from serving a limited number of youth annually to implementing a system of care that reaches thousands of them.
