HEALDSBURG (California) TRIBUNE NEWS

July 25, 2006

Seasonal farmworker housing project planned for Geyserville

Local planning committee to discuss project Tuesday

By Nathan Wright, Staff Writer

A project that would house seasonal farmworkers near downtown Geyserville is already meeting opposition this week as the developers prepare to present it to the local planning committee.

The Geyserville Planning Committee will hear a presentation by Burbank Housing and the California Human Development Corporation on Tuesday, July 25 on a proposed project at 21500 Geyserville Avenue that would house 60 seasonal migrant workers.

The project, which would be located on an 11.5-acre property across the street from Geyserville Elementary School, is in its early stages of planning. Tuesday's meeting at the Geyserville Fire Protection District office - located inside the fire house in downtown Geyserville - will be the first time the development is discussed at a public planning meeting.

Preliminary plans for the property include housing for 60 unaccompanied workers, with room for another 20 beds housed in modular buildings. Occupants would share central bathroom and kitchen areas, and meals would be provided on-site.

“It's still very conceptual,” said Pascal Sisich, the Director of Acquisitions at Burbank Housing. “We believe that this is the ideal location. It's near agriculture labor centers, it's a large site, and it's contiguous to a service area. I think those are compelling reasons.”

Sisich says that two of the 11.5 acres would be used for the project. The other 9.5 would remain vineyards.

Some members of the Geyserville community have already contacted local government expressing concerns for such a project, including the site's proximity to an elementary school, how it fits in with the downtown area, and access to local sewer and water services.

Sisich says that both Burbank Housing and the California Human Development Corporation (CHDC) are committed to communicating and working with the community on all of their projects, and that both agencies will be at next week's meeting to answer any questions and concerns that the community may have.

“We frequently have neighborhood issues,” Sisich said. “We're used to that. We're conscious and respectful of that, but we still have a job to do, and that's to build affordable housing.

“We'll show everything we're planning,” he said. “We don't hide what our intentions are.”

Burbank Housing is a local non-profit organization that has been building affordable housing in Sonoma County since 1980. To date, Burbank has built or rehabilitated 2,000 affordable homes for low-income families, seniors, and people with disabilities.

Sisich says that the Geyserville Avenue project would be Burbank's first seasonal farm worker development.

Burbank Housing would serve as the developer for the project, but the CHDC would handle the management of the property. The agency manages three properties in Napa that are similar to the proposed Geyserville project.

At those sites, and at the proposed Geyserville site, a fulltime property management will be at the property. This, along with many other topics, will be discussed by the agency at the upcoming meeting.

“Burbank is going to be at the meeting to make a presentation on the designs, and we're going to be there to talk about our experience and philosophy on the management side,” said Chris Paige, the CHDC Deputy CEO of Programs. “We have a lot of experience in Napa and we'll be going over that.”

Paige describes the seasonal worker facilities as a self-contained operation. Seasonal workers at the Napa facilities work six or seven days a week, often leaving at dawn and returning after 5 p.m.

“They're here to work,” Paige said. “(The facility) serves the community well, serves the workers well, and serves the vineyard industry well.”

Paige expects skepticism and questions, and hopes to be able to put many of them to rest.

“I'm happy to listen to any concerns that anyone may have,” he said. “We'd like to take anyone who's interested from the Geyserville community up to the camps in Napa so they can talk to neighbors, growers, and workers.”

Burbank Housing met with Fourth District Supervisor Paul Kelley this week to privately meeting, but Kelley says that even if the project is well received it won't be presented to him for at least six to 12 months.

Kelley has already received two letters about the project from the community, but he says that all comments should be sent to the Geyserville Planning Advisory Board and the Sonoma County Planning Department.

“I'm honored to think that they'd think to talk to me first,” he said. “They can also send a copy (of any letters) to my office, and we'll keep all the comments as part of the consideration of this project if it ever comes before the board.”

Dave Loop, the spokesperson for the Geyserville Planning Advisory Board, expects the issue to come before Geyserville's board multiple times. The board meets every month on the fourth Tuesday at the downtown Geyserville fire station.