City Center SMART Station Gets Final OK

The City Council's widely-stated dream of building a vibrant, bustling core in Rohnert Park moved one step closer Wednesday, when the Sonoma-Marin Area Rail Transit Board gave the green light to start construction on the city's new train station site near the former State Farm Insurance.

The city-owned property, roughly three acres in size on the west side of the railroad tracks in between State Farm and Enterprise drives, would be handed off to SMART, in exchange for the rail authority fronting the $500,000 bill the relocation is estimated to cost.

"We're funding the half-million deal, and in return, the city manager agreed to give the property to SMART, or rent it to us for next to nothing," said General Manager Farhad Mansourian. 

SMART officials originally asked the city to pay for a portion of the construction costs, estimated between $500,000 and $1 million, but according a memo from City Manager Gabe Gonzalez to SMART, "the city does not have the funds to make up that difference in capital costs" in relocating the north end station to what could be the future "downtown."

"The new location is near our City Center area, which is recognized as the heart of Rohnert Park," Gonzalez said. "The city plans to encourage development in this location, and may be well-positioned to receive regionally controlled grant funds in the future to aid that effort."

The city did, however, pay $27,000 for an additional California Environmental Quality Act analysis, which found "no new significant impact," according to John Nemeth, a planning  manager for SMART. The City Council voted 4-1 last April to pay up to $35,000 for environmental review. Councilman Joe Callinan voted against the relocation, citing the city's dire financial situation.

Original arguments against the centrally-located site won when the station was first decided upon. Opponents said the site near Golf Course Drive would have better access to and from Hwy. 101, ample parking and existing parking lot and "good spacing" from Cotati's location.

The new site, however, would fit in with the city's land use and growth ideals outlined in the city's general plan that aims to incorporate transit-oriented development near City Center Plaza. 

A plan for the City Center "outlines a vision ... that features a pedestrian-oriented main street, and establishes direction for land use, urban design, and circulation," according to the document. Today, the City Council aims to spark economic development and build a downtown.

According to a report, the new location would have no additional impact on air quality, aesthetics, biological resources, cultural resources, geology and soils, hazardous materials, hydrology, noise, population and housing, public services, safety or traffic. The original Final Environmental Impact Report was completed in 2006. 

Details of the newly-proposed site include a concrete platform, encased with a glass canopy, windscreens and benches. The parking lot and the station itself would be lit, and about 50 cars would be able to park on site. Plans call for trees to be planted in the parking lot for shade and drought-tolerant native shrubs and grasses would be used for additional landscaping. 

The station would also accomodate safely bike and pedestrians, with on-site walkways and bike parking. 

The City Council has said publicly over the last year that the new centrally-located station could spur economic development in the area, accomodate the needs of more people because of the dense housing in the area and attract a greater ridership to SMART.

That the former 33-acre State Farm site is now vacant property also weighed on the council when they .

"There was a sense was that this would represent a major opportuntity now that there's this empty parcel in the center of Rohnert Park," Mackenzie said.

Mackenzie said the discussion for the City Center site is not new. In the 1990s, the City Council weighed the train's original location, but elected officials then said it would be too close to the Cotati site — about a mile away.

According to the site plan, the new station will allow for vehicle access to the station only from Enterprise Drive/Seed Farm Drive at the south end of the station site. Pedestrians and bicyclists could get in from Rohnert Park Expressway.

Gonzalez said the city would explore adding a Rohnert Park Expressway entrance and exit upon development of the State Farm site. Construction is expected to start in in the next year or so, with completion by 2014. View the memo from Gonzalez to SMART on the right.