Sonoma County will be hosting events to update the community on its General Plan game plan and will be holding drop-in workshops, the county said. 

The Sonoma County General Plan is the blueprint for all zoning and land use decisions the county makes. 

The drop-in workshops are a way for residents to learn more about the General Plan in an informal setting, the county said. There will be themed stations, places to share input and ways to help shape the future of neighborhoods. 

Each workshop runs from 6 p.m. to 7:30 p.m., and they will take place:

  • Monday in the Sonoma Valley at Flowery Elementary School, 17600 Sonoma Highway in the city of Sonoma.
  • April 2 in north Santa Rosa at Mark West Elementary School, 4600 Lavell Road, in Santa Rosa.
  • April 3 for residents in the Petaluma/Penngrove/Two Rock area at the Bloomfield Masonic Lodge, 6640 Bloomfield Road, in Petaluma. 
  • April 15 for the coastal communities of Bodega Bay/Bodega/Valley Ford at the Bodega Harbor Yacht Club, 565 Smith Brothers Road in Bodega Bay.
  • April 16 for the Sebastopol/Granton/Occidental area at the Occidental Community Center, 3920 Bohemian Highway in Occidental. 

Virtual open houses will also take place on April 7 at 6 p.m. and April 10 at noon, both via Zoom.

According to the county, attendees can stop in anytime during the open houses and provide feedback on issues such as housing, transportation and the environment. Family-friendly activities will be offered, as well as dinner. Spanish interpretation will also be available. 

Katy St. Clair got her start in journalism by working in the classifieds department at the East Bay Express during the height of alt weeklies, then sweet talked her way into becoming staff writer, submissions editor, and music editor. She has been a columnist in the East Bay Express, SF Weekly, and the San Francisco Examiner. Starting in 2015, she begrudgingly scaled the inverted pyramid at dailies such as the Vallejo Times-Herald, The Vacaville Reporter, and the Daily Republic. She has her own independent news site and blog that covers the delightfully dysfunctional town of Vallejo, California, where she also collaborates with the investigative team at Open Vallejo. A passionate advocate for people with developmental disabilities, she serves on both the Board of the Arc of Solano and the Arc of California. She lives in Vallejo.