Bike trail concerns
Dear Editor,After attending the Sonoma Valley Trail meeting on Jan. 20, about a 13-mile pedestrian, bicycle, and equestrian trail between Melita and Agua Caliente roads through Sonoma Valley, I’m hoping that the Sonoma County Regional Parks and the higher-ups heard the crowd loud and clear.
This was the fourth open house that Sonoma County Regional Parks has sponsored to receive comments from the public. On Feb. 2, Sonoma County Regional Parks will present their final feasibility study to the Board of Supervisors. I ask myself why they would take a positive like a bike path and turn it into a negative. I don’t know. I say just keep it simple! Keep the bike path on the east side of Hwy. 12, the Hood Mountain side, going through Kenwood. Don’t do as proposed by stopping cyclists and traffic at Randolph Avenue and then crossing dangerous Highway 12 at a proposed emergency vehicle access beacon to the west side, which is proposed to route cyclists and pedestrians to one of two routes.
The preferred route is a two-way multi-use trail along Highway 12 frontage property. I can just see it now. Tourists with wine glasses in hand strolling Highway 12, unaware of the danger. The alternative is to route cyclists and pedestrians to the inter-Kenwood neighborhood that has already been dealing with years of over-concentration from tasting rooms, parking overflow at Shaw, Randolph, and Maple avenues, which is a nightmare that county officials can’t seem to get a handle on.
Please help! Don’t let Shaw, Randolph, Maple, and the Kenwood Plaza Park be turned in to a “staging area” as proposed. Could Shaw Park be cut in half by a trail? One side for a parking lot and one side for tourist services? This marketing strategy will change the rural character of our town forever. Isn’t that why Kenwood and Sonoma Valley are so desirable? Let’s not let it get away.
Act now or forever hold your tongue. You can help! Please write, email, attend a meeting, or simply call with your comment. Write to planner Ken Tam, 2300 County Center Dr., Santa Rosa, CA 95403, email ken.tam@sonoma.county.org, or phone 565-2041. P.S. They want to hear from you! For more about what’s happening with tourism and cyclists, go to the Press Democrat’s past issues on Thursday, Jan. 14, 2016, section D, page 10, “Bicycling tourist in demand.” Very interesting!
Cathy Fletcher Kenwood resident
A note from new Morton’s owners
Dear Editor,We are a small group of family and friends from Sonoma County and we are honored to be the new stewards of Morton’s Warm Springs. It is truly a jewel of Sonoma Valley and we look forward to deepening our relationship with this place and all who call it home.
We feel that Morton’s, its land and warm springs, have a special quality of sanctuary, and we are interested in continuing to operate the summer season pools with this quality in mind. Our intention is for Morton’s to be a place where people can come to rest and reconnect with family, nature, and the springs as a community gathering place for generations to come.
Sean Wadsworth and the Morton’s Warm Springs Stewards