The Rest of the Lafferty Story

by James Heppelmann, Sonoma Mountain

A quick summary of the recent story published in the Press Democrat about Petaluma’s Lafferty Park might say that the City of Petaluma wants to build a city park, on city land--and a few neighbors who have been fighting the city for three decades are back at it again with another lawsuit.  As the famous radio personality Paul Harvey used to say, “it’s time to hear the rest of the story”, because there is more depth to this story than the newspaper provided, and how the story ends could deeply affect the residents of Sonoma Mountain communities like Bennett Valley, Diamond A, Eldridge, Glen Ellen, Jack London State Park, and Waldrue Heights, and potentially communities far beyond.

The City of Petaluma originally purchased the 270 acre Lafferty parcel in 1959 to use as a city water source, but subsequently abandoned this use due to earthquake concerns.   When the city decided to repurpose this parcel of rural land into a city park for city residents, the adjacent Sonoma Mountain neighbors objected.  Are the neighbors evil people who would deny city residents a park in the country?  No, at the core of the neighbors’ objection is a single unpleasant word: wildfire.

There are numerous reasons why most people can’t readily cite another city that has a city park beyond its own city limits.  For starters, cities lack the capacity to extend their municipal services beyond their city limits.  The police department doesn’t have the bandwidth to send patrol cars up the mountain regularly to patrol Lafferty, which means the property is not monitored, inviting all kinds of trespass mischief of which the city is unaware.  The fire department says Sonoma Mountain is out of their jurisdiction, please call Rancho Adobe.  Normally the road from City Hall to a city park would be a city road, but in this case, it is a rugged county road, voted one of the worst and most dangerous in Sonoma County.  Petaluma says the condition of a county road is not the city’s problem, meanwhile the county says the road is good enough to meet the low traffic needs of the rural ranches it serves, and the city’s park is not the county’s concern.

A conscientious city wouldn’t place a park into the middle of a “Very High” Wildfire Risk Index neighborhood and then do nothing to mitigate fire risk, but that has been the case at Lafferty.  Whereas neighbors adjacent to Lafferty do what they can to reduce fire risk on their properties, including grazing, fuel cleanup, and localized wildfire mitigation systems, the City has ignored the best practices known to municipalities, as though it is not their responsibility to manage this parcel of land they own.  The “Low” wildfire risk in town may impede the city government’s ability to be more empathetic to the wildfire concerns of Sonoma Mountain residents.

In any community it would be unusual for the city to force a park into a neighborhood that is unanimously opposed to it, but in the case of Lafferty the neighbors aren’t city residents so the city can ignore their concerns, which it has from the start.  That makes the neighbors angry, and because they don’t have a say at City Hall, they need to take the city to court to have their concerns heard, which they currently are.

In the Press Democrat article, Bruce Hagen, a former Petaluma parks commissioner, reiterated his assertion from 20 years ago that the risk of fire on Sonoma Mountain “has been exaggerated”.  Mr. Hagen may need to recalibrate his thinking because climate change has dramatically changed the fire outlook during those past 20 years.  Following the LA fires, 16 of the 20 worst fires in California history have occurred in the past 10 years.  As the latest Sonoma County Wildfire Risk Index map shows, Lafferty lies in a massive “Very High” fire risk belt that stretches all around Sonoma Mountain.  Lafferty itself is a tinderbox with high fuel loads and steep vertical upslopes that would make it nearly impossible to contain a fire that starts there.  Depending on which way the Petaluma Gap winds deflect off Sonoma Mountain that day, a blizzard of wind-blown embers from a fire on Lafferty could soon be streaming toward Diamond A or Bennett Valley, and before long to the communities on the east side of the mountain. 

It is this same Wildfire Risk Index that is driving the insurance disaster many Californians are caught up in.  Residents who live in an area designated High or Very High on the Wildfire Risk Index maps probably should prepare themselves for a future where insurance is not available, at least not at an affordable price.  The insurance situation elevates everybody’s wildfire concerns, adding the threat of financial ruin to standing concerns regarding safety and property damage.

The newspaper article questions whether occasional docent-led tours are worth fighting about.  They probably are not, but the frequent trespassing that happens during the long periods between the tours certainly is.  Plus, it is clear to anybody who reads the article that docent-led tours are but a passing phase, and not the city’s end-game.  When Matt McGuire commented in the article that “we need to get this going”, he was referring to his dream of an open public park.

A city park at Lafferty puts thousands of lives and billions of dollars of property value at risk.  Imagine the regret - and potential liability - that Petaluma residents would bear if a conflagration on Sonoma Mountain started because of the city’s actions at Lafferty.  Petaluma’s 2025 annual city budget is $312 million, but the property damage in Sonoma Mountain communities could easily be an order of magnitude greater.  The city’s finances have been tenuous for years, and the city already has more parks than it can afford to service.  Maybe it would be prudent to take a pass on this one?

If the Wildfire Risk Index map shows your property is at risk, or if you have witnessed enough pain and suffering from the Tubbs, Paradise, or LA fires to have empathy for those who are at risk, then consider making your voice heard by emailing Petaluma’s Mayor Kevin McDonnell at kmcdonnell@cityofpetaluma.org, copy the City Council at citycouncil@cityofpetaluma.org, the City Clerk at cityclerk@cityofpetaluma.org, and the City Manager at citymgr@cityofpetaluma.org.  Feel free to write a letter to the editor of the Press Democrat as well!