08/18/2019

August 2019 Newsletter

Next Monthly Meeting Reminder

When: This Monday August 5, 7:00 – 8:30 PM
Where: The former Umbria restaurant space adjacent to the Jack London Lodge/Saloon. 13740 Arnold Drive, Glen Ellen.

Our featured speaker will be Marty Winter, the developer of the proposed Rustic Shops and Apartments project. He will be presenting his design plans and be available to answer questions.

New Lottery for Fire Survivors for Trees and Shrubs

The Glen Ellen Forum received a generous grant from the Rise up Community Impact Grants Fund of Rebuild North Bay to use to purchase additional sheds for those on the waiting list and provide gift cards to purchase trees and shrubs for fire survivors.

The Glen Ellen Forum is offering, by lottery, $300 nursery gift certificates/vouchers to up to eleven recipients to help fund replacement trees and shrubs for members of our community who lost their homes in the 2017 fires.

If you lost your home in Glen Ellen in the October 2017 wildfires and would like to apply for a chance to get a voucher for trees and/or shrubs, please complete this application: Trees/shrubs Lottery Application. Lottery applications will also be distributed at the August 5, and September 9, monthly Glen Ellen Forum meetings.

We will collect and verify all applications and enter them into a lottery, to be randomly drawn Sunday, September 15, 2019. Those selected will be notified immediately.

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Proposed Renovation Project for Corner of Arnold and Carquinez

Stephen Sorkin, the developer for the proposed project at the corner of Arnold and Carquinez, where the Garden Court Café and McCormick Mercantile are located, spoke at our July meeting providing detailed information about the renovations he has planned for the site. The proposed renovation will have eight residential units and an expanded and improved restaurant space for the Garden Court Cafe as well as additional parking and an electric car charger for the site. The photo to the left is an artists rendering of the proposed façade. For more information, you can view the plans here or contact Mr. Sorkin at ssorkin@gmail.com with your questions.

Post Office Parking Lot Beautification Project Update

A big thank you to our hard working Glen Ellen Forum Projects Committee. They are even closer to final completion of their work to beautify the parking lot at the post office. The team completed the initial landscaping and installed the new kiosk, little lending library, and the first garbage can. The projects committee also repainted under the old bridge on Arnold.

Eldridge Updates

If you’d like to stay informed on the progress of the planning process for the future of Eldridge, the site of the recently closed Sonoma Developmental Center, you can check current status and sign up for email updates on this Permit Sonoma webpage dedicated to the future of Eldridge project. There is a link on the right side of the page to sign up for updates.

The Glen Ellen Map Project

The Commerce and Tourism Committee of the GE Forum has completed the first printing of Glen Ellen Village Maps. They have had fantastic positive feedback from the community while distributing them to local businesses. They’ve collected a list of additions and edits and are already preparing for a second printing! If you or your business would like some maps to hand out to your customers or if you have any suggestions, please send an email to Forum@GlenEllen.org.

Follow the Glen Ellen Forum Commerce and Tourism Committee on Facebook: Commerce and Tourism Facebook Page.

What should we name the MAC?

At a meeting to discuss the formation of a Municipal Advisory Committee for Glen Ellen and Kenwood on June 18, attendees brainstormed possible names of the future committee. Please vote for your favorite here: Name the MAC.

The Art of Planning: A Learning Group Offer from Larry Davis, PhD

Larry Davis, of Glen Ellen, will be facilitating a group learning opportunity this fall to introduce California’s General Plan Guidelines and local land use planning policies and processes. This course will prepare participants to contribute to future land use planning discussions with the state and county to help determine the future of Eldridge and Glen Ellen. The group will meet weekly for four weeks, two hours per week at Mayflower Hall (exact dates TBD). The cost of the sessions is $60 to cover reading materials and meeting space. If you have questions about the course or would like to participate, contact Larry Davis at: davislhd70@gmail.com.

Save the Date for the following upcoming Glen Ellen Forum Events:

Monday September 9, 7:00 PM – September Monthly meeting, Location TBD (note that the date will be the second Monday of the month due to the Labor Day Holiday).

Commerce and Tourism Committee upcoming meetings - All are welcome
Tuesday, August 27, 5:30 PM at Quarry Hill Botanical Garden
Tuesday, September 24, 5:30 PM location TBD

Sunday, September 29 - Upcoming Family Picnic Day at Morton’s Warm Springs

We certainly appreciate your donations. You can make a donation to the Glen Ellen Forum using this link: Donate.