NORTH BAY DESTINATIONS | ROHNERT PARK
[no relation to the councilmember]; and City Engineer Vanessa Garrett, our director of public works. [They] help us achieve our goals on time in ways that are responsive to the community,” says Hollingsworth Adams. Solutions to minimize delays One of the other reasons Rohnert Park is seeing high amounts of residential development is it has gradually reduced application- and permit-processing times. For example, the city has seen an uptick in construction of Accessory Dwelling Units (ADUs) since 2017. Prior to that year, less than 10 applicants submitted plans for ADUs. For the past four years, the total number has been close to 60. Property owners are building ADUs all over the city. “Based on this interest, we’ve combined the two steps of the permitting process: the planning review, which involves the city looking over factors like setback, height and water capacit; and the Building Department’s pulling of permits,” says Alicia Giudice. Before the shift in late October, the first step took three to four weeks. The second step took about three weeks. Combining the steps has reduced the total processing time to three weeks, on average. “The city has been working with the Napa Sonoma ADU Center, a local nonprofit that helps property owners plan to build ADUs. This year they will be assisting us with developing a program to offer property owners in Rohnert Park pre-approved plans for ADUs and raising awareness about the advantages of ADUs,” says Giudice. Rohnert Park’s standard procedures also include closely monitoring population growth, employment data and worker commute times. These actions allow the city to encourage development that keeps pace with workers’ needs. The U.S. Census Bureau’s current
New builds such as homes in the University District reflect the rising cost of real estate.
$1.2 million,” says Giudice. Going forward, Rohnert Park will work with a third party to conduct a survey to rate the city’s development procedures. “We want to hear developers’ and residents’ ideas for making our application and permitting processes more user-friendly. Then we can figure out what more to change,” says Giudice.
Keeping the city green Rohnert Park has prevented sprawl by maintaining its urban growth
population estimate for Rohnert Park is 44,546, as of July 2023. In 2010, the population was 40,971, a number that reflected the problematic housing market. The city’s population had been 42,236 in 2000. Since academic year 2019-2020, the Cotati-Rohnert Park Unified School District has seen increased enrollment of between 1% and 4% every year. The 2024-2025 enrollment is 6,365, a 3% jump from last year. Data show Rohnert Park is home to adults who work in a wide range of fields. “The top four are management, office and administrative support, construction and maintenance, sales and related occupations and health care. When it comes to processing permits, we bring in consultants when needed to minimize the chance of slowdowns,” says Giudice. The price of housing has increased in the last four years. “The higher price points are in the newer developments, such as the University District or Willow Glen. However, it’s difficult to say which areas are considered more expensive. For example, in 2024, we saw homes in the D Section, an older neighborhood, sell between $750,000 up to
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