Background and History of the
Lafferty Ranch Issue

Context

• Chronology of the entire Lafferty Ranch controversy. More twists and turns than a kitten caught in a ball of yarn. Be indignant. Be inspired. Be involved in the final chapters of this Tolstoyan epic.

• Context maps show the geographic location of Lafferty Ranch.

• Context photos by Scott Hess, showing Lafferty Ranch in relationship to the rest of Sonoma Mountain and to the city of Petaluma, California.

• Historical maps of Lafferty Ranch area of Sonoma Mountain, made in 1877 and 1898. See also the closeups of these maps, with analysis of the ramifications for the current access dispute.

• Photos of the "disputed strip" of land at the Lafferty gate, with analysis by Bruce Hagen

Documents

Listed below, in reverse chronological order, are some of the seminal documents of the 30-year efforts to open Lafferty Park, dating from the early 1990s. They provide some of the background for the current situation.

2004

• Resolution 2004-074, adopted by the Petaluma City Council on May 3, 2004, encouraging state and local agencies to work together to create a park and trail system on Sonoma Mountain, to include Lafferty and a trail across the Mitsui property. The council passed this on May 3, then rescinded it on June 21, 2004. See also Bill Kortum's letters to the newspapers on this topic

• Correspondence between Friends of Lafferty Ranch and Sonoma County regarding lower-cost solutions for increasing safety on Sonoma Mountain Road based on Joern Kroll's analysis

• Newspaper columns regarding another proposed land acquisition for a south county park at Tolay (Cardoza) ranch (most recent first)

• Recently discovered 1995 letter from eight ranching neighbors of Moon Ranch opposing a park at Moon and supporting a park at Lafferty Ranch

2003

• Input to the county's Outdoor Recreation Plan EIR by Citizens for Lafferty Ranch and a Regional Park (CLRRP) a sibling group to Friends of Lafferty Park, September 2003

• Analysis of safety issues on Sonoma Mountain Road with a proposal for lower-cost, traffic-calming solutions by Joern Kroll, PhD (also available as Adobe Acrobat PDF format)

• Lafferty family photo album featuring images believed to be taken on Lafferty Ranch in the late 1800s. This album was prepared by Christine Hill, a direct descendent of Marshall Lafferty

2002

• Consolidation of public position statements on Lafferty Park by candidates for public office in Petaluma, Fall 2002


• FLP commentary and public letters on the Lafferty legislation attempt, Summer 2002

• FLP's op-ed With Lafferty and justice for all by Larry Modell and Bruce Hagen, published in the Press Democrat on June 5, on the Supervisors' rejection of Petaluma's application for Open Space District help in opening Lafferty Park

• Press Democrat coverage and Argus-Courier articles, editorials and columns regarding the Supervisor's decision on May 28, 2002 to deny Open Space District funding for Lafferty Park, as well as a terrific cartoon by Rich Benbrook in the A-C. Also selected letters to the editor and this excellent commentary by Scott Hess in the North Bay Progressive

• Open Space District staff report recommending rejection of Petaluma's application to sell Lafferty's development rights to raise funds to open the park

• Threatening letter by Stephen Butler and Les Perry, attorneys to Peter Pfendler, to the Directors of the Open Space District on the eve of its first consideration of Petaluma's application for OSD funding, dated May 14, 2002. Also see FLP's response to the Butler/Perry letter of 5/13/2002, written by Matt Maguire and Bruce Hagen and sent to the OSD Directors and senior staff in the wee hours of 5/14/2002, and Bruce's lampooning of the Butler Perry letter

• Editorial in the April 17, 2002 Petaluma Argus-Courier supporting Open Space District's purchase of Lafferty's development rights

• Summary of arguments for Open Space District purchase of development rights for the Lafferty Park property, by Friends of Lafferty Park
• FLP press release announcing support by five city councils for the Lafferty Park and OSD application, April 26, 2002

• Closeups of historical maps of the Lafferty property, with analysis of the ramifications for the current dispute over access to the property from Sonoma Mountain Road

• Letter from CHP to County of 03/27/02 stating their policy with respect to FLP's monthly marches

• Email correspondence between Larry Modell for FLP and Sonoma County officials and functionaries on the topic of special event permits for our monthly walks

• Letter from FLP to Sheriff Jim Piccinini regarding his Department's response to our January and February Walk to the Park events

• Letter from FLP to Sonoma County appealing the conditional approval of the permit for our February 24, 2002 "Walk to the Park" on First Amendment grounds

• Threatening letters on "needed" improvements to Sonoma Mountain Road sent by the County Board of Supervisors to the Petaluma City Council on the eve of EIR certification meetings in March and October, 2001. These letters had the intended effect of discouraging Petaluma from proceeding with the park project at that time. See also FLP's rebuttal to the Sonoma Mountain Conservancy's claims of the high level of danger of Sonoma Mountain Road


• Nasty letter by Stephen Butler, attorney for the Peter Pfendler and Sonoma Mountain Conservancy, expressing the concerns of another Lafferty neighbor to the "Walk to the Park" event of January 13, 2002
  Here is the response to Butler from the Petaluma City Attorney, stating among other things that Petaluma does not concede the issue of private ownership of the "disputed triangle" in front of the Lafferty Park gate


• Sonoma County code governing special event permits
  
  
• Petaluma City code governing special event permits Contrast Petaluma's "First Amendment-friendly" code with the county's, above!

2001

• Road safety and liability: signage comparison Analysis with photos showing the county's inconsistency with regard to their expressed concerns about additional traffic on Sonoma Mountain Road

• Press "backgrounder" by Bruce Hagen, summarizing events through 2001

• Press release for the "A Walk to the Park" event on January 13, 2002

• Lafferty song lyrics! Mountaintop Cathedral words and music by Rick Pearse; and This Land is Your (Lafferty) Land, new lyrics by Hank Zucker

• Les Perry, attorney for the SMC, saying the possibility bringing suit against Petaluma if it approves the Lafferty Park project has "never been discussed by the Sonoma Mountain Conservancy" , in response to a question from Councilmember Matt Maguire. Audio clip from 1016/01 EIR meeting

• Excepts from Lafferty EIR dealing with consistency with the county General Plan

• Letter from Friends of Lafferty Park to the Petaluma City Council following its approval of the Lafferty Park EIR on October 16, 2001

• Remarks by David Keller to Petaluma City Council on March 26, 2001 ("Top 10 Ways to Kill Lafferty Park")

• Op-Ed by Bruce Hagen and Larry Modell of Friends of Lafferty Park published March 26, 2001 in the Press Democrat

• Sonoma County Grand Jury report, published in early 2001, finding the Lafferty EIR process to that point had been fully open and well publicized. This file, on the Superior Court's website, is in Adobe PDF format. If you need the free Acrobat reader, go to www.adobe.com

• Press Democrat editorials of March 2 and October 18, 2001 in support of approving the Lafferty EIR and park project.

2000 and earlier

• Ad appearing the the Wall Street Journal around August 25, 2000 advertising Peter Pfendler's other ranch and mansion, in Tehama County, California, for sale. Asking price: $60 million.

• Letter from Andrea Mackenzie of SCAPOSD to the City of Sonoma turning down their request for funding to help build a trail on city-owned open space, May 10, 2000

• Press Democrat editorial of September 2, 1999 criticizing Sonoma County Supervisor Mike Kerns for his unwillingness to help Petaluma open Lafferty Ranch, and connect trails to it.

• Press Democrat editorial of June 23, 1999 criticizing Lafferty opponents as unneighborly and hypocritical.

• Press Democrat article of August 28, 1998 on the anti-trail restricted covenants signed by several Lafferty neighbors, and the ramifications for Sonama County's Outdoor Recreation Plan, trails over Sonoma Mountain, and Lafferty Park.

• Letter on election gains by Larry Modell to the Argus Courier and Press Democrat, November 1998.

• Press Democrat article from June 17, 1998 linking Mike Kerns, Brian Sobel, and the Sonoma Mountain Conservancy.

• Lafferty News Our most recent (June 1998) flyer.

• Open Space and Trails op-ed by Will Stapp in the Argus Courier, June 1998

• Presentation to Sonoma County Taxpayers Association on benefits and costs of developing Lafferty Ranch as a wilderness park, by Bruce Hagen, January 15, 1998

• CLRRP position statement on County interference with Lafferty process, September 1997

• Op-ed by Bruce Hagen on Lafferty status, August 1997

• Lafferty flyer of April 1997

• Lafferty Ranch Plan and EIR Framework submitted by the City's Lafferty Access Committee to the Petaluma City Council on February 26, 1997

• Ordinance 2022 passed unanimously by the City Council on July 29, 1996, following the voter fraud scandal and the collapse of the Lafferty-Moon swap. This ordinance is almost exactly the same as the "Keep Lafferty" initiative which failed to qualify for the ballot on a technicality. It commits the City to keeping Lafferty Ranch in public ownership and to opening it for public enjoyment.

• Press Democrat article describing the results of their poll on the Lafferty-Moon swap. Respondents opposed the Swap by more than 3-1, with most saying, "Lafferty is irreplaceable."

• 1996 agreement by Lafferty neighbors and opponents Peter Pfendler and Al Bettman to continue grazing on Lafferty if Pfendler acquires in the "Swap," and to try to restrict public access to the property.

• "The Whitepaper" Bruce Hagen authored this document, which was submitted to Petaluma city and Sonoma County officials in early 1996. It remains the definitive case for keeping Lafferty as a wilderness park.

• Bruce Hagen's Remarks to the Sonoma County OSD regarding the Moon easement purchase, January 1996

• Op-ed by Bruce Hagen, December 1995.

• Why Keep Lafferty? flyer. Flyers like ths were widely distributed in Petaluma througout 1995. They helped educate the public and mobilize opposition to the "swap", which would have dealt Lafferty to Peter Pfendler in exchange for Moon Ranch. This version was published in November 1995.

Miscellaneous

• Home page of the Walk to the Park events led by Friends of Lafferty Park throughout 2002.

• The Legend of Teerlaghie, a multimedia fable sent to us some years ago by an unknown cyber-Aesop. We're not sure what it has to do with anything, but we link to it in the interest of showcasing e-folklore.

Searching Newspaper Archives

The following newspapers have covered the Lafferty issue with some regularity:

• The Petaluma Argus Courier has provided the most complete coverage of the controversy. Unfortunately, the Argus Courier has no online archive prior to around June 1999, and even more recent archives are incomplete. Back issues are available at some Sonoma County Library branches, but searching and retrieval is laborious.

• The Santa Rosa Press Democrat also has extensive coverage of Lafferty and related issues. Articles, editorials and letters to the editor from late 1994 to the present are available online from the Press Democrat archives. The PD now makes its searchable archives available without charge (hurray!).
  
  Note that if the word "Lafferty" is part of your search string, you will encounter a lot of obits in the Press Democrat, as there is a mortuary in Santa Rosa with that name. One way to avoid them is to enter "Lafferty Ranch" in the entry box and click the "exact phrase" button.

• The Northern California Bohemian (formerly the Sonoma County Independent) has had provided spotty, summarized coverage of the controversy from its alternative newsweekly perspective. Back issues are now hard to find online.

• The San Francisco Chronicle & Examiner have published a few articles about Lafferty Ranch and related issues. Their archives are also free.

Of course, you can also try the general Web search engines to search for words or phrases of interest.