Page 30 - Healdsburg, CA Citywide Design Guidelines

R/UDAT
The Regional/Urban Design Assistance Team (R/UDAT)
Program, run by the American Institute of Architects (AIA)
helps communities analyze their current status and design and
plan for their community moving forward. In 1982, a R/UDAT
team completed a growth management-focused analysis for
Healdsburg and provided recommendations for the growth that
would come to the city.

This R/UDAT report identified three ways that growth could occur
in Healdsburg:
1. Emphasize Healdsburg as a bedroom community.
2. Emphasize high, tech clean-industry, Silicon-Valley-type
spinoffs.
3. Emphasize the “destination tourist” industry.

The areas of potential growth for Healdsburg are not mutually
exclusive, and the R/UDAT report also presented important
considerations for each of the types of growth, including the
need to fund and build new services for an expanded permanent
population. With the considerations in mind, the R/UDAT report
recommended that the emphasis be placed on tourism/service,
since tourists do not require expanded school systems and do
not make as many demands on the recreation, water and sewer
systems. Tourists also bring attention to Healdsburg’s charm
and small-town feel, that focuses on the wine industry, rather
than large-scale manufacturing, like other growth options would
promote. To further the tourist industries, the report suggests
that the City encourage commercial development in and around
the Plaza that focuses on the wine country industry. In addition to
fostering the wine-focused tourism industry, the R/UDAT report
also mentions tourist attractions that should be given attention to
support the tourism industry including:
- Russian River recreational activities
- Lake Sonoma (Warm Springs Dam)
- Alexander and Dry Creek vineyards
- Historical homes
- Plaza (as a town focal point)

Promoting a prolonged tourist experience in Healdsburg stands
as the R/UDAT key recommendation for future growth. A tour of
Valley wineries would encourage more visitors to come to the
northern end of Sonoma County, making Healdsburg a logical
destination for an overnight stay, bringing more economic
benefits of tourism to Healdsburg.

22 Healdsburg Citywide Design Guidelines