Amie Windsor, PRESS DEMOCRAT
Cotati’s Santero Way is a winding, tree-lined road that starts at East Cotati Avenue and dead ends in less than a quarter-mile at a self-storage business.
Other than dozens of townhomes in the middle and a car wash at one end, the main defining feature is the train stop for Sonoma Marin Area Rail Transit.
But change for the quiet street is coming as Cotati leaders have tapped Santero Way and the surrounding area for future ambitious development.
The vision — with at least one major project on the drawing board for the area and possibly other smaller ones joining it — could add up to one of Cotati’s most significant pending developments, giving the city of 7,500 people the type of trackside residential and commercial district that much larger North Bay cities have struggled to establish.
“You are leading Sonoma County on this issue,” said Omar Lopez, policy coordinator with Generation Housing, a North Bay housing advocacy nonprofit, adding that the vision was “strongly encouraging” for residents looking for local affordable housing options.