Nearly seven decades after passenger train service to Geyserville came to an end, board members for Sonoma-Marin Area Rail Transit on Wednesday unanimously approved adding a station stop at the rustic wine country outpost eight miles north of Healdsburg.

The passenger boarding platform in Geyserville is to be located near the intersection of Highway 128 and Remmel Road, as part of the agency’s eventual rail extension to Cloverdale, the planned northern terminus 10 miles north of Geyserville.

The board members cast their “aye” votes after a presentation by SMART planning manager Zoe Unruh, who emphasized that the station would increase access for Geyserville’s 861 residents, and those in surrounding areas, to education, jobs, affordable housing and healthcare.

That station would “increase business reach to a broader customer base as well as a larger employee pool,” she said.

Of the 1,067 jobs within the Geyserville census-designated-place boundary, Unruh added, around 1,030 are held by people outside the area. Forty percent of those workers live in communities along the SMART corridor.

In a statement released after the vote, SMART clarified that, with the board’s approval, it can now advance the Geyserville Station Project “through the next stages of regional planning, project development and funding. The board’s action does not authorize construction. Funding and additional implementation steps will be required before construction can begin.”

SMART’s decision to add the station follows a period of intensive public engagement, during which the agency sought feedback.

That outreach met with strong public support, as was seen most recently at a SMART-organized forum in town that drew at over 140 people, most of whom raised their hands when asked if they supported the proposed stop.

SMART also conducted a public survey between July 1 and Aug. 16, which drew 797 responses, Unruh said. Asked if they favored a SMART station, 90% of those respondents answered “Yes.”

That tracked with what business owners and residents in the Alexander Valley enclave told The Press Democrat in July. Many agreed that a passenger train allowing commuters and visitors easy access to downtown, without adding car traffic, would provide a boost to the local economy, at a time when local wine and hospitality industries are facing stiff headwinds.

Twelve percent of respondents disagreed with the location of the station, at Highway 128 and Remmel Road. A fifth of those who opposed to that location shared that, in their view, Cloverdale “should instead be prioritized,” said Unruh.

Before Wednesday’s vote, Chris Coursey, the Sonoma County supervisor who chairs the SMART board, asked Eddy Cumins, the agency’s general manager, to address criticism that building a station in Geyserville first would add to the time it takes for service to eventually reach Cloverdale.

Putting a station in Geyserville “actually helps Cloverdale very much,” said Cumins, who explained that “anytime you try to get a grant for an 18-mile segment, that’s a heavy lift, a really tall order.”

Building the intermediate station “allows us to segment this project, which means we can get from Healdsburg to Geyserville, and then we can go seek the funding to complete the project to get to Cloverdale.”

Adding Geyserville, he said, “is a huge help to Cloverdale, and a big part of our strategy to complete the project.”

Victoria Fleming, a SMART director and Santa Rosa City Council member, said in the statement from the agency that “connecting Geyserville to SMART will give students access to educational opportunities at the Santa Rosa Junior College and the freedom to be part of the region and businesses access to a wider pool of workers.”

After beginning service in 2017, SMART now serves 14 stops along a 48-mile corridor between Larkspur and Windsor. Service to Healdsburg could start in late 2028. When completed, the planned line will stretch north all the way to Cloverdale.

The decision to add a Geyserville Station follows SMART’s resounding win at the ballot box in June, when 74.5% of Marin and Sonoma County voters approved a measure to extend the quarter-cent sales tax which covers about half of the system’s operating expenses.

The agency has proved adept leveraging that stream of tax revenue — $657.8 million since its inception — to win $735 million in regional, state and federal grants, including the $269 million it is costing to get the train from Windsor to Healdsburg.

Cumins has cited studies showing that some 75% of that money “stays in Sonoma and Marin.”

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