Facts about the DOWNTOWN HOUSING & ECONOMIC OPPORTUNITY OVERLAY
This is the first of a series of essays I am writing about what is happening in our town. I am starting with the overlay, because I think that is the most pressing issue. It is a long essay, but I wanted to be thorough in bringing up most of the issues.
I ran the Riverfront Art Gallery in downtown Petaluma for 15 years. I spent hundreds of evenings over many years, talking to out-of-town visitors on Friday and Saturday nights, before or after they dined in one of our fine restaurants. People came from all over the North Bay, Oakland and San Francisco to spend an evening in our town. I eventually started to realize that we have the most vibrant downtown between San Francisco and Portland. There are indeed problems that need to be addressed in our historic downtown, such as: high rents, long waits for permits (and high permit fees), lack of parking, lack of small retail spaces to rent, etc. Ruining our historic downtown with this out-of-scale, out-of-place, and bland hotel is not worth even the rosiest economic projections that the city can pull out of their hat.
Summary of the Overlay Proposal
This is a proposal to re-zone specific areas of our historic downtown to make the following changes (among other changes):
– change the maximum allowable height of buildings in certain parts of our Historic Commercial District from 4 stories or 45 feet to 6 stories or 75 feet
– increase lot coverage from 80% to 100%
– allow ground floor residential uses
Why is the city doing this (according to them)?
The city says that this overlay is something that the city has been interested in to add housing to our downtown, and to economically stimulate our “blighted” commercial district (it’s right there in the name). Lucky for us, the EKN Development Group of Newport Beach has agreed to fund the planning to create this overlay, and since the EKN people are paying the M Group people to do all the planning work, none of this is costing city taxpayers a dime.
According to the city, the hotel and overlay will result in more economic activity (making the chain link fences disappear), and increase housing in our downtown.
What you need to know.
The proposed hotel violates the design guidelines of our historic downtown that were established in 1999. Instead of saying “sorry, this will ruin the character of our town, bye”, the M Group came up with the idea of creating an overlay that will allow this non-conforming hotel to be built. They first tried to make the overlay apply to the entire downtown (including Kentucky Street). But when they saw massive opposition to that, they broke the overlay up to cover only certain parts of downtown and named those zones A, B, and C. By the way, they are not going to approve just one zone. They state that clearly in section 6.7.3 – “Overlay in Area A Only” in the DEIR (Zone A is where the hotel would be). If they only rezoned the one area for the hotel, the city may be vulnerable to a spot zoning lawsuit hence the ruse of choosing three areas and renaming it the “DOWNTOWN blah, blah, overlay”.
Before EKN proposed a 6-story hotel with 100% lot coverage (so many coincidences with the proposed overlay), there were no plans for housing in our downtown. California cities are required to create housing plans in 8-year cycles to meet their RHNA (Regional Housing Needs Assessment) numbers. Our 2023-2031 Housing Element plan was adopted by the city on March 20, 2023. The amount of housing proposed for the downtown core in that plan is zero units, so it sounds like housing is not one of the reasons this overlay is being proposed. Call me cynical if you will.
Let’s look at all that economic opportunity. The proponents of this hotel say that it will generate up to $700,000 per year in sales tax, property tax, and occupancy tax revenues annually. This number is suspect. When our hotels aren’t full, an overnight stay at the EKN hotel likely results in one less overnight stay at the Hotel Petaluma or the Metro Hotel, I doubt that this is accounted for. In any case, the city’s annual budget is around $288 million dollars. A revenue increase of $700,000 represents ¼ of 1 per cent of our budget. The added funds received from Measure U amounts to around $16 million dollars per year, which is over 20 times more than the highest estimated revenues that would come from this hotel.
But wait, there’s more…
If our downtown core is zoned for housing units with these overlays, and the location of those units are within a ½ mile of a major transit station (where most of the zones are located), developers can build even taller buildings with “density bonuses”. In that case, the 75 foot height limit could become a 108 foot height limit (or 9-stories). They would also not be required to include a single parking space. They may even build housing in these overlay zones under certain conditions “by right” (even if the city objects).
By the way, a planning commissioner asked the M Group representative in a planning meeting last year if they accounted for state-mandated density bonuses in their general plan (they didn’t). Mike Healy wrote a well-reasoned op-ed about this possibility in the Argus-Courier this week (it would have been nice if he had brought up these issues during official meetings, but it is nice to see that he has joined me in opposing this overlay), you can find his editorial here https://www.petaluma360.com/article/opinion/downtown-petaluma-overlay-zone-hotel-problem/
This hotel will provide parking for up to 58 vehicles (all valet parking), yet the parking needs for this hotel exceeds 200 vehicles. There are 93 guest rooms, a restaurant that seats 150, and an exterior event space for 60. This hotel would also remove 3 current parking spaces on the street.
Areas located within the overlay zones will become part of a parking assessment district and Section 11.035 of the IZO (Implementing Zoning Ordinance) specifies that sites and structures within the Parking Assessment District are exempt from the requirement to provide off- street parking facilities. Yet if you go to the city’s website and look at “How will parking be addressed?” It says, “The parking and loading standards contained in IZO Chapter 11 would not be modified by the Overlay and would continue to apply to all uses and buildings as under existing conditions.” It looks like a contradiction to me.
The Draft EIR assumes that the overlay has been approved, that is why the DEIR says there are no problems with this hotel. It is only compliant if we approve the overlay. It also states that several other locations were suggested for the hotel, but…
“There are no significant and unavoidable impacts associated with the proposed project. Accordingly, none of the sites suggested as alternatives would avoid or substantially lessen a significant and unavoidable impact.”
Here are the next steps regarding the DEIR for the overlay.
You can learn more about the Draft EIR and its findings at two upcoming meetings, more info here: https://cityofpetaluma.org/community-update-for-august-23-2024/
Tues., Sept. 24, 6pm (in-person only)
Joint Planning Commission + Historic & Cultural Preservation Committee Meeting
City Hall (11 English Street)
Mon., Oct. 7, 6:30pm (in-person to comment, virtually for viewing only)
City Council Meeting
City Hall (11 English Street) or via Zoom
Will the city really listen to your input?
You’ve got to be kidding right? They are having the meetings so that they can check off the box that says “Community Input”. They are not interested in your feedback. They don’t even have “Public Hearing Notice” signs posted in the Overlay Zones A, B, or C, for what would be the biggest change to our downtown in our lifetime.
If one paid close attention to the city’s Dog and Pony Show about the overlay at the Woman’s Club in July of last year, Dave Alden of Know Before You Grow, and Brian Oh from the city, were talking about WHEN this overlay was going to be approved, not IF. Dave Alden also repeatedly asked to crowd to not be so angry, and only ask a question and not make a statement (or words to that effect). So why would you make comments then?
The City Council must hold a public hearing on the Draft EIR (which could be continued if they need more time). You should make written comments that state what the problems are with this DEIR so that your comments can be included in the official record. Only information that is in the official record can be considered in a lawsuit, several of us learned that the hard way. WHEN the current city council approves the DEIR on October 7th (remember, they are not listening to you). They/staff/consultants will respond (or not) in writing to all comments received from the public, agencies, Planning Commission, Historic & Cultural Preservation Committee, and City Council members.
The written responses to comments become the Final EIR. They will need to then hold a hearing on that collected document (date to be determined) along with any proposed mitigation measures or other Conditions of Approval, or Statement of Overriding Considerations. After voting to approve (“certify”) that FEIR Resolution the citizens have 30 days to file a lawsuit in Sonoma County Superior Court. If a judge rules that the FEIR is deficient, it has to be re-written and brought back before the city council again (hopefully with different members by then). The council then has an option to reject any new FEIR.
In Conclusion
If I am elected as the Council Member from District 6 (where this overlay scheme is located), I will do everything in my power to protect our Historic Commercial District (registered in 1995), and preserve our historic design guidelines. I have no objection to a hotel at this location, but it must be compatible with our historic district.
Your vote matters!
Lance
An Endorsement from a District 6 Voter
“Lance shows the values that make Petaluma unique among other other cities In Sonoma. He values the environment, the humanity of the city, the beauty and the heritage.”
To help spread the message of this campaign, consider getting a yard sign and/or making a donation. I am running against two incumbents simultaneously, and changing how our city is run isn’t easy.