Weekly Updates
Welcome to our new Weekly Updates page with information about land-use and urban planning activities underway or upcoming in Petaluma!
You can receive these updates via email by subscribing to Petaluma Urban Chat here.
If you like to share these updates with a friend, simply point them to this page at urbanchat.org/weekly-updates.
April 7, 2025
Calendar notes for the week of April 7, 2025.
Monday, April 7 (today!) - Petaluma City Council – The second reading of the revised Downtown Overlay ordinance has been pushed back to April 21. Instead, in addition to other items, the agenda includes potential action on two affordable housing projects, Meridian at Corona and Rovina Lane.
Wednesday, April 9 (this week) – Know Before You Grow – The intended developer and operator of the proposed Appellation Hotel will talk to Know Before You Grow about the upcoming site plan and architectural review (SPAR) by the Planning Commission in late April or early May.
Given the ongoing community debate about the Overlay and the hotel, this KBYG forum will likely be well-attended. So we ask for three favors, (1) attend in person so you can gather the full flavor of the issues, (2) arrive early so the forum can begin on time and cover maximum ground, and (3) understand that the evening is about education more than advocacy, learning all you can about the factors that affect the design so your public comment to the Planning Commission can be impactful through its thorough understanding of the project.
Continue reading the weekly update here.
March 31, 2025
Calendar notes for the week of March 31, 2025.
Monday, April 7 - Petaluma City Council – With the Downtown Overlay ordinance having been revised at the March 17 Council meeting, a second reading of the revised ordinance is again required. In addition to other items on the tentative agenda, the Council will conduct the second reading of the revised ordinance.
Wednesday, April 9 – Know Before You Grow – In the expectation that the Downtown Overlay will be approved by the City Council two evenings earlier, the proposed hotel developer and operator will talk to Know Before You Grow about the next step, the anticipated April 22 Planning Commission hearing on the site plan and architecture.
Thursday, April 17 - Petaluma General Plan Advisory Committee – The GPAC is scheduled to resume meeting. As the meeting that had been scheduled for February was cancelled, followed by a similar cancellation in March, it’s possible the principal April topic will be the intended topic from February, the proposed organization of the updated General Plan. But this is only speculation. (For those willing to do homework, the General Plan of South San Francisco has been identified as a model for our General Plan.)
Continue reading the weekly update here.
March 24, 2025
Calendar notes for the week of March 24, 2025.
Thursday, March 27 – Petaluma Urban Chat - The monthly lunch meeting of Urban Chat is almost always agenda-free, allowing an enjoyable and enlightening conversation to wander freely over the urbanist landscape.
Monday, April 7 - Petaluma City Council – With the Downtown Overlay ordinance having been revised at the March 17 Council meeting, a second reading of the revised ordinance is again required. In addition to other items on the tentative agenda, the Council will conduct the second reading of the revised ordinance.
Wednesday, April 9 – Know Before You Grow – In the expectation that the Downtown Overlay will be approved by the City Council two evenings earlier, the proposed hotel developer and operator will talk to Know Before You Grow about the next step, the anticipated April 22 Planning Commission hearing on the site plan and architecture.
Continue reading the weekly update here.
March 17, 2025
Calendar notes for the week of March 17, 2025.
Monday, March 17 (tonight!) - Petaluma City Council - In addition to other items on the tentative agenda, the Council will conduct a second reading of the ordinance for the Downtown Overlay.
Wednesday, March 19 (this week) – Petaluma Urban Chat – The next Urban Chat board meeting will be conducted on March 19. This will be a special meeting of the board to discuss funding possibilities for 2025.
Thursday, March 27 – Petaluma Urban Chat - The monthly lunch meeting of Urban Chat is almost always agenda-free, allowing an enjoyable and enlightening conversation to wander freely over the urbanist landscape.
Continue reading the weekly update here.
March 10, 2025
Calendar notes for the week of March 10, 2025.
Wednesday, March 12 (this week) – Know Before You Grow – Know Before You Grow 2025 will continue with a presentation about car-free living. Anders Engnell, who has studied car-free projects in Europe and served as a member of the development team for the car-free Culdesac Tempe, will talk about his experiences, lessons learned, and thoughts for the future.
Monday, March 17 - Petaluma City Council - In addition to other items on the tentative agenda, the Council is expected to consider a resolution for the annual Housing Element update and to consider the second reading of the ordinance for the Downtown Overlay.
Continue reading the weekly update here.
March 3, 2025
Calendar notes for the week of March 3, 2025.
Monday, March 3 (tonight!) - Petaluma City Council - In addition to other agenda items, the Council will conduct a hearing on a Budget Ordinance to adjust appropriations within the current fiscal year and hold a workshop on the draft Land-Use Designations for the General Plan update.
The meeting will be convened at 5:00pm. Further details, including a link to the agenda and the Zoom link, are on the Urban Chat calendar (link above).
Friday, March 7 (this week) – Build It Green/IncDev – Build It Green with the assistance of Alli Thurmond Quinlan of the Incremental Development Alliance (IncDev) will conduct a day-long session on how to be an incremental developer. Four Petalumans attended a recent introduction to incremental development by the same team. They found the content exciting and worthy of further discussion. Several are planning on attending the full-day session. Let me know if you're thinking about the event. Carpools are encouraged.
Continue reading the weekly update here.
February 24, 2025
Calendar notes for the week of February 24, 2025.
Monday, February 24 (tonight!) - Petaluma City Council - Among other agenda items, the Council will conduct the first hearing on the Final Environmental Impact Report and draft Ordinance for the proposed Downtown Overlay.
The meeting will be convened at 5:00pm. Further details, including the agenda and Zoom link, are on the Urban Chat calendar (link above).
Wednesday, February 26 (this week) – Petaluma Urban Chat – With the Film Festival complete but many more Urban Chat events on the horizon, the board will have another monthly board meeting. There will be discussions about all Urban Chat’s planned 2025 activities.
The meeting will be convened at 5:30pm. The agenda and location will be on the Urban Chat calendar (link above) as the date nears.
Continue reading the weekly update here.
February 17, 2025
Calendar notes for the week of February 17, 2025.
Monday, February 17 (tonight!) – KRCB - As multiple readers alerted me (thank you!) and nicely aligned with the recent Film Festival, KRCB is playing “Walkable USA” this evening, depicting work toward returning walkability to the faltering town of Hammond, Indiana.
Thursday, February 20 (this week) - Metropolitan Transportation Commission and local transit agencies - Thursday morning, MTC and coordinating transit agencies will roll out a proposed regional approach to transit maps and signs. The roll-out will begin with a Santa Rosa press conference. Everyone is invited.
Continue reading the weekly update here.
February 10, 2025
Calendar notes for the week of February 10, 2025.
Better Cities Film Festival – After months of anticipation, the second Better Cities Film Festival is here. Wednesday evening at 6:00, we’ll begin assembling in the lobby of the Boulevard Cinemas for conversation (and refreshments from the snack bar). At 6:45, we’ll move into two theatres for comments from Mayor McDonnell and Councilmember Barnacle. At 7:00, 90 minutes of inspirational films about the best current urban planning will begin.
Afterwards, everyone is encouraged to move onward to Hanks for pizza (courtesy of the Urban Chat sponsors), a no-host bar, and conversations about what we’ve seen, what we’ve learned, and what ideas we now have for our community.
Tickets are going quickly but some remain available as of this writing. More Film Festival information, including a link to buy tickets, is here. And the full selection of films is here.
Don’t miss this evening of community building.
Continue reading the weekly update here.
February 3, 2025
Calendar notes for the week of February 3, 2025.
Beyond parking reform, Urban Chat has multiple points of focus in the coming weeks. It’s a busy time! Here’s the overview.
Film Festival Tickets – Film Festival tickets are moving well but we still have tickets to sell. And we want all the seats filled for the maximum conversations at the free pizzas afterwards. Film Festival tickets are on sale here. And the full selection of films is on the Urban Chat website here.
IncDev - The Incremental Development Alliance (IncDev) introduction to incremental development will be this coming Thursday, February 6 in Oakland. For those new to the phrase, incremental development is the gradual small additions of new land uses, frequently housing.
Continue reading the weekly update here.
January 27, 2025
Calendar notes for the week of January 27, 2025.
Annual Meeting - As previously announced, the annual meeting of Urban Chat will be this Wednesday, January 29, at 5:30pm in the conference room of the McNear Building. Seating is limited so arrive early or plan on standing.
Film Festival Tickets – For those who aren't among the first twenty arrivals or, if this is possible, have a better place to spend Wednesday evening, Film Festival tickets are now on sale here. And the full selection of films is on the Urban Chat website here.
Continue reading the weekly update here.
January 20, 2025
Calendar notes for the week of January 20, 2025.
Plans for 2025! – You already know about Know Before You Grow, the upcoming Film Festival, and our email efforts. Here’s what you don’t yet know.
The upcoming Film Festival was planned for late last year but was pushed by venue issues to this year. But that leaves us feeling one short for an “annual event”. So, we’re tentatively looking at a third annual Film Festival in the fall.
We’ve begun a conversation with the Urban Land Institute about hosting an urban planning session for public officials and community members. The session would be an offshoot of the well-known ULI UrbanPlan effort that has been used in high school and college classrooms for a quarter of a century. Teams would need to create an urban redevelopment plan that is both financially feasible and preferred by a mock city council.
Continue reading the weekly update here.
January 13, 2025
Calendar notes for the week of January 13, 2025.
The holidays are truly behind us, I have only one more load of Christmas decorations to carry to the attic and the Urban Chat calendar is quickly filling.
KBYG on Parking Reform – To be effective advocates at the Council downtown parking workshop a few days later, the first KBYG forum of 2025 will tackle parking reform, what it means and why it matters. We’ll start with a reminder about the upcoming Better Cities Film Festival, then have a conversation about parking reform, likely including videos, and conclude with a discussion about how to effectively advocate for parking reform as a group.
More details are below and on the Urban Chat calendar. Also, look for the forum reminder emails. If you’re not on the KBYG email list, you should be. Go here to fix that.
Continue reading the weekly update here.
January 6, 2025
Calendar notes for the week of January 6, 2025.
Welcome to 2025! Petaluma Urban Chat is planning a year of action as the City of Petaluma looks forward to a year of important decisions. Please be part of both.
On that topic, last week was a great week for welcoming new and returning members to Urban Chat. The membership door will remain wide open as we begin the New Year. Help us make a difference.
Wednesday, January 8 (this week) – Petaluma Urban Chat Still making up for the holidays, Urban Chat will have a December/January board meeting on January 8 to finalize plans for the January 29 annual meeting. There will also be a general discussion of all Urban Chat’s planned 2025 activities.
Continue reading the weekly update here.
December 30, 2024
Calendar notes for the week of December 30, 2024.
We’ve reached the final calendar email of 2024. The entire Urban Chat team appreciates your readership over the past year. We also appreciate those who have offered thanks for how these emails make the public land-use process a little less daunting. Our door is always open to ideas about how we can do even better.
There are zero additions to the calendar this week, not surprising for the heart of the holiday season. In keeping with the short week, this update will also be short, with only a single story from me.
Continue reading the weekly update here.
December 23, 2024
Calendar notes for the week of December 23, 2024.
Greetings and Thoughts – An Apology, Urban Renewals, Urban Travels, and Holiday Wishes
We’re now truly into the holiday break. The next meeting on the Urban Chat calendar is the January 6 new Councilmember reception before the first meeting of the new City Council.
Urban Renewals: Urban planning, particularly the creation of walkable places, is a continually evolving field. To keep up, I maintain membership in several cutting edge urbanist advocacy nonprofits and read much of their material every week. An end-of-the-year task for me is renewing my memberships. I feel good about supporting the advocacy and research work that informs much of what Urban Chat does.
The memberships that might work for you is up to your interests and budget but here is my list:
Congress for the New Urbanism: Among the original organizations to push the idea of walkable and lovable places as an antidote to sprawl, CNU continues to break new ground with their regular webinars and their heavily attended annual Congress. (I'm the incoming treasurer for the California chapter of CNU.)
StrongTowns: Originally founded around the concept of financial resiliency, StrongTowns has expanded into traffic safety, housing policy, and much more. While CNU is often considered the grey-haired conveyors of learned wisdom for the urbanist movement, StrongTowns is the young guard, eager to pound on the lectern insisting on change. Plus, they’re successful at creating local affiliates, with 252 as of…
Continue reading the weekly update here.
December 16, 2024
Calendar notes for the week of December 16, 2024.
New SMART Station, Film Festival Team, and Connecting the Dots Around Parking
The pre-holiday calendar remains ever lighter. But the growing list of 2025 community activities draws closer.
New SMART Station: The public has been invited to the January 10 grand opening of the Petaluma North SMART station. This station, which was previously dropped from the initial construction schedule when the SMART finances became constrained, will be a welcome addition to the Petaluma and North Bay transit options. More information on the grand opening is below, under Upcoming Events, and on the Urban Chat calendar.
In case of any lingering confusion, the Petaluma North station, which will be at the intersection of North McDowell Boulevard and Corona Road, is the same station previously known as Corona. When the renaming occurred, some of us were irritated. We had a long history of advocating for the Corona station to move toward construction and not to be relocated as proposed by the owner of an alternative site. We weren't eager to surrender a name around which we’d rallied…
Continue reading the weekly update here.
December 9, 2024
Calendar notes for the week of December 9, 2024.
Urban Chat Board Meeting, KBYG Team, and Defending the Missing Middle
The pre-holiday calendar remains light. Even the Pedestrian Bicycle Committee is playing three-card monte with a meeting that was originally scheduled for December 4, then moved to December 11, and now moved to December 17 without the topic of the meeting having yet been announced.
The only City meeting of urbanist interest this week seems to be the Climate Commission. Further information on that meeting is further down in this email.
Urban Chat Board Meeting: However, Urban Chat will have their board meeting this week. And the meeting will, as always, be open to all interested parties. With the annual meeting coming in January, the Film Festival in February, and more plans for later in 2025, the board meeting might be a great place to begin your active involvement in Urban Chat. More information is further below…
Continue reading the weekly update here.
December 2, 2024
Calendar notes for the week of December 2, 2024.
The Urban Chat Team, Public Bathrooms, and Lunch?
As the holidays get underway, the Urban Chat calendar of public events remains thin. But I can replace the missing event news with updates about the breadth of Urban Chat interests.
The Urban Chat Team: With only the occasional exception, my name is at the bottom of each of these messages. But Urban Chat is many more folks, perhaps including some who might surprise you. Each week through the end of the year, starting immediately below, I’ll introduce someone who fills a key Urban Chat role with little notice.
Public Restrooms: Vibrant public places, such as downtowns and parks, require public restrooms, especially if climate-aware visitors are leaving cars at home and arriving on foot, by bike, or in a bus. But many cities, especially in the U.S., are poor at meeting this need…
Continue reading the weekly update here.
November 25, 2024
Calendar notes for the week of November 25, 2024.
Holiday Wishes, Film Festival Update, and Lunch?
It’s a short week with a short calendar of approaching events, so I’ll complete the trifecta with a short Greetings & Thoughts.
Holiday Wishes: Best wishes for whatever Thanksgiving plans you may have. As a descendent of multiple Mayflower Pilgrims, starting with the John Alden fixed in national memory by Longfellow, Thanksgiving should be my favorite holiday. I’m not sure it is, although I’m pleased to be sharing this Thanksgiving with all my Alden cousins. May you be equally surrounded by family on your Thanksgiving.
Continue reading the weekly update here.