June 12, 2023
Greetings & Thoughts
15-minute neighborhoods, General Plan timeline update, the Appellation Petaluma downtown hotel, and more
Happy June 12th! We’re nearly halfway through the month and still waiting for our summer weather. With all the smoke impacting the upper Midwest, Northeast, and Mid-Atlantic, I’m especially grateful for the clear air in Petaluma, despite the relative gloom. Dave is still traveling, so I’m reporting out again this week on upcoming events.
We’re excited to present the June 14th Know Before You Grow forum on 15-Minute Neighborhoods! And we’re thrilled to be back in person. While we’ll miss the convenience of logging in from a comfortable chair in our offices or living rooms, we’ve missed the free exchange of ideas that face-to-face meetings bring.
The event starts at 7pm at the Cavanagh Center at 8th and G Street (near McNear Park and Community Garden). If you’re unable to walk or bike to the meeting, there is ample street parking around the perimeter of the park. The City’s Community Bulletin of June 8th did not include a location for the event, so please spread the word!
EKN Development, the applicant for the Appellation Petaluma hotel at the corner of Petaluma Boulevard South and B Street, has asked for a small meeting with Urban Chat members to discuss the project on June 14. This will be an opportunity to reinforce the comments Urban Chat submitted for the Historical and Cultural Preservation Committee workshop in January.
This meeting hasn’t been placed on the Urban Chat calendar because it won’t be open to the general public, but Urban Chat participants are encouraged to email Dave if they wish to attend. My tentative plan is to hold our participation to ten people. If you’re interested, let Dave know as soon as possible. (Even when he’s away, he’s never really gone!)
Last week I shared a couple of quotes Dave culled from the Strong Towns National Gathering and the Congress on New Urbanism in Charlotte, NC. You may find this week’s quotes more provocative still. Let’s discuss!
“Zoning reform must start at allowing twelve homes on a single-family lot for the finances to work.”
“YIMBY should be anti-crappy housing.”
“Agreed”
“I’m okay with crappy housing.”
Questions or comments? Dave will be back later this week. Feel free to reach out to either of us, Sharon Kirk, @ 707-775-5727 or Dave Alden @ 707-338-8388.
P.S. New folks can sign up for this email through the Urban Chat website.
Upcoming Meetings
All events are open to the public. Everyone is encouraged to participate in person or on-line. The link to the Urban Chat calendar, as frequently referenced below, is here.
Tuesday, June 13 – Joint meeting of the Planning Commission and the Historic & Cultural Preservation Committee (HCPC)
(My apologies for leaving this meeting off last week’s update.) The meeting begins at 6pm in the City Hall Council Chambers. The agenda includes a recommendation to the City of Petaluma Planning Commission and the Historic and Cultural Preservation Committee to conduct a study session to receive project information regarding the EKN Appellation Hotel at the corner of Petaluma Blvd South and B Streets. A link to the agenda can be found on the Urban Chat calendar page, link above.
Wednesday, June 14 – Know Before You Grow (this week!)
This forum focuses our attention on the 15-Minute Neighborhood effort. It will also be the return of KBYG forums to in-person venues. We’re looking forward to seeing everyone and welcome the return to the face-to-face exchange of ideas!
The local team that wrote the grant application to the American Institute of Architects, coordinated the visit by the AIA Sustainable Design Assessment Team, and is now advocating for the 15-minute neighborhood concept to be incorporated into the General Plan and associated zoning code updates will make the presentation. (Full disclosure: Dave was part of the local team. Also, the team is in the process of becoming an Urban Chat committee. You can find committee information at https://www.urbanchat.org/15-minute-neighborhoods)
The team has been making this presentation to City commissions and committees. With the more open format of a KBYG forum, we are hoping for even more productive conversations. Dave will moderate the evening with speakers Veronica Olsen and Mary Dooley, all members of the local 15-minute neighborhoods team.
The forum will convene at 7pm at the Cavanagh Center at G and 8th Streets. For more information visit our Upcoming Events page here.
Thursday, June 15 – Petaluma General Plan Advisory Committee
This meeting has been canceled. City Planning has communicated the updated General Plan schedule to all GPAC members. Once we have digested the changes, we’ll advise Urban Chat members of the revised timeline and opportunities to get involved through public meetings and input sessions. For now, suffice it to say that City Planning, Public Works, and City Staff are working diligently to ensure that our next General Plan reflects the reality of climate change and our unique environmental context on the Petaluma River. Much more to come.
Saturday, June 17 – Friends of SMART
Friends of SMART, a North Bay non-profit that advocates for the success of the SMART train, has organized a Rail & Sail outing. They’ll ride SMART to the Larkspur ferry, ride the ferry to the San Francisco Ferry Building, stop for a bag lunch, walk to the Salesforce Tower where they’ll ride to the top, and then reverse their path home. The outing will begin at the County Airport SMART Station, but Petalumans can join at the Downtown Petaluma station.
RSVPs are required and may be made by emailing the trip organizer at dsheehan@sonic.net. Participants are required to bring lunch and to secure their own train and ferry tickets, but there is no other cost.
The group will pass through Petaluma southbound at 10:08am and return to Petaluma at 4:49pm. Depending on what happens with the GPAC meeting, Dave may take part.
Thursday, June 22 – Petaluma Urban Chat
The monthly meeting of Urban Chat is almost always agenda-free, allowing an enjoyable and enlightening conversation to wander freely over the urbanist landscape.
The exchange of ideas will commence at noon. Other information is provided on the Urban Chat calendar, link above.
Tuesday, June 27 – Petaluma Health Care District
The PHCD has announced that its Petaluma Blue Zones program will be rolled out on June 27. Blue Zones is a program that largely aligns with the Urban Chat mission statement on land-use and transportation issues, although it also extends into healthy personal habits.
Registration will begin at 4:00pm, with the program beginning at 4:20pm. The presentation will be held in the Carole L. Ellis Auditorium on the Petaluma campus of Santa Rosa Junior College.
Wednesday, June 28 – Know Before You Grow
The fifteen-minute neighborhood concept that will be the subject of the June 14 KBYG forum has multiple aspects that will continue to be addressed in further KBYG forums. We’ve invited a retail consultant who formerly lived in Petaluma to talk about what it will take to establish neighborhood walkable/bikeable retail. If he’s unavailable, we have backup options.
The forum will convene at 7pm. More information, including venue, will be provided on the Urban Chat calendar, link above, when available.
