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.
May 20, 2024
Calendar notes for the week of May 20, 2024.
Happy Monday, all!
After several false starts, Dave has finally flown the coop! I’ll be providing weekly updates this week and next. During Dave’s absence feel free to reach out to me with any questions. My contact details can be found below.
This week, as is often the case, there are too many opportunities to participate in civic-minded activities. You’ll have to pick and choose.
Continue reading the weekly update here.
May 13, 2024
Calendar notes for the week of May 13, 2024.
After a false alarm last week, I’ll depart this week on my long-planned travels. By the time you read this, I’ll be in the air on my way to Cincinnati. The city wasn’t on the bucket list of places I wished to visit again but I’m looking forward to the stay.
The first week will be the StrongTowns and Congress for the New Urbanism conferences where I’ll renew old acquaintances, learn new ways of thinking, and be re-invigorated.
Continue reading the weekly update here.
May 6, 2024
Calendar notes for the week of May 6, 2024.
With a year to go until adoption, progress toward the updated General Plan continues. This week, two Petaluma committees will meet to receive presentations on draft General Plan frameworks and to provide initial feedback. And then, on Saturday, Petaluma Planning will host Plan Fest at the Fairgrounds, providing a comfortable and enjoyable setting for further General Plan information and conversations.
The General Plan will set the overall ground rules by which the next twenty years of Petaluma land use will occur. If you’ve not yet found a path to connect into the General Plan process, this week offers great opportunities to get involved. More details on all three General Plan events, plus much more, are below under Upcoming Events.
Continue reading the weekly update here.
October 23, 2023
Calendar notes for the week of October 23, 2023.
As always, expanded information on upcoming events of urbanist interest is provided below under Upcoming Meetings. However, I’ll highlight this coming week.
On Wednesday, the topic of fifteen-minute neighborhoods will return to Know Before You Grow with a presentation by Arkansas architect Alli Quinlan. She has a national reputation for her creative use of traditional architecture on smaller lots, an approach that can be key to successful fifteen-minute neighborhoods…
October 16, 2023
Calendar notes for the week of October 16, 2023.
As someone who helps direct Know Before You Grow, I should try to remain dispassionate regarding the KBYG forums. However, last Wednesday’s forum was great! The speaker, an urban planner who lives in Fresno and who formerly served as Fresno’s Assistant Planning Director, went above and beyond in preparing his presentation and in his willingness to engage in the following Q&A. The link to the recording of the forum is here.
As a reminder, this presentation was a follow-on to “The Fresno Miracle” which was shown during the recent Better Cities Film Festival. If you missed the Film Festival and haven’t otherwise watched the film, you might benefit from watching it before the forum recording. A link is here.
Otherwise, there are several interesting meetings in the upcoming week. To pick one, this evening the City Council will select a Planning Commissioner to replace the recently-deceased Kevin Kelly. The Council has pushed an aggressive schedule to make this appointment given the items of broad community concern that will be coming before the Planning Commission in the near future. It should be an interesting vote.
October 9, 2023
Calendar notes for the week of October 9, 2023.
The big events of the coming week are fully described in the full calendar, so I needn’t repeat myself here. But please be sure to read about the extended Wednesday evening planned for Know Before You Grow, including a chance for those who missed the recent Film Festival to see “The Fresno Miracle”, and also about pickleball in a downtown street on Friday.
Also, the micro-grant program that will be the final effort of the Film Festival is now open for applications. Visit here to learn how to apply for the funds to bring to life your small but important idea. And if you’re trying to refine a thought but could use some constructive feedback, several of us are available to chat.
October 2, 2023
Calendar notes for the week of October 2, 2023.
Petaluma’s 2023 Better Cities Film Festival, as organized by Urban Chat, concluded last week. By any measure, it was a success. Between the two showings at the Boulevard 14 Cinemas and the SRJC Petaluma campus, 275 people viewed the 90-minute reel of short films on the best practices for contemporary urbanism. Even better, many attendees emerged from the theaters excited about putting new ideas into practice.
This coming Friday, there will be an early example of where the Film Festival may take us. Starting at 3:00pm, drop by 4th Street between B Street and the McNear Building for an example of tactical urbanism. It’ll be a fun event. It’ll also be a chance to exchange further insights from the films and to continue exploring the ideas that are arising. I hope to see you there…
September 25, 2023
Calendar notes for the week of September 25, 2023.
The first showing of the Better Cities Film Festival, organized by Petaluma Urban Chat, was a success. I could base that claim on the 175 attendees who nearly filled two theaters at the Boulevard 14 Cinemas, on the enthusiasm expressed by many of the attendees or by the nearly two hours that nearly half of the attendees spent at a nearby restaurant eating pizza, drinking beer, and talking about possibilities.
But I’ll instead point to a specific story. A woman who planned to attend both Film Festival showings asked whether I thought she should bring her 16-year-old son to the second showing. I of course told her it was a fine idea. We then happened to sit next to each other at the first showing. Halfway through, she whispered to me, “I’m not just bringing my son, I’m asking him to bring three or four of his friends. This is their future.” Nothing could have made me feel better about the Film Festival effort…
September 18, 2023
Calendar notes for the week of September 18, 2023.
I've been advised there were two misunderstandings regarding the GPAC meetings this week and next. Changes are noted below in Upcoming Meetings.
While there are other meetings this week on topics of great importance to Petaluma, including a Tuesday Blue Zones open house on the built environment and a Thursday General Plan Advisory Committee meeting on sea level rise, the only possible topic for this email is the Better Cities Film Festival. After months of planning, the first showing will be Wednesday, with the second and final showing a week from Thursday…
September 11, 2023
Calendar notes for the week of September 11, 2023.
Apparently a Know Before You Grow forum was never going to happen on September 13. Almost as soon as we announced a forum on the proposed Rovina Apartments as a replacement for an earlier speaker who had opted out, the Rovina Apartment speaker also opted out. With less than a week until the forum date, we decided to leave the evening open.
However, there is good scheduling news for KBYG. We’ve come up with a great speaker for October 11 for which information is provided below and we’re close to being able to announce a speaker for October 25. Meanwhile, we’re talking with the Rovina speaker about setting a new date and are talking to numerous other speakers that will carry us into 2024…
September 4, 2023
Calendar notes for the week of September 4, 2023.
As soon as we announced the topic of the September 13 KBYG forum, the speaker opted out. Such is the nature of public event planning.
However, a replacement speaker fell into our lap 24 hours later. Laura Alexander of The Armony Companies will speak about the proposed 32-unit deed-restricted affordable housing Rovina Lane Apartments at the corner of Jacqueline Lane and Rovina Lane. This project is proceeding under SB 330, another of the state legislative acts intended to expedite needed housing…
August 28, 2023
Calendar notes for the week of August 28, 2023.
Twenty-three days and counting until the first showing of the Better Cities Film Festival | Petaluma 2023. Much has been accomplished in recent weeks and much remains to be done.
As of the weekend, we had 24 sponsors in place with several more pending. Among the names many of you will recognize are the City of Petaluma, Generation Housing, the Eames Institute, Green Building Architects, Scannell Properties, LivXplore Realty, Safe Streets Petaluma, Jones Architecture, Foundry Wharf, and the Aqus Foundation. A complete list of the sponsors will be on full display on the nights of the showings and elsewhere. We’re thankful for the great support we’re receiving…
June 26, 2023
Calendar notes for the week of June 26, 2023.
I’ll open this week with a frank, and moderately desperate, ask for help.
During the pandemic, the recorded KBYG Zoom forums were well received, with the YouTube viewership often exceeding the initial on-line attendance. As KBYG returns to an in-person format, we want to continue recording the forums for those who became accustomed to them.
However, we need more hands to make those recordings as viewable as possible. To free up Dan Lyke to work his magic at the control board, we need folks to help with the mics during the Q&A portions of the evenings. If you’re willing to assist, beginning with the July 12 forum, please reply to me as soon as possible. Thanks.
June 19, 2023
Calendar notes for the week of June 19, 2023.
Ahh, it’s great to be back in Petaluma, at least for a couple of weeks. Much appreciation to Sharon Kirk for stepping into this role during the two weeks I was traveling. And I’ve asked her to jump back into the saddle when I take an unexpected trip in early July. I really appreciate people who can be so willing to help wherever needed.
There’s so much to say this week but not much time, so this will be a quick once-over. Hopefully, next Monday will allow me to dig in more deeply, including sharing insights from the two land-use conferences I attended while away.
While I was gone, the proposed Downtown Overlay District unexpectedly appeared. Like most people, I’m still learning the nuances of the proposal, including the aspects still to be refined. I’m sure this will be a continuing topic of community education and discussion.
February 20, 2023
Calendar notes for the week of February 20, 2023.
Our weekly update has a new format! And we have a new calendar to support it. You can find the calendar here.
We’ve had to cancel our tentatively scheduled February 22nd KBYG forum. Look for an update on our planned March 8th forum coming soon. Once posted, you can find a listing of upcoming events on our events page here.
On the agenda this week:
Rain!
Petaluma Technical Advisory Committee (2/22/23)
Urban Chat monthly meeting (2/23/23)
GPAC monthly meeting (3/16/23)
Rainy day photo by Max Bender on Unsplash.
February 13, 2023
Calendar notes for the week of February 13, 2023.
The Planning Commission and GPAC will review the updated Housing Element (edited to address comments raised by state HCD). The City Council to include hearing on Scott Ranch and the City/SMART agreement for the Corona Station.
February 6, 2023
Calendar notes for the week of February 6, 2023.
At City Council, 5 new GPAC members to be appointed; decision on whether to pursue design grant for Corona SMART station on the agenda.
January 30, 2023
Calendar notes for the week of January 30, 2023.
PBAC will meet on Wednesday 2/1 this week. Agenda items for the meeting will include Vision Zero, the goal of eliminating traffic deaths primarily by rebalancing the equation between cars and other modes, and a progress update on the Fifth Street Bike Boulevard, a long proposed alternative for bicyclists not comfortable with Petaluma Boulevard South.
January 23, 2023
Calendar notes for the week of January 23, 2023.
The most interesting urbanist meeting of this week will be tomorrow evening’s Planning Commission workshop on the 500 Hopper Street project.
The site is bounded by the River Front project, the Petaluma River, Shamrock Materials, and Hopper Street. With its location on the rarely traveled Hopper Street, it’s a site of nearly 40 acres that is often overlooked but is close enough to the SMART station and Transit Mall to be considered appropriate for transit-oriented development and only slightly further from downtown.
January 16, 2023
Calendar notes for the week of January 16, 2023.
The General Plan Advisory Committee (GPAC) application window closes 1/16/23. GPAC meeting this week. Other committees open for applications, including SMART Citizens’ Oversight Committee opening (the application window closes this week).