The best view of Petaluma is from the middle of the Petaluma River, according to Maggie Hohle, a member of the Petaluma Small Craft Center, a group that sprang up several years ago to advocate for the creation of a large boathouse on the Petaluma River.
Hohle, a Petaluma transplant who didn't grow up near water, recalled her first time on the river: "I thought, 'We live in one of the most beautiful places in the world,'" she recalled. "You can't get that view anywhere else (in town.)"
She and the other members of the Small Craft Center have made it their mission since 2006 to help more people experience Petaluma from the water - specifically in small, human-powered boats.
The large-scale community boat house that the group has been working toward, which is called for in the city's general plan, may still be many years off. But a boat rental center providing easy access to the river could arrive much faster - by as soon as the summer of 2014.
With that goal in mind, the Small Craft Center is beginning to fundraise for the floating, small boat rental center to be located in the Turning Basin downtown.
Once built, it would provide a place where Petalumans wishing to spend a day on the water could rent a kayak or paddle board for a few hours, where someone with a small boat could easily get in and out of the water, and where young people could take lessons.
According to City Planner Scott Duiven, the floating rental center fits well into the city's vision for river access as laid out in the 1996 River Access and Enhancement Plan as well as the Petaluma Water Ways plan.
"It's a great opportunity to start connecting people to the river," he said.
The dock-based facility, about 180 feet in length, would sit in the northwest corner of the Turning Basin, near taller, existing docks. It would provide a low platform that is easy for people in small boats to use. Such a public amenity currently doesn't exist along the river, where most docks are designed for larger motorized boats and too high for use by people in small boats, Hohle said.
Advocates say the rental center would not only get more Petalumans on the river, it would encourage a new demographic of visitors - those who don't have their own boat but would like to enjoy the river.
"Right now, you have to bring your own boat or rent one and bring it to the river," Hohle said. "What we want is a one-step option that makes access to the river as easy as possible."
"The goal with the boat house is not just to be a rental center, but a visitors center for the river," added Greg Sabourin, executive director of the Small Craft Center. He explained that a combination of paid employees and volunteers would staff the center year-round so that people could get information about the river.
The group is hoping to keep the cost of rentals low - around $15 an hour.
The rental center would include a small floating office, a nearby restroom facility and chairs for spectators. All told, the project is expected to cost around $500,000. About half the cost will go to the infrastructure; the other half to purchasing a fleet of watercraft, including kayaks, paddle boards, hydro bikes and pedal boats.
Advocates are hoping many materials, as well as labor, will be donated to the cause, significantly bringing down the cost.
In partnership with the city, the boating group received a grant in April 2012 from the Community Foundation of Sonoma County to draw up plans for the project.
So far, the group has spent about $15,000 on the initial design and engineering, working closely with the city.
It's now seeking an additional $40,000 to fund the next phase, which includes additional design and engineering, and obtaining city and state permits, including a formal application with the City of Petaluma.
The hope is to get an official proposal to the city in late April or early May, begin construction by the spring of 2014 and be open in the summer.
Once city approval has been given, fundraising can start in earnest.
The group will be charging a $5 entry fee to adults for this year's Day on the River, which has been free in the past.
It is also seeking out grants, and just had a site visit with one potential grantor.
Meanwhile, the dream of the larger, 15,000 square foot boathouse that originally drew numerous clubs, river-related businesses and river advocates together to create the Small Craft Center appears a step closer to fruition.
That boathouse would provide the public and local boating clubs with showers, water access, educational and meeting spaces, boat storage and more.
Basin Street Properties has offered to donate one and a quarter acres to the coalition for the boathouse as part of a development it has proposed near the junction of Highway 101 and the Petaluma River. The site has already cleared some permitting hurdles from various state agencies.
If the Basin Street project is approved by the city, the boat house would be a multi-million dollar project that could take 5 or more years to complete.
(Contact Jamie Hansen at jamie.hansen@ar guscourier.com)
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