When architect Ross Jones first proposed a new downtown Petaluma hotel across the street from the Theater District, the plans raised eyebrows for the working farm envisioned on the roof. The project is again stirring controversy, this time for a plan to build off-site parking sheds in a quaint west side neighborhood dotted with historic homes.
Some residents on the block at 5th Street and B Street are not thrilled by the prospect of extra cars and noisy mechanical lifts in their backyard, even after several attempts by Jones to reach out to the neighbors.
“I still have a hard time with it,” said Alan DeWitt, a consulting winemaker who, with his wife and son, moved into a 105-year-old home in the historic district last year. “I don’t think there is a middle ground here. When we moved into this district, we not only became residents, but also stewards of the neighborhood.”
For several years, Jones has tried to advance plans for the 54-room hotel, to be called The Petaluman, on a piece of land that has been vacant since the Chevron gas station on the site at Petaluma Boulevard South and B Street closed six years ago. The land has been in Jones’ family since 1963.
The proposed modern building, the first new downtown hotel, would anchor what is now a blighted street corner and help attract tourists to downtown shops and restaurants. But meeting a city requirement to provide parking for hotel guests has been a big hurdle of the development.
There is no space for on-site parking, and dedicating space at the Keller Street parking garage was not an option. Instead, Jones has leased land two blocks away, accessible from Fifth Street. He plans to build two parking sheds that are large enough to hold 58 cars on mechanical lifts.
“I’ve explored all the options,” Jones said. “This is the only option that the city will accept.”
But residents on the block, whose fences would border the car park between A and B streets, say it is not an appropriate land use for a neighborhood designated as “historic.” They are worried that the cars, to be parked by valets, would add unwanted traffic. They say the car lifts would disrupt their quiet mornings.
“We don’t think it fits the district,” DeWitt said. “We’re trying to preserve the character of the neighborhood. There are some beautiful old homes.”
The lifts, which will cost a total of $300,000, are about as loud as a residential garage door, Jones said. The parking sheds will be made of concrete blocks to further muffle the sound, and he plans on designing them to fit in with other buildings in the neighborhood.
“We don’t want the place to look like a parking garage,” he said. “We will be improving the property.”
The land, which is behind Tan Tropics, attracts transients and illegal activity, neighbors say. Tan Tropics will remain in business and would be offered promotional tie-ins with the hotel, Jones said.
Jones first gained attention when he proposed building the hotel with a working model farm on the roof. He has since scaled back those plans, but still intends to keep beehives and grow crops on a portion of the rooftop terrace.
The $23 million hotel will eventually employ 24 full-time workers and will add between $250,000 and $300,000 in hotel tax to the city’s coffers. Room rates will average $260 a night. Jones said he plans to break ground in October and open the doors on Jan. 1, 2017. But first, he needs more city approvals, including the Planning Commission to sign off on the parking solution.
Neighbors say they plan to oppose the parking proposal when it comes before the commission, likely in April. Jim Hancock, who has lived in a 1906 Victorian on A Street for the past 30 years, said the noise and car exhaust would spoil the neighborhood. Though the plan calls for parking cars in the evening and moving them the following morning, Hancock is worried that hotel guests could arrive and leave at all hours of the day and night.
“I’m very apprehensive about all the noise it’s going to make,” he said. “(Jones) can’t stop when people want to come and go. It’s a historic area. It’s not really appropriate for the neighborhood. I think (Jones) is barking up the wrong tree as far as where the parking is going to be.”
(Contact Matt Brown at matt.brown@arguscou rier.com. On Twitter @MattBrownAC.)
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