Petaluma pushes Corona Road train station

Petaluma is looking to sweeten the pot to encourage development of a parking garage and commuter train station at Corona Road.

The city is offering to waive $2.4 million in fees that would otherwise impact construction of a parking structure at a possible east side passenger rail station at Corona Road and North McDowell Boulevard, a move that comes as Sonoma Marin Area Rail Transit officials continue closed-door talks over a possible alternative site.

The offer puts new weight behind the stated preference of several city leaders that SMART follow long-held plans to build the second station at Corona, and potentially adds new momentum for construction of the station before the system’s anticipated start of service later this year.

Yet whether Corona or the alternative at Old Redwood Highway will materialize by launch remains an open question, as a window of opportunity gradually closes before increased train travel could complicate construction at either site.

“The anticipation is, this will be part of what helps that go forward,” City Manager John Brown told the Petaluma City Council on Monday.

The money comes in the form of a credit on the fees a builder would otherwise pay the city in response to the garage’s anticipated traffic impact. Developers pay into the fund, which is used over time to improve transportation infrastructure in Petaluma.

The council voted to add the 350-space garage to the list of projects that help ease traffic in the city. The credit effectively reduces construction costs to a city-estimated $8.1 million. The change does not apply to the alternative station site, which sits just outside city limits at the location of the former Adobe Lumber Yard.

“This is the city stepping up to say we’ll help create the Corona station,” said Councilman Mike Healy, who first proposed the change late last year along with councilmembers Kathy Miller and Gabe Kearney.

A downtown Petaluma station is already under construction and expected to the operational by the start of SMART’s passenger service. The station project itself does not include on-site parking, though Brown noted that the action on Monday could potentially also apply to future development in the downtown station area.

SMART is reported to be in talks for a potential swap of land or development rights for the area around its downtown platform in order to achieve construction of the second station in Petaluma.

“This positions the city to participate in this deal, or another deal. It allows us to help provide parking,” Brown told the council.

The likelihood of any east side station by the time of launch seemed remote until reports last year that SMART was entering into official talks over the Old Redwood Highway alternative, which ultimately evolved into confidential negotiations around both locations.

Petaluma officials said the Corona site, now back in play, was their preferred option. The site has been the assumed location of the city’s second station since SMART was first proposed more than a decade ago, and was incorporated in Petaluma’s 2013 master planning document to guide future development around station areas.

The council also voted to approve $5.7 million in anticipated property acquisition and construction expenditures related to the planned Rainier crosstown connector, new costs that emerged as the city reevaluated the expected contributions from developers earlier this year. The money amounts to a 6.7 percent increase in traffic impact funding earmarked for the crossing and highway interchange project, now totaling $89.7 million of a $115 million overall cost.

“I think this is going to be incredibly important in moving forward both with the second SMART station in town and with achieving the Rainier connector,” Healy said.

Traffic impact fees will rise by 4.8 percent to fund the changes, though many new projects will still pay less than they did before a December 2015 tweak that lowered the estimated vehicle activity from various types of new development. The increase amounts to $628 for a new single family dwelling.

(Contact Eric Gneckow at eric.gneckow@arguscourier.com. On Twitter @Eric_Reports.)