Downtown Petaluma mixed-use project takes shape

A developer is seeking input on a mixed-use project between the Petaluma River and the SMART train station.|

A San Diego-based developer has once again brought to the public a proposal for a mixed-use development near a downtown Petaluma transit hub, a 174-unit project intended to revitalize what the architect described as an “urban wasteland” while adding a considerable stock of housing to a city strapped for residential space.

Pacifica Companies, a developer with projects in the U.S., India and Mexico, held a March 16 outreach meeting to gauge feedback on the yet-to-be named development at 215 Weller St. Tentative plans for the two-building project feature a mix of rental units ranging from 574-square-foot studios to 1,338-square-foot three-bedroom units, with about 20,000 square feet of integrated commercial space. An estimated 15 percent of the units will be affordable.

Pacifica bought the property in 2012, and the company has been in talks with city staff developing the vacant lot for several years, Director of Planning and Entitlements Carey Algaze said. An application submitted to the city in 2016 was deemed incomplete, with further delays when the architect behind the initial proposal dropped off the project last year amid medical issues, Algaze said.

Drawing from feedback from previous public meetings and city staff, Pacifica retained Jonathan Ennis of Petaluma-based BDE Architects and altered parts of the project, increasing the number of units and parking spots and tweaking the layout and building elevation, Algaze said. A formal application is expected to be submitted to the city in the next two months, though a time line for development and total costs are still evolving as plans take shape, she said.

The proposal includes a bisecting street for foot and vehicular traffic to provide a connection to the riverfront and the Copeland Street bus depot. If approved the development could help achieve the city’s long-term goals for the area surrounding the Sonoma-Marin Area Rail Transit station, said Petlauma’s Senior Planner Tiffany Robbe.

“When developed, it clearly becomes part of the center and downtown corridor so it nicely connects between the existing downtown and SMART station and the arts center,” she said.

Renderings also feature a two-level parking lot with 274 spaces tucked inside of the development, with landscaping incorporating play fields, a bocce ball court, garden boxes for residents and a fenced dog area. Design elements include large windows, with a mixture of cement board panels, plaster and stone tile included in the plans.

“This is a project that’s going to look forward in terms of materials and active uses - it will be pedestrian-friendly, much like downtown,” Ennis said.

The lot was once the terminus of the Petaluma and Santa Rosa Railway, an electric rail line operational in the early 1900s. Leftover metal railcar barns at the site burned down and previous plans for a mixed-use development fizzed during the recession after lack of funding, Robbe said.

Dave Alden, a civil engineer and chair of the city’s transit advisory committee, said he’s encouraging the developer to seek new zoning that would allow for increased stories and units. He’s asking project planners to consider bolstering pedestrian engagement and to rethink the number of parking spaces provided as the transportation market changes, potentially shifting toward autonomous cars and Uber.

Planning Commissioner Bill Wolpert, an advocate for walkable developments, said he too would like to see increased pedestrian amenities included and a more Petaluma-centric plan.

“It’s a start … the architect has expressed reasons for designing it the way he has because in his experience around the Bay Area this has seemed to work everywhere else, but I’d love to see the architecture be appropriate to right here,” he said. “I don’t see anything about those projects that make it look like it belongs here in Petaluma.”

Petaluma Downtown Association President Marie McCusker praised the proposal’s implications for city’s central business community.

“I’m excited because when you’re living there, you can walk downtown to go eat or shop … it’s going to be good for the merchants,” she said.

Petaluma Small Craft Center Director Greg Sabourin said it would also increase overall river access and act as a boon to the Floathouse, a small craft rental center slated to be built at the Turning Basin by next summer.

“For them it’s a good amenity and for our project, it’s also an opportunity for more customers - not just visitors that come in and out but people that view this amenity as part of their lives,” he said.

Algaze described the infill project as a “pivotal project for the community,” that will bolster connectivity, add housing stock and take advantage of existing utilities and sewer lines.

“That (street) provides a connection to the river and downtown,” Algaze said. “The project also provides an opportunity for much needed housing and it does so in a way that provides a variety of housing options.”

(Contact Hannah Beausang at hannah.beausang@arguscourier.com.)

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