Oh rats! Petaluma scurries to clean up downtown rodent problem

The city and SMART are spending $12,000 to eradicate rodents from the Water Street train trestle.|

As Petaluma’s downtown economy booms, local officials are working to address a vexing issue that’s quickly become a rat’s nest for waterfront tenants.

The conglomeration of various rodents, which have infested the riverfront promenade, have terrorized tourists, temporarily shut down the city’s only movie theater and become an eyesore for residents and merchants.

The city and SMART are splitting the cost of a $12,000 year-long contract for an exterminator while officials work on other fixes, including citing businesses for unkempt trash, reconfiguring overflowing dumpsters and removing portions of cobbled streets on Water and Western streets.

“We are very aware of the problem - we have not been on the sidelines on this,” Dan St. John, Petaluma’s director of public works and utilities, told the city council Jan. 8. “We’ve been working with a number of affected people on a number of solutions. I want everyone to remember this is a product of our own success. Downtown is very successful and now we’re learning to deal with some of these offshoots.”

An infestation of Norwegian rats, and brown mice can be attributed to a number of factors, including undersized dumpsters shared by several businesses, cobbled sidewalks that prohibit full access to those trash enclosures and a dilapidated train trestle owned by SMART that’s become a haven for borrowing rats.

“I’m glad to see SMART taking some responsibility,” Councilwoman Teresa Barrett said. “I don’t think the rat situation would be as bad as it is if they didn’t have the rat hotel under the trestle that’s totally falling apart.”

SMART spokeswoman Jeanne Mariani-Belding said the agency is working with the city to combat the problem.

“We’re a full partner and intend to help in whatever way they need,” she said.

St. John said the city is already making strides in controlling the rat population, including working with businesses and the incoming waste company to get trash cleaned up. The Hitmen Termite & Pest Control will start trapping rodents as soon as the end of the week, St. John said. Though the city usually only handles pest control in its own facilities, the problem was one that needed immediate attention, St. John said.

“This is a special case … we’re trying to attract people downtown and we have a more vested ownership - this is our plaza too,” he said.

Design work is underway for new, locked trash enclosures that will prevent unlawful dumping by residents and other business owners while the city is identifying funding sources for the work.

A $100,000 to $200,000 project to pave a portion of the downtown promenade, allow better access to garbage enclosures, and prohibit burrowing, will began in April or May, St. John said.

“We’re never going to totally get rid of it, this is their habitat, but we can control it by having the right management practices and the right facilities,” he said.

Meanwhile, inspectors from the county’s Environmental Health and Safety Department on Jan. 4 shuttered the downtown Boulevard Cinemas after a concerned parent reported a potential rat sighting in the dark theater, Sonoma County Department of Health Services Communications Manager Scott Alonso said. Evidence of rodent droppings was found inside several theaters and inspectors located entry points for rodents, he said.

There was no evidence of contaminants in the food preparation areas, and the business reopened the following day. Inspectors make unannounced visits to food facilities, but there have been no other recent rodent-related closures in Petaluma, Alonso said.

“It was pretty clear that there was major issues at the theater and due to that we closed the facility immediately,” he said. “Anytime there’s a rodent infestation, we shut down the business. There’s no question because of the threat it could pose.”

Joe Garcia, the city’s code enforcement officer, has been patrolling downtown three to four times a week since August to find code violations relating to trash. He’s sent out about 10 notices to correct issues, and doled out $100 citations to Maguire’s Irish Pub and Chicken Pharm, both of which are now in compliance, he said.

“Property owners and business owners are responsible for their garbage storage,” Garcia said. “The city has standards, as do most developed nations, for storing garbage and we’re really at a point where we have too much garbage and not enough service and we’re running out of space to put dumpsters and trash cans.”

Many downtown buildings are decades-old and prone to rat infiltration, further exacerbating the problem, he said.

Water Street Bistro owner Stephanie Rastetter said that while customers have complained about seeing rats outside, business hasn’t been impacted. In her 18 years working on Water Street, she’s never seen a rodent problem of this magnitude and she’s hopeful that it will soon be gone.

“They’re being as aggressive as they can be relative to the magnitude of it,” she said. “I think it’s not just an easy fix.”

Marie McCusker, the executive director of Petaluma’s Downtown Association, and Onita Pellegrini, the CEO of the Petaluma Chamber of Commerce, said merchants haven’t reported seeing a dip in business because of the critters. The Downtown Association has facilitated talks with the city, SMART and business leaders, which led to the current solution. Still, both business leaders are hopeful the city’s methods and increased cooperation from businesses will curb the problem.

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

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