A year of transition for Petaluma
From a changed physical landscape with more housing projects under construction to a changed political landscape with a new city council and school board, Petaluma witnessed transformation in 2018.
Fires again on the region’s periphery served to unite the community while an unlikely divisive issue emerged in a bathtub public art installation. Several long simmering controversial projects cropped back up or found resolution in the past year, including a proposed Safeway gas station, a deal to operate Petaluma Valley Hospital, a Helen Putnam Park extension and a ribbon cutting for Tolay Park.
A sex scandal that rocked the Petaluma Fire Department came to light this year, leading to swift disciplinary action. Meanwhile, the transportation network around Petaluma continued to benefit from funding increases.
A look back at the top local stories of 2018:
Housing crisis persists despite progress
Several large scale housing projects were approved or broke ground in the past year, but Petaluma remained mired in a regional housing crisis. Rising rents and home prices combined with low vacancy rates have forced many working class families to leave the community.
The Petaluma City Council debated solutions for much of the year before enacting a new affordable housing policy aimed at encouraging more construction. The changes require developers of residential projects to build 15 percent of their units as affordable housing, ensuring a place to live for low and middle-income earners.
The new policy is set to take effect Jan. 1, and it won’t apply to projects already approved or underway. Those pipeline projects, which took strides but also faced hurdles this year, will add nearly 1,000 units of desperately needed housing to the city’s stock.
The biggest of the projects, the 273-unit mixed-use Riverfront development off Hopper Street, hit a snag after breaking ground last year. Builder Comstock Homes in April shuttered its sales office and looked to offload the project to another developer. The company continued to build the roads and utilities for the development, but the year is ending without any new housing starts on the property.
Ground broke this year for the Brody Ranch project, a 199-unit development with on-site affordable housing at Corona Road and Sonoma Mountain Parkway. Construction has been slower than anticipated, but housing units are beginning to take shape. Model homes opened this month.
At the beginning of the year, the city approved the 184-unit North River Apartments at the north end of Water Street along the Petaluma River. Since then, the property has been dormant as the developer, A. G. Spanos Companies sorts through complicated infrastructure issues. The project requires a rebuild of Water Street, and the developer must secure the proper easements.
At the southern end of Petaluma the 150-unit Altura Apartments, with 15 percent affordable dwellings, continued to rise. But the developer, The Reliant Group, chopped down 12 stately oak trees, drawing the ire of neighbors and a city sanction.
Just across Lakeville Highway, developer Basin Street put the finishing touches on the 90-unit Marina Apartments. Then, in November, before the paint was even dry, Sonoma State University swooped in and bought the whole complex for employee housing.
In August, the city approved a 53-unit PEP Housing project on Petaluma Boulevard South. The apartments will be set aside for low-income seniors with about half for senior veterans.
Progress along Hwy. 101
Various pieces of the Highway 101 widening project around Petaluma moved forward this year, buoyed by new sources of funding. Workers transformed the stretch of highway at the Sonoma-Marin county line, building a new wider bridge over San Antonio Creek. Traffic shifted onto the new bridge in November, removing the last direct access points onto the highway from neighboring properties.
Another highway project just north at Kastania Road made progress this year. When completed at the end of 2019, the new stretch will open up carpool lanes from the Petaluma River to the county line.
Meanwhile the last remaining sections of unfunded highway got boosts this year. The state in May awarded Sonoma County $85 million to widen Highway 101 through Petaluma. The money, from a new state gas tax increase that is also providing $1 million annually for Petaluma street repairs, survived a ballot challenge in November.
The project is set to break ground next August with new carpool lanes from Corona Road to the Petaluma River opening in 2022. It will also open access to the future Rainier Avenue crosstown connector.
Funding for the final piece of highway, from the county line to Novato, was included in a bridge toll increase that voters approved in June. Beginning Jan. 1, tolls on the Bay Area’s state-owned bridges will increase by $1.
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