A year of transition for Petaluma

Big projects made headlines in 2018, while bathtubs became an unlikely divider.|

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.

Fires a new reality

While Petaluma again avoided damage from wildfires this year, the ever-lingering smoke in the air was a reminder that fires are a new and dangerous consequence of living with a changing climate. The 2018 fire season saw more superlatives on top of the record 2017 season.

In July, the Mendocino Complex fire became the largest wildfire in California history, scorching 459,123 acres just north of Sonoma County. Petaluma firefighters assisted on this and several other wildfires throughout the hot, dry summer.

Also in late July, the Carr fire became the latest wildland-urban interface fire, destroying more than 1,000 homes in Redding less than a year after 5,300 homes were destroyed in Sonoma County wildfires. A Petaluma Little League all star team playing for a Northern California championship in Redding, had to be diverted to a field near Sacramento.

The fire season reached a deadly crescendo in November when the Camp fire tore through Paradise, destroying 18,000 structures and killing 86 in the deadliest and most destructive fire in state history. Smoke from the Camp fire spread into the region and sat over Petaluma for more than a week, prompting school closures and halting outdoor activities.

Local nonprofits again raised money for wildfire victims and those who lost houses in fires in the past two years found homes in Petaluma.

Fire department sex scandal

As Petaluma firefighters engaged in heroic deeds in the city and throughout the state, one of their brethren was engaging in ignominious acts that left a stain on the Petaluma Fire Department.

Firefighter Brett Hughes resigned in January in the face of certain termination after department officials discovered he had multiple sexual encounters with a woman while on duty, including in Petaluma fire stations.

The late night trysts occurred several times in a fire station parking lot from March to December 2017. They also occurred once in the captain’s office at Station 3, once in the training room at the downtown headquarters and once in the back of a fire engine at Station 2.

Fire officials launched an investigation at the beginning of the year, and Hughes, 28, resigned on Jan. 23. A supervisor was disciplined for being unaware that the conduct was occurring on his watch, and another firefighter was disciplined for not reporting the activity.

Cheap gas vs. No Gas Here

A Safeway discount gas station, originally proposed in 2014, reared back into the headlines this year as the developer came back with a proposal for an eight-pump, 16 fuel hose facility on South McDowell Boulevard and Maria Drive.

The planning commission approved the proposal in June on a 4-3 vote. Supporters say Petaluma needs a discount gas station to give drivers an alternative to expensive gas.

But opponents, who contend that the project will cause unwanted traffic and environmental harm, filed an appeal of the planning commission decision. Organizing into a coalition called “No Gas Here,” they printed signs and T-shirts to support their campaign.

The city council was twice scheduled to hear the issue, but postponed due to last minute filing of paperwork. The opponents say that the project is too close to a school and day care facility.

It appeared that the council would hand down an ultimate ruling on the project before the end of the year, but at a contentious December meeting, the elected officials voted to require more environmental review, essentially restarting the process. A lengthy additional study means the project is almost assured of coming back up in the new year.

Bathtubs in the sky

The Petaluma Public Art Committee, already under fire for the lengthy process of commissioning the city’s first piece of public art, took on more controversy this year when the board green lit an installation by San Francisco artist Brian Goggin.

Called “Fine Balance,” the art project features several replica Victorian claw-foot bathtubs on 20-foot stilts above the promenade along Water Street. Goggin said the tubs represent the adjacent tidally-influenced Turning Basin of the Petaluma River, which fills and drains each day. Such tubs were also imported by ship from San Francisco and offloaded at the Water Street docks by wealthy merchants during Petaluma’s egg boom.

Criticism, both on social media and in public meetings, ranged from the aesthetic (“Bathtubs are ugly”) to the hyperbolic (“It will ruin the character of Petaluma”). Goggin revised his plan after public feedback, leaving more space in the footprint for pedestrians and for public events on Water Street.

The city council weighed in, allowing the project to move forward, and it is expected to be installed next year.

New deal for Petaluma Valley Hospital

The Petaluma Health Care District began a tumultuous year on shaky ground with a hospital lease agreement on life support. It ended the year in much better shape, with the framework for a longterm deal in place after a three-year negotiation process.

At the beginning of the year, the district was neck deep into negotiations with Southern California-based Paladin Health to operate Petaluma’s only hospital, which St. Joseph Health has been leasing. Paladin lacked a required electronic medical record keeping system, making its take-over problematic, and the company was unwilling to invest in the multi-million dollar system.

Once Paladin withdrew its bid to lease the hospital and instead offered a management agreement, the district ended talks and reengaged with St. Joseph. In the quickly changing healthcare landscape, St. Joseph was undergoing its own transformation, combining Northern California operations with Adventist Health.

In December, the district announced it had signed a letter of intent with the as-yet-formed new company to take over operations of the hospital. The 30-year lease agreement is pending regulatory approval of the new company, and voter approval of the deal, both of which are expected next year.

Given the rocky start to the year, hospital stakeholders are about to celebrate a new year that should see longterm stability for the hospital.

Compromise in Davidon project

Another long standing Petaluma issue saw some resolution in 2018. Developer Davidon Homes in 2004 proposed building 93 luxury homes on the historic Scott Ranch on the western edge of Petaluma. Environmentalists fought the proposal saying it would harm the habitat of a threatened frog species.

The developer revised its proposal over the years, with a 66-home project opposed last year. In June, the Kelly Creek Protection Project, an environmental group, struck a deal with Davidon to purchase some or all of the land. If it could raise $11 million by Dec. 1, the group could buy all 58 acres for an extension of Helen Putnam Regional Park.

The group came up short on that goal, but met a $4.1 million fundraising goal, meaning it can purchase 44 of the most sensitive acres. As part of the deal, the group will not oppose Davidon’s plan to build a scaled down 28-home project on the remaining land.

Tolay open at last

In late October, Tolay Lake Regional Park opened its gates to the general public for the first time since the county acquired the land in 2005. At 3,400 acres, it is the largest park in the county, providing sweeping ridge-top views of the Petaluma River and San Pablo Bay.

Previously, the park was only open on weekends to hikers who had obtained a special permit, and for two weeks a year during the Tolay Fall Festival.

An environmental report that was the most complicated that the county parks system had ever undertaken was partly to blame for the delay in opening. Other issues included a dispute with neighbors over access and a lack of funding for amenities.

While the park opened with bare bones features - portable restrooms, a gravel parking lot, hiking trails - the county has plans to make Tolay a jewel of the regional parks system. Future plans include camping areas, more hiking trails, permanent restrooms and an interpretive center.

Future improvements at Tolay and other regional parks received a boost at the ballot in November when voters approved Measure M, an eight-cent sales tax increase dedicated to parks.

A progressive wave

Voters also weighed in on a host of other issues and candidates in November. In Petaluma, voters favored progressive-leaning candidates, electing a progressive mayor and two new faces to the city council, while installing a brand new school board.

Councilwoman Teresa Barrett won the mayor’s seat being vacated by David Glass. She fended off a challenge former Councilman Mike Harris and newcomer Brian Powell. The campaign was roiled in the final days by an outside spending campaign from a coalition of big oil companies looking to oust Barrett.

In the council race, incumbent Dave King easily won reelection, while Kevin McDonnell and D’Lynda Fischer both won seats for the first time.

Voters in the Petaluma City Schools district, the largest district in Petaluma, opted for sweeping change, replacing three incumbents with three newcomers. Set to take their seats in the new year are Mady Cloud, Joanna Paun and Caitlin Quinn.

(Contact Matt Brown at matt.brown@arguscourier.com.)

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