Argus-Courier Editorial: Judge project on its merits

On Monday, the Petaluma City Council will consider approving a well-designed mixed use project that would meet many of the city’s long-term development goals, generate an estimated $600,000 annually in new tax revenues and 2,500 permanent and temporary jobs. The 39-acre Riverfront development, which includes 273 homes, a 120-room hotel, 60,000 square feet of office space, and 30,000 square feet of retail, has, remarkably, elicited exactly zero opposition locally.

For a project of this magnitude to generate no local opposition is extraordinary in Petaluma, a city where, historically, local city council elections have frequently been decided on public perceptions of overdevelopment.

But in the case of the Riverfront project, the city is getting what is wants: a mix of uses that appropriately achieves local goals for new housing, office and retail space, open space, recreational facilities and overnight lodging facilities.

City officials have made clear they want more hotels built locally, since such developments generate both transient occupancy tax as well as sales tax from visitors shopping at local stores. The new hotel, expected to be similar to a Holiday Inn Express or a Marriott Courtyard, will generate $400,000 annually in TOT revenues.

The city also wants more parks and open space. The Riverfront project includes a seven-acre park complete with a playing field for youth sports.

The city wants a public boathouse on the Petaluma River. The Riverfront project will dedicate land for just such a facility.

The city also wants to see more jobs created to employ local residents. The Riverfront project’s forecast of creating more than 500 permanent jobs and nearly 2,000 temporary construction jobs is, undoubtedly, welcome news to city officials and local residents.

Most importantly, the city wants mixed-use developments, defined in the city’s General Plan as “a robust combination of uses, including retail, residential, service commercial, and/or offices,” with a focus on walkability.

A large portion of downtown and several sites along Lakeville Street, including the Riverfront project site, are zoned for mixed-use. This was done in an effort to densely develop the downtown and adjacent sites to take advantage of limited land availability in a city with an urban growth boundary that encourages city-centered growth.

The public’s acceptance of the Riverfront project is a good sign that Petaluma is not only strengthening and diversifying its economy, but is achieving the goals of the city’s General Plan by working in partnership with developers to give the community what its residents want and need.

Last month, city planning commissioners voted unanimously to recommend approval of the project’s environmental impact report which has undergone a very thorough review over the last two years. But during the planning commission meeting, something strange happened. Masquerading under the clever name “Petaluma Residents for Responsible Development,” large labor union representatives and their Sacramento attorneys suddenly appeared to claim that the project was going to create all sorts of environmental problems, like compromising local air quality. They even said the project could be negatively affected by sea level rise due to global warming.

Behind these bogus and thinly disguised environmental concerns, which city planners say are unsubstantiated, is a strong push by the trade unions to control all the jobs that the project’s construction will create. To achieve that goal, union bosses are trying to force the developer, Basin Street Properties, into signing a project labor agreement that would financially benefit the unions while shutting out small local contracting firms from participating in the project’s construction.

The big trade unions have done this in many other cities around the state, going so far as to oppose public solar projects and even school construction projects unless officials agree to sign project labor agreements that generally benefit unions at the expense of taxpayers. In many cases, they have used the same disingenuous title, “Residents for Responsible Development,” intended to fool local officials into thinking they are dealing with concerned citizens from their own community.

Trade unions fulfill an important role in protecting workers’ rights. But such bullying tactics go well beyond what is a proper and just role for union leaders, and pose a real threat to Petaluma’s ability to determine its own fate with respect to development.

When the city council convenes on Monday, we hope they are able to see through the trade unions’ smokescreen and fairly judge the Riverfront project on its merits.