Mixed-use project good for Petaluma

The long-planned Riverfront project, soon to be under construction on Petaluma’s southern flank, fulfills several key needs for Petaluma.|

The long-planned Riverfront project, soon to be under construction on Petaluma’s southern flank, fulfills several key needs for Petaluma. It is an example of the kind of quality infill development that the city should be looking to attract.

A mixed-use project, it will contain 273 housing units, 47,000 square feet of commercial space, a 120-room hotel, sports fields, even a boat dock on the Petaluma River.

The project, adjacent to the Highway 101 bridge over the river, will beautify a blighted 35-acre parcel at the southern gateway to Petaluma. It will include space for a future bridge across the Petaluma River, creating another crosstown connector linking Lakeville Street with Petaluma Boulevard South.

The housing alone - 134 single-family homes, 39 townhomes and apartments above commercial space - is significant in a city that has struggled with a housing affordability crisis brought on by a lack of inventory.

The development is one of the largest housing projects in Petaluma’s pipeline, and makes good use of infill space. Transforming blighted, vacant property within the city into attractive development was one of the intents of voter-approved measures limiting the expansion of the city’s borders.

Adding in commercial space to the development makes the project more than just a residential subdivision, and thus all the more attractive. The hotel component will add guest beds and provide much needed hotel tax to the city coffers.

Recreational improvements like ball fields and river access are the kind of community benefits the city has come to demand from large developments.

Such mixed-use projects, that allow people to live, work, shop and play in a tight, walkable neighborhood, are on the vanguard of good urban design as they promote healthy, environmentally friendly living while deemphasizing automobile use.

Basin Street Properties, the developer with deep roots in Petaluma, is behind this project. The company has been a good partner for the city, having developed Petaluma’s once blighted downtown into the attractive mixed-use Theatre District.

Unlike some developments in Petaluma, the Riverfront project received very little opposition when the city in 2014 approved the environmental report, essentially green-lighting the project.

Questions raised at the time about soil contamination turned out to be a thinly-veiled attempt by a trade union to secure a project labor agreement. The only other controversy was whether the sports field should be grass or turf - it’s grass.

Next week, the City Council is expected to grant Basin Street the go ahead to start grading lots in order to build the development. Other permitting remains, but the city should make an effort to smooth the way for this project that will be a boon for Petaluma.

There are not many infill properties left in Petaluma of this size and with the potential to make a significant impact on the city in terms of housing, commerce and recreation. Of all the projects in the city’s pipeline, the Riverfront development certainly could have the biggest positive impact.

As we drive across the Petaluma River Bridge, we’ll look forward to seeing the progress on this project.

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