Petaluma City Council approves controversial ‘tubs on stilts’ art project
A divided Petaluma City Council voted Monday to move forward with San Francisco artist Brian Goggin’s controversial “A Fine Balance” bathtub sculpture – but only as a temporary installation that will be subject to a public review after 10 years
After more than 40 people spoke at an appeal hearing at City Hall, it was the city council that ultimately had to find a compromise for the contentious public art installation for Water Street. Like the division within the community, a true consensus was hard to come by for Petaluma’s elected leaders.
After 10 years, the minimum timeline designated in the city’s public art master plan, the so-called bathtubs on stilts will have their lasting fate determined, giving city officials the authority to either relocate the piece, let it remain or abolish it altogether.
City staff recommended to deny the three appeals against the project and not renew Goggin’s contract, which expired Aug. 7.
Instead, the council agreed to reject the appeals, but in an informal, 4-3 straw vote, they decided to draw up a new contract, one that would establish a lifecycle but still gives the artist a chance to realize the project.
“This art really was designed for this space,” said Councilwoman D’Lynda Fischer. “Water Street is such an important public space. We wanted to activate it, and it’s an ideal site for our first public art project.”
In the minority were council members Gabe Kearney, Kathy Miller and Mike Healy, who cast the lone dissenting vote in a 6-1 motion that denied the appeals. The trio said they would rather see the piece at another location.
City staffers will now have to write a resolution for the council to officially adopt at a later date that includes the mechanisms for a 10-year review, and provides Goggin with various protections if the piece does, in fact, get moved.
To safeguard from potential litigation, officials will also have to do a further examination of the California Environmental Quality Act concerns that were raised by opposition group Save Water Street, one of the three appellants that petitioned the Petaluma Public Art Committee’s approval of Goggin’s final design in February.
Petaluma residents Michael Shockro and his wife, Deborah Tavis Shockro, filed a joint appeal, and the third was by Patty Paula, who was unable to attend Monday’s meeting due to a family engagement.
Save Water Street has been the most prominent opponent against the project. The group retained Santa Rosa attorney Leslie Perry and collected over $8,000 for legal fees through a crowdfunding campaign.
In an Aug. 12 letter, Perry called for a full environmental impact report to adequately address aesthetic concerns, and said the city would be exposing itself to litigation if the project moves forward without a proper CEQA review.
Save Water Street spokesperson Roger Robles alluded to the possibility of litigation if the council decided to proceed with the art piece at the original site.
“We will continue the process through whatever avenues we have available,” he said in a statement.
Goggin’s proposal features five replicas of Victorian claw foot bathtubs walking the promenade on angled, iron stilts. According to the designs, they would be spread throughout the pedestrian end of Water Street by the Balshaw Bridge, and some of the tubs would be visible from Petaluma Boulevard.
Dozens of residents commented at the hearing Monday night, and the split between supporters and opponents was roughly equal. The robust discussion featured artists, public officials, historians, business owners and a diverse collection of residents both new and old.
The critiques covered a myriad of perspectives, the most common being the lack of connection to the site, conflicts with the city’s master plans for the area and the belief that the city has wrongfully exempted the project from historical review.
Officials disagreed, claiming the site is outside the downtown historic district that was adopted in 1999.
Many have maintained that the tubs will be a dangerous liability and attractive to miscreants. Goggin, though, has met with top officials from Petaluma’s public safety and planning departments to craft a design they believe addresses every structural or safety concern.
Project proponents said controversial art can be a good thing and defended the process. Many expressed faith in Goggin and his abilities, and warned that canceling the contract would set a precedent that could scare off talented artists on future installations.
His proposal has elicited strong emotions throughout the Petaluma community, spurring one of the most significant responses to a municipal undertaking in recent memory.
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