Lawsuit challenging Corona Station nears end

A lawsuit against the city of Petaluma once headed by current council member Brian Barnacle is nearing an end, as groups work to finalize a settlement after the Corona Station development and its associated projects collapsed.

The controversial plan to build 110 single-family homes at Corona Road and North McDowell Boulevard was linked to a long-planned second train station in town, as well as a 400-unit downtown development that city officials nixed in January.

The multi-layered development projects, which featured a web of agreements between developer Lomas Partners, Sonoma-Marin Area Rail Transit and the city of Petaluma, had been pitched as a way for the city to get its long-awaited eastside SMART station built.

But the Petaluma Community Alliance, which refuses to disclose member identities or funding sources, sought to block the Corona Station housing project in a lawsuit filed last spring that centered on environmental and other concerns.

Now that lawsuit is nearing an end, officials say.

“As far as the city is aware, the case is moving toward settlement,” said Assistant City Attorney Jordan Green.

The project, which promised to bolster the city's housing stock by hundreds of units, has been one of the most contentious issues in local development and political circles for more than a year.

And the lawsuit filed last April altered the trajectory of the multi-pronged proposal.

After the Petaluma Community Alliance filed its complaint, the project’s architect, Todd Kurtin, attempted to swap the original 110-unit single-family proposal with an all-affordable project.

Then, a January council decision to deny a request for alternative affordable housing compliance for the linked 400-unit downtown project torpedoed the years-long effort.

When contacted via email this week, Kurtin said he has no comment regarding the ongoing litigation.

As a private citizen last spring, Barnacle was named as signatory on the suit, the lone public face for the Petaluma Community Alliance. But he withdrew in December 2020, about a month before he was sworn into office as a Petaluma City Council member.

“The project was pulled, so the lawsuit was moot, and I didn’t feel like it was necessary to continue being a part of something that was ultimately already finished,” Barnacle said in a phone interview Tuesday.

Barnacle is still keeping tabs on the legal action, which he characterized as being in its final stages. Petaluma Community Alliance’s legal representation – San Francisco-based law firm Hanson Bridgett LLP – did not respond to emailed requests for comment.

In recent court filings, city lawyers say the parties agree the lawsuit is moot now that the council rescinded its approval of the projects associated with the legal action.

But the Petaluma Community Alliance is seeking to recoup a portion of its legal fees, a request city officials are considering.

“If we pay anything, we’re expecting it to be minimal,” Green said.

Since the lawsuit was filed a year ago, Barnacle has repeatedly refused to disclose the names of others involved with the Petaluma Community Alliance, including its financial backers, citing a nondisclosure agreement signed months before he was elected to city council.

He also defended the approach as a common tactic among concerned residents looking to take legal action.

“When residents form an association, it’s very common for one person to be the signatory and the rest of them to be silent,” Barnacle said.

On Tuesday, he again refused to disclose his one-time partners in the legal action, and dismissed questions about who was behind the lawsuit as a case of sour grapes emanating from people upset with his election to city council.

Seeking to dispel at least one persistent claim, Barnacle pledged that no developers were involved in the lawsuit seeking to halt construction of Corona Station’s originally-planned 100-plus-home subdivision.

If the lawsuit is not dismissed in the next few weeks, Green said all parties will return to update the court on the settlement process May 6, potentially closing another chapter of the contentious Corona Station housing project. Green and City Attorney Eric Danly both said they expect a resolution soon.

“We’re not aware of any sticking points in the settlement,” Green said Wednesday. “Sometimes these things just take time.”

(Contact Kathryn Palmer at kathryn.palmer@arguscourier.com, on Twitter @KathrynPlmr.)