Neglecting Downtown Petaluma is Not Preserving It

Author:
Brian Barnacle
Petaluma City Council member representing District 6.

The referendum to overturn the downtown overlay is not about protecting downtown. It is about a few people who want to block a new hotel from being built on a vacant lot that is covered in weeds and debris, and surrounded by a chain link fence.

The empty lot generates only $341 per year for the city in property taxes – less than $1 a day – and it does nothing for the surrounding businesses. This piece of prime real estate is 30 years overdue to be converted into a contributing part of Petaluma’s economy.

The new hotel proposed for the site would transform this depressed lot into a vibrant building that – each year – would generate about $10 million for Petaluma businesses and $700,000 in direct tax revenue to the city. The hotel’s farm-to-table restaurant will procure millions of dollars in goods from local agriculture and beverage producers. The tile decorating the hotel will come from a local tile producer and the art will be provided by local artists.

The project would be an economic catalyst that stimulates investment in the surrounding area and supports the customer base for existing restaurants, shops, and services.

On paper, the Appellation Petaluma hotel has a similar footprint to Hotel Petaluma. It has about the same amount of commercial space and both lots are 0.3 acres. The Appellation has three more rooms and 58 additional off-street parking spaces. Hotel Petaluma is eight feet taller than the Appellation Petaluma would be at the property line, but because of the Appellation’s publicly accessible rooftop deck, it is listed as 15 feet taller than Hotel Petaluma.

What is all the fuss about?

Importantly, while passing the overlay is required for the Appellation Petaluma to be considered, the overlay policy grants complete discretion to the Planning Commission and City Council to block a poorly designed project.

Still, even with prudent guardrails ensuring the hotel has exceptional architecture, the fear of change has brought together a loud group of activist opponents who are attempting a voter referendum to block the hotel from being built.

If the activists get their way and we are forced into a special election, it will cost city taxpayers more than $100,000 to put it on the November 2025 ballot. Worse, if this activist group wins, it will take $10 million in sales each year away from local businesses, millions of dollars away from local agriculture and beverage producers who would sell to the hotel’s farm-to-table restaurant, and eliminate a million-dollar-per-year bump to the city’s General Fund in direct taxes and influenced taxes.

If you sign the referendum petition, you are choosing to spend taxpayer dollars to take money away from local businesses, parks, and public safety. You are also enabling activists to choke off investment in our downtown and undermine the financial strength of our city.

The activists have positioned themselves as “historic advocates” who are defending the city’s heritage, but their actions are doing more to impede progress than protect our heritage. True advocates for historic preservation should be pushing for the city to maintain our historic buildings, repair the trestle, seismically retrofit our Historic Carnegie Library/Museum, and add buildings to the national historic registry. Instead, their sole focus is trying to keep a vacant lot vacant.

Petaluma is not a museum – it’s a living, breathing community with real people who need real solutions. Activists can preach ideals, but city leaders and small businesses must face reality. The reality is that Petaluma has an enormous backlog of needs, and every city and business in Sonoma County is facing flat revenues, rising costs, deficits, and an uncertain economy.

Petaluma leaders are trying to spur investment in our town, grow the customer base for local businesses, and bolster city revenues as we head into uncertain economic times. Our police and firefighter unions felt the impact of poor city finances for too long, and that is why they have come out strongly supporting Appellation Petaluma.

Please join your city leaders, first responders, and numerous local businesses and residents who want to see responsible growth and a financially strong city. Don’t sign the poorly intentioned activist referendum.

Published: Argus Courier 
Date: May 12, 2025 at 5:58 PM PDT