Roundup: Under the Super Moon
Roundup: Under the Super Moon
Questions about Woodmark Apartments, Hotel Sebastopol, the cancellation of the Fire Services town hall, Depot Street and student pilfering
Coming up this week on Wednesday night, August 30, 2023 is the second super moon in August. Also called a blue moon, a sturgeon moon or a super blue moon, it occurs when a full moon is closest to the earth in its orbit and appears larger in the sky.
Also in the sky … Denise from Burbank Heights wrote to say that the Vaux’s Swifts are back at Park Side, swirling down the chimney at dusk. Swift watcher Kathy Spalding estimated that 350 of them gathered one evening this week, and the following evening, it was double that. It’s quite a sight to see, as we reported in May.
Now, some questions to answer.
What will the Woodmark Apartment complex look like?
This past week, the Board of Supervisors approved an update to its housing element, or housing development plan. The approval was forced on them, in part, because not having an approved plan gave developers frustrated by delays an opportunity to begin projects without local planning board oversight. In Sebastopol, Idaho-based developers, the Pacific Companies, used this end-around and began work this summer grading the property. The Woodmark Apartments project was submitted in 2019 originally and reviewed throughout 2020. Like it or not, Woodmark will provide new affordable housing for Sebastopol.
Here’s an overview from the proposal:
Woodmark Apartments will include 84-units in six buildings that range from 2-3 stories, offering 1-, 2- and 3-bedroom units to accommodate families, seniors, and other individuals with incomes ranging between 30% and 60% of the Area Medium Income (“AMI”).
Forty-eight units will be reserved for employees or retirees of the agricultural sector, while the remaining affordable housing units will be available to anyone who meets the qualifications for affordable living.
Right now, there are mounds of dirt. What will the complex look like when finished? I emailed the question to the developer and did not get a response. The architectural renderings from the 2019 proposal show what it might look like along Bodega Ave. (These are preliminary, not final sketches).
When will Hotel Sebastopol open?
A reader asked us to find out about the status of Hotel Sebastopol. I wrote Kari Svanstrom, Sebastopol’s Planning Director, and she forwarded the message to Circe Sher, a partner at Piazza Hospitality in Healdsburg. Sher replied: “I wish I had more to say, but at this point, we are still waiting for our financing to come through, and should know more specifics in a month or two.”
Why was the Fire Services Town Hall cancelled?
Last Thursday’s August 24th Fire Services Town Hall meeting was unexpectedly cancelled “in order to facilitate full community and City Council participation.” There must be a legal issue over whether City Council members can participate in a town hall meeting. However, it would seem that the purpose of a Town Hall meeting is to allow the public to participate more openly than they can at a City Council meeting.
The notice said that the “Committee has determined that it would be more engaging and productive to hold a special City Council Meeting.” How so? What’s the big difference between a public Town Hall and a Special City Council meeting?
“Such a meeting would allow all Council members, in addition to members of the public, to take part in any discussion and/or future direction or actions. The State of California Brown Act prohibits discussion or deliberation by a majority of any legislative body outside an officially noticed meeting accessible to all members of the public. A Town Hall does not meet all requirements for such a meeting and would not allow full Council participation.”
After consolidation of the Fire Department was rejected, the third Ad Hoc Fire Services Committee was formed in February. Those who vigorously opposed consolidation wanted to hear from Interim Fire Chief Jack Piccinini, who wasn’t given time on the agenda to talk in February. In March, the Council approved the development of a Fire Services workplan by Chief Piccinini. As we reported: “The plan foresees a progress report on May 2, and a completed report with key findings and recommendations by June 6.” Those dates have been missed and now this meeting will be pushed to September.
Is there any urgency to get a workplan for the Fire Department’s future from the third Fire Ad Hoc Committee and Interim Fire Chief Jack Piccinini?
Why are high school kids stealing from Safeway?
A Door Dash driver writes on Nextdoor that he’s “sick and tired of seeing high school kids stealing” at Safeway in Sebastopol. Sam Johnson posted that the kids are “stealing anything from sushi to energy drinks to alcohol,” adding “it’s usually the same kids everyday.” He has talked to Safeway managers but they don’t seem to do anything about it. Minors walking out Safeway with alcohol, if true, is a problem.
It’s not all kids and the problem is not limited to Analy students or Safeway. One of commenters says that she works at Lucky’s near Montgomery High and the kids start coming in at 7:30 am. She wrote: “The thing is with these kids (not all of them) is that they KNOW we can't do ANYTHING to them!” She added that: “We didn’t get away with this behavior when I was growing up.”
The 70+ thread of comments on Nextdoor has many people laying blame and wondering, like Johnson, what can be done. You can sort them mostly into the following buckets:
What’s wrong with kids today?
What’s wrong with parents today?
Why does Safeway stop them?
What do they teach at the high school?
What’s wrong with our society?
Shouldn’t the police do something?
Apart from finger-pointing, what can be done constructively to address a problem like this one in our community?
Will Depot Street ever become a “pocket park”?
Last summer, one of three Covid-time parklets in town was outside of Screamin’ Mimi’s and it seemed to be the most popular. The ice cream shop had not yet re-opened for indoor service so people ordered at a window that was formerly the front door. Ted Luthin, who was Chief of the Design Review Board in 2022, said of parklets: “This is the best thing that ever happened to this town.”
The City Council decided not to apply to CalTrans for a permit to continue to use Depot Street as a parklet in 2023. The strongest proponents for Depot Street were Council Members Sara Gurney and Patrick Slayter who left office at the end of 2023. At the September 2022 Council meeting, Slayter called for a “pocket park” but City Manager Larry McGlaughlin said that they city had talked to CalTrans previously without making headway. The Sebastopol Times reported in “Parklets are popular but there are problems”:
Mayor Slayter then made a new motion that would direct staff to approach Caltrans about abandonment of their rights to the Depot Street right-of-way with eventual city acquisition of the property. The motion passed unanimously. It passed easily because it wasn’t backed by any kind of commitment.
For this summer, Screamin’ Mimi’s was revamped for indoor service, and the parklet is gone. The store feels cramped and people still stand outside, waiting for their orders. I wondered if any progress had been made on staff talking to CalTrans about a pocket park for Depot Street. I emailed City Manager Larry McGlaughlin and did not get a response.
Fundraiser for Lahania raised $10K
We heard from Krista Sherer that her Lahaina fundraiser was successful: “We’re so excited to report that we raised $10,000 in just 2 hours! So much aloha in Sebastopol last night!”
And the nominations are…
Myriah Volk of the Chamber of Commerce said that the organization is looking for nominations for the Annual Community Awards!
You can nominate a person or business in various categories including Business of the Year, Citizen of the Year, Public Servant of the Year, Volunteer of the Year, Youth Volunteer of the Year and more…
Follow this link to the nomination form.
