Big news in sleepy Southern Sonoma County as of midnight, late last night, is that Petaluma's City Council has voted 5-2 to approve a contentious, Target-store-anchored, 33-acre East Washington Place off-freeway retail project.
Once the dust settles on crippling law suits and long-standing, mud-slinging divisions within the community we might well see a fresh, new focus on finessing design for less of a 'big-box' monstrosity and more of an integrated plaza-style service area that should be seamlessly connected to bike trails and pedestrian paths from the city's East and West sides, as well as downtown.
Best case scenario, when stores, restaurants and businesses are up and running towards the fall 2011, Petaluma's present ranks of migrating shoppers will stay off the freeway and start to pour more than a million in much-needed retail tax dollars back into the community each year. Over 700 new jobs will certainly kick-start an economic revival and help keep Petaluma off the list of an astonishing line-up of dire, crumbling rural and urban Northern Californian communities.
As for the growing inventory of large, empty retail stores around town, a trend towards the on-going revitalization of a bustling downtown coupled with one-stop parking for plaza-style shopping merely highlights the awkwardness of isolated retail in random spots around town.
What will become of shuttered music and video stores, bulky retail buildings built to satisfy a passing trend in drive-by American materialism? Do we bulldoze these sorry sights of long-forgotten goods and raise affordable housing for those who will be able to look forward to a future that actually revolves around stable employment in these parts?
We need our city council more than ever. Can we move forward collectively in a less controversial vision of the future? That remains to be seen.
By the way, while we are on the subject of construction, anyone have any updated info on the boutique hotel proposal for the former Chevron gas station corner site in downtown Petaluma, at 4th and the Boulevard? Spotted what looked like soil surveys taking place a couple of days back and am wondering if this potential project has moved forward?
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