1 post tagged “shared housing”
This evening's Petaluma City Council meeting ought to be a lively gathering considering local and regional developers are ranked high up on the agenda to have an extensive variety of long-stalled commerical and residential projects revisited.
Dozens of Petaluma development project plans were put on ice way back in 2005 whilst the city updated its general plan.
Although the various development proposals won't be up for approval this evening, the criteria to be used for establishing priority is an important piece of the equation on how to shape the future appearance of Petaluma.
Historic significance of a development, environmental consideration, tax revenue and affordable housing are reportedly key to the importance of a plan eventually being approved.
We have seen so much of our city's infrastructure changed in the past 10 years and tonight's criteria outlines will be a crucial component to the development of Petaluma's new identity.
Recent news reports on Sonoma County city developments such as Windsor's spiffy Town Green suffering economic set-backs should be a lesson to our local planning decision makers.
Whilst it's all well and good to have the initial tax infusing excitement of new commercial enterprises, thoughtful preservation projects such as the presently-shelved Sunset Line & Twine Building will surely serve to maintain the integrity of our historic city.
Petaluma is in a perfect position to champion some ground-breaking new, environmentally friendly housing developments and it would be great to see these sorts of unique in-fill projects attract discerning new neighbors and potential community-minded individuals into urban areas which could do with some positive energy.
If you have heard about the city of Sebastopol's ambitious plans for several affordable shared housing projects involving community kitchens, gardens and children's play areas you can begin to imagine the possibilities for patches of problem land inside the city limits of Petaluma.
Personally, I have enough of a challenge keeping key food items in my fridge from being 'borrowed' before meal times, and cannot imagine the complexity of a shared community kitchen. But hey, there's a whole new generation of young families looking to live in the heart of Sonoma County.
It's definitely time to get creative with the planning approval!
