From Woody & Jenny:
Hello All, There is a lot of stuff going on so I will try to be brief on each item. Just email me back if you have questions (but not to the whole list, please),
1. Next CONGAS Meeting. First, we are confirmed for our next face-to-face CONGAS meeting on Wednesday, January 29, 6pm to 8pm at the Sebastopol Grange, 6000 Sebastopol Ave (Highway 12), Sebastopol. We will share more info on that meeting as the date gets closer.
2. Results of Public Hearing on 12/12. This is regarding the proposed station at 874 N. Wright Road in Santa Rosa. 14 of us packed the small conference room this past Thursday at the Santa Rosa Planning Commission’s Subdivision Committee meeting (see photo). Everyone did a great job of presenting but in the end the subcommittee approved the “Parcel Map Waiver.” We will file an appeal next week and that will bring the case to the full SR Planning Commission. The filing fee is $500. We already have pledges of $75 so we need to raise $425. Please email me separately if you want to make a pledge.
3. ANOTHER gas station proposal. At the meeting on Thursday, we learned from the City Planner that here is another gas station in the works at 43 Middle Rincon Road in Santa Rosa. We did a quick count and there are no less than 10 gas stations already operating within a 5 mile radius of this new proposed one. We are in research mode on this proposal. Let us know if you are interested in helping , especially if you live in Santa Rosa .
4. 5300 Sebastopol Road, Llano & Hwy 12. We are still in a holding pattern on this one, waiting for the case to be heard at the County Board of Zoning Adjustments. BZA meetings are usually held on 2nd and 4th Thursdays at 1 pm. There is a 30-day notice period for the concurrent CEQA hearing. Letters to newspapers and to the County, if you have not sent one, should be sent at this time.
5. Petaluma Safeway Gas Station. This case will be in Sonoma County Superior Court this coming Thursday, December 19. We have been told that this is a quick administrative hearing and they don’t need us to show up. We will report on whatever the results of the hearing are.
6. County-wide moratorium. We are in the process of working with supervisors to bring the draft for a vote. It would “hit the pause button” on the County accepting any new applications for gas station until the County has taken the time to review and hopefully revise the rules. Note that this effort does not affect proposals currently in the pipeline, just new applications.
