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HomeMy WebLinkAboutAgenda Bill 1ALate2 02/08/2010o.~ From: Sent: To: Subject: Late document Crump, Katie . Monday, February 08, 2010 8:51 AM - City Clerk FW; Living Wage Coalition letter on East Washington Place EIR -----Original Message----- From: martin Bennett [mailto:mbennett@vom.com] Sent: Sunday, February 07, 2010 9:28 AM To: daveglass@comcast.riet; david@davidrabbitt.com; mike4pet@aol.com; Ptorliatt@aol.com; teresa4petaluma@comcast.net; tiff@designmotif.com Cc: edanly@meyersnave.com; Brown, john; Crump, Katie Subject: Living Wage Coalition letter on East Washington Place EIR Mayor Pamela Torliatt Petaluma City Council 11 English Street Petaluma, CA 94952 February 6, 2010 RE: East Washington Place EIR Dear Mayor Torliatt and Members of the Petaluma City Council: We continue to stand opposed to the proposed Regency East Washington Place project. We urge that you not accept and certify the EIR and the site map for the proposed project. The council does not have sufficient information to determine if the project conforms to CEQA and the Petaluma General Plan. We believe the council should request a supplemental EIR and FEIA before moving forward with the approvals process. Based upon the information provided by this EIR, the project certainly does not conform to the new general plan. Approval of the EIR and the project will set a very low bar for general plan conformance, and will impact the approval process for subsequent projects,. mthealy@sbcglobal.net; Clearly, the project is not transit oriented development appropriate for the largest parcel that will be developed within five blocks from the SMART train station -- particularly given the hundreds of low wage jobs the project will .create that do not pay a living wage and benefits, the lack of affordable arid work force housing, and the lack of integrated planning for jobs, housing, and transit along the East Washington corridor. There is also a new issue to consider: Target is now remodeling their stores in Sonoma County to provide the capacity for• full-service grocery sales. See below articles from a trade publication and the Wall Street journal about the plan by the giant retailer to scale back construction of new stores and to remodel existing stores for grocery and retail. The original FEIA for East Washington Place did not consider the impacts another large grocery would have on nearby grocery stores such as Safeway, Whole Foods, Raley's, and Trader Toe's. It seems highly likely that this new Target will carry an expanded range of groceries including fresh fruits and vegetables, dairy, frozen foods, and canned goods. Minimally, there should be a supplemental EIR that would examine the issues of traffic, greenhouse gas emissions/air quality, urban blight, alternative uses for the site, and ground water issues -- particularly given that a Friedman's could well be a second anchor store in the project. We also believe that there should be a revised FEIA that reexamines the issues of the fiscal impacts on local business, and job quality at the project. The council should resist lobbying from the business community to accept and certify the EIR and push forward with a "new sales tax at any cost" agenda as the only solution to the fiscal crisi's of the city. The lawsuit by Regency is simply an attempt to ramp up pressure on the council to approve an EIR that is inadequate and incomplete--and ultimately, to approve a project that does not conform to the General Plan. Find below again the letter we submitted to you for the 7anuary 4th council meeting, which elaborates our reasons why you should not accept and certify the EIR and the site map. Sincerely, Marty Bennett, Co-Chair, Living Wage Coalition Cindy Thomas, Co-Chair, Living Wage Coalition Mayor Pamela Torliatt Petaluma City Council 11 English Street Petaluma, CA 94952 7anuary 3, 2010 Re: East Washington Place EIR and Site Map Dear Mayor Torliatt and Members of the Petaluma City Council: We are writing to urge that you not certify and accept the EIR and proposed site map for the Regency Centers proposed East Washington Place development. The EIR and site map are inadequate. Given the problems of the EIR, the council does not have complete information to determine if the project conforms to CEQA and the Petaluma General Plan. The EIR does not adequately analyze alternative land use at the site 2' such as light manufacturing, renewable energy, bio-tech, and other industries that could create. good jobs with benefits, and substantial revenues for the city. . Moreover, it is not clear if a Friedman's Home Improvement store with an outdoor lumber and materials yard will be included in the project. The EIR does not address this possibility. If Friedman's will become an anchor tenant, we believe this will require both a revised EIR and FEIA. Without more information another EIR could provide, the draft EIR and the Fiscal and Economic Assessment (FEIA), we believe, indicate that the project does not meet the test of General Plan conformity for the following reasons: 1) The project will create more than 600 low-wage and part-time jobs; half of the workers will not have medical benefits. The increase of low-wage employment will only worsen the jobs-housing imbalance in the city and the county. The growth of low=wage employment will also impact public services, such as emergency medical services at Petaluma Valley Hospital and county health clinics. 2) The project will also negatively impact other public services. The developer's contributions to public safety and fire services will not be offset by the increased costs of such a large project 3) The one-story buildings with 1500 parking spaces design are a suburban model of land-use development and not suitable for the urban core of Petaluma. The. project is not mixed-use,, but basically retail; nor does the project provide access to mass transit and promote alternative transportation like train, bicycles, or pedestrian. The General Plan clearly mandates that new developments promote high density, smart, and equitable growth, and mass transit. 4) There is no work force or affordable housing in the project. The demand for affordable housing in the city, particularly .low and very low-income housing, will spike significantly as a consequence of the dramatic increase of low-wage jobs. The contribution by the developer required under the jobs/housing linkage fee is insufficient to mitigate the increased need for affordable housing. Sincerely, Marty Bennett, Co-Chair, Living Wage Coalition Cindy Thomas, Co-Chair, Living Wage Coalition http://www.dailyfinance.comjstory/company-news/target-to-spend-l-billion-on-remodeling- Stores-testing-small-u/193.25993/# Target to Spend $1 Billion on Remodeling Stores, Testing Small Urban Shops By Mercedes Cardona Posted 1:00 PM 01/21/10 Company News, Economy, Wal-Mart Stores, 3 Target Corp., Costco Wholesale Corp., Retail Target Corp. (TGT) plans to announce a $1 billion renovation program that will include revamping its existing stores, experimenting with smaller store openings in urban areas and expanding its presence abroad over the next decade. The ambitious plan will kick off with the renovation of about 340 stores this year. The changes will primarily focus on merchandise. and store design and will include such measures as expanding its grocery departments and altering the layout and product mixes in the beauty, home electronics and video games departments. The remodeling is the result of Target's P-Fresh initiative, a move toward offering a larger selection of fresh foods that the company has been testing in select stores over the past year. faced with growing competition from Wal-Mart Stores (WMT), which has been aggressively remodeling stores, as well as discount clubs like Costco Wholesale Corp (COST) and 67's Wholesale Club (BJ), Target has been experimenting with new concepts like P-Fresh in order to attract penny-pinching consumers who are increasingly turning to discounters for their grocery shopping needs. The competition is getting heated. Over the past year, Target has engaged in a price-dropping ' tit-for-tat with Wal-Mart and has recently taken on the warehouse clubs by testing a limited-time sale of bulk items it called The Great Save. Domestic Expansion Will be Limited and Experimental While Target will be busy renovating its existing stores, it does not plan to open very many new ones. In fact, the retailer said its plans for the year include fewer than 10 net new stores. City dwellers, however, may see a new version of Target popping up on their block. The company said it will begin testing a new concept for dense urban markets that features smaller stores with a reduced selection of products. Meanwhile, over the next decade, the company plans to expand stores outside the U.S. Management estimates that a larget percentage of the company's growth in the next three to five years will come from Canada, Mexico and the rest of Latin America. Target is just. one of Several retailers who are looking to renovate existing stores .and test new strategies in order to grab more market share and reap greater profits. With unemployment still a major concern, consumer spending is expected to remain weak. Instead of opening: new stores, merchants will focus on squeezing every dime they can from shoppers by merchandising their stores to the hilt and trying to make them a one-stop shopping experience. http://online.wsj.com/article/5610001424052748703699204575017452454598616.html Target Cubs New Store Expansion: Discount chain Shifts Tack, Will Remodel More Outlets to Emphasize Groceries Wall Street Journal January 22, 2010 4 Target Plans $16illion Store Remodeling As Part of A 10 Year Plan http://online.wsj.com/article/BT-CO-20100121-708328.htm1 Wall Street Jounral January 21, 2010 Dept. of Social Science Santa Rosa Junior College 1501 Mendocino Ave. Santa Rosa, Ca. 95401 (707) 527-4873 Office (707) 522-2755 Fax (707) 939-8933 Home Office 5