Re: Cotati City Council meeting
July 28, 2026
Agenda Item 7B, Freeway Oriented Development Zoning Overlay Dear Mayor Lemus and Cotati City Council members,
I was greatly disturbed by this Zoning Overlay and was prompted to take several drives in the proposed expanded area. It occurs to me that the signage is too close to the only exit to Cotati heading South. If you wanted to get off and explore and missed the exit, you would have to drive to Petaluma and then make your way back.
What other creative ideas might the city come up with to make people aware of the businesses in the industrial area? A scavenger hunt with a prize? A sign before the Cotai exit that says these businesses are available at next exit? Flyers available at the farmer's market? Music festivals to make people aware of offerings in Cotati? Cotati spent almost a decade designing the city to be pedestrian oriented and now we want to focus on cars with expanding drive-thru opportunities. WHY? I'm not sure signage is the answer for struggling businesses. I wonder how much of the sale tax revenue in Cotati is from Online Sales. It seems to me there should be more focus on what attracts people to come to Cotati. Is it the character and charm? How is this proposal linked to Enhanced Infrastructure Financing District? There seems to be pressure for the city to develop to enhance its property tax revenue base. Does this skew the approval process for projects? Are we looking for large scale to add to the city's revenue stream?
What is the purpose of our city? To line the coffers of developers, or to enhance the lives of its residents who will be here after the developers have banked their profits and moved on to the next profit-producing project? Let's protect the residents who will be left in the wake, and have to deal with the impact of the change in their lives imposed by poorly thought-out projects.
I would urge you to slow the process down and not throw out all of the work that has made Cotati what it is, or isn't, today.
Thanks to citizens encouraging the Council, Planning Commission, and Design Review, we don't have a mammoth Nokia Building that was scheduled to be built where the Lowe's sits currently. We don't have big boxes. We don't have a drive through on every corner. We have a fast food restaurant moratorium.
We have Oliver's, now an employee-owned business, which the city saw fit to loan money to once upon a time. What a success story that has become.
Kindest regards,
Linell Hardy