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ADDRESS TO CITY COUNCIL
Members of the City Council, my name is John Paulsen. I am the owner of Roseland Village Shopping Center, which is located to the East of the CDC/MidPen property. I am here appealing the MidPen Tentative Map Extension approved by the Planning Commission. In fact, I have attended all of the CDC/MidPen Stearing/Community Meetings, Planning and City Council meetings, as well as Sonoma County Planning and Board of Supervisors meetings where I have voiced my Opposition to CDC/MidPen’s plans and tentative maps. There plans ignore and destroys my property’s and more importantly my tenant’s historical and recorded easement right to have their patrons park on CDC parking area. [All of my concerns have been ignored by the CDC and MidPen building of affordable housing which will eliminate Paulsen’s recorded easement access to 272 Parking Spaces and traffic circulation. Thus destroying the 14 Hispanic businesses,…who cares?... CDC/MidPen don’t care.]
Attachment 19
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MidPen’s traffic study clearly states that there won’t be enough parking spaces on their site just for what has been approved on their tentative map not counting my tenants’ needs. Their tentative map even gives away Land that I have a Parking Easement over to the City of Santa Rosa for city streets. Do Recorded Easements matter? When you are the County and MidPen can you just run over and destroy anyone in your way? Additionally, MidPen’s plans of market rate apartments eliminates circulation of Truck access around and through my parcel for delivers to the food market and other businesses that just like other shopping centers take their deliveries of goods and supplies at the back of their store. I would like the City Council Members to step into my shoes just for a minute. Just imagine before you were born your parents started assembling land totaling 12 acres that would become the site of the future Roseland Village Shopping Center. The first shopping center in Sonoma County. Not having enough money to build a shopping center, your Father had to - 3 -
sell 7 acres to Hugh Codding at a huge discount with the agreement that Codding would build the anchor tenant, Pam Market, other buildings, pave the 7 acres, and create 272 parking spaces that would be used by both my Father, Codding and tenants of the shopping center -- to be mutually beneficial to both. Additionally, Codding and your Father agreed to this arrangement and signed and recorded an Easement so that the parking, and traffic circulation that was established by the building that were built and have remained in their same location since the 1950s (until CDC demolished them) and this Recorded Easement stated that the shopping center would remain a shopping center. Our property has not changed ownership while the Codding’s 7 acres has changed hands. Each owner has honored the recorded Easement. In fact, prior to the CDC’s purchasing the property the Leases even stated that tenants would not violate the Recorded Easement. When the CDC was in escrow to purchase this property, Kathleen Kane acknowledged and initialed on the Preliminary Title Report, the Easement, - 4 -
noting “Paulsens Parking.” Yet CDC/MidPen ignored and pushed ahead with Sonoma County and now the City of Santa Rosa blessing these plans. Yes, if you uphold the Planning Commission’s extension of CDC/MidPen’s Tentative Map you will be destroying 14 Hispanic Businesses that have relied on parking for their customers. MidPen’s plans need to change. I’m not opposed to affordable housing, I am opposed to the CDC and MidPen running over and ignoring property owner’s Recorded Easement. Property owners have rights, too! City Council Members your vote affects me and my tenants. Don’t kid yourselves. Someday, a county or city could do this to you.