March 2025 Departmental Monthly Report Written: 04-01-2025 Community Development: Planning and Economic Development Monthly Activity Report Emi Thériault, Community Development Director
[email protected]
Current Planning - Permitting Stats
• Fiscal Year to date (through 03-01-2025) Number of applications received…………………………………………………49 • Applications processed……………………………………………………………..…………………………………………..………………...…38 • Meeting attendance: Sebastopol Council, Planning Commission, Design Review Board/Tree Committee including a Joint meeting of DRB and PC, and Public Art Committee, Application meetings with applicants and with internal development review technical committee (DRT), interagency collaborative meetings with Zero Waste Sonoma, Regional Climate Protection Authority, and regional housing.
Advance Planning - Initiatives
1. Sustainable Transportation Grant – Planning staff met with the interagency technical working group. a. Staff met with the project consultant, Fehr & Peers on February 5th This is a CalTrans funded and initiated study to evaluate potential transportation improvements to the Downtown primary strip.
2. Housing:
a. Interjurisdictional efforts Housing Coordination
i. Staff participated in the Napa/Sonoma Collaborative meeting.
3. Alternative Transportation
a. Americorps Trail
i. This City Capital Improvement Plan project is funded by the Sonoma County Ag and Open Space District. CDD staff met with Public Works to discuss the project’s next steps. The project is not shovel ready at this point/is in its environmental permitting phase right now (trail crosses over a water way and requires State Dept. of Fish and Wildlife and Federal Army Corp permits). Construction is likely to commence this summer depending on the length of the rainy season.
Economic Development
1. Barlow Hotel project – Staff increased efforts/added meetings to ensure this item could be heard at a joint PC/DRB meeting on March 25th. The meeting was held, DRB provided guidance to staff re. recommended approaches to future administrative design review, and Planning Commission adopted a resolution recommending approval of the project to Council for its consideration at the April 15th regular Council meeting.
2. Small business support. Emi met with a representative of the Norcal Small Business Development Center. The SBDC is a quasi-government funded agency that is able to offer free training to small businesses. For example, they can offer seminars on addressing such matters as better organizing marketing, improving merchandizing, sending out billables to keep cash flow steady, and provide information re. available small business grants and low interest loans. Emi will be facilitating the connection between the agency and interested Sebastopol business groups.
Department Staffing
Hired Temporary staff to help part time to cover full time Associate Planner position while recruitment for a replacement is underway. Staff has acted quickly and interviews for the Associate Planner position are scheduled to be held in April. A recruitment for a permanent Permit Technician to replace former Planning Technician who resigned in December is underway. However, the priority is to replace the Associate Planner position as this is a key position for day to day current planning operations.