From: City Council
To: Mary Gourley
Cc: Victoria Henkel; Zulema Higgins; John Jay; Jane Riley Bcc: 1Elected Officials; Alex Mog
Subject: FW: Public Comment 2/3 agenda item 12
Date: Sunday, February 1, 2026 5:46:00 PM
Please see email submitted to the City of Sebastopol.
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Thank you
Mary Gourley
Interim City Manager
From: Melissa Hanley
Sent: Sunday, February 1, 2026 2:22 PM
To: City Council <[email protected]>
Subject: Public Comment 2/3 agenda item 12
Dear Mayor and City Council Members,
I am writing to you today regarding your review of the proposed changes to the Formula Business Ordinance. I am in support of staff’s recommended changes and respectfully request one additional revision.
I strongly urge the Council to amend Section 17.340.040 to replace the current enumerated list of prohibited business types (offices, restaurants, and hotels) with a blanket prohibition on all formula businesses in the downtown core.
Economic Extraction vs. Local Protection The intent of our formula business regulations has always been to protect Sebastopol’s local economy and unique character. As it stands, the ordinance is failing that mandate. The premise of these laws is to prevent the extraction of local revenue to distant shareholders. A formula business, regardless of its specific category, exists to funnel profits out of Sebastopol to investors who have no stake in our community. If our current ordinance allows for this simply because a business isn't a "restaurant" or "hotel," then the ordinance is fundamentally flawed and requires correction.
Please add this revision to your Instruction to staff for their final rewrite of the ordinance.
Respectfully,
Melissa Hanley AIA , IIDA , ASID
Partner & Co-Founder
Sebastopol Design Review Board, Vice Chair