By Jennifer Sawhney

After five years of planning, thousands of comments, and more than 100 opportunities to share feedback on the city’s long-term planning document, the Petaluma City Council approved General Plan 2050 and its accompanying environmental impact report Monday night.

Hours after the public hearing on the General Plan began, the council held two separate votes beginning at about 11:35 p.m., one for the environmental impact report and the second for the General Plan. Each passed 6-1. 

Councilmember Alex DeCarli voted against both items, and unsuccessfully sought a second motion from his peers to delay the vote for each of the items. Despite the pressure to pass such items after years of planning, which he acknowledged, he called for more studies to further scrutinize details of the plan.

The document will guide the city’s development for the next few decades, and contains substantial updates to the city’s long-term planning goals. The 550-page document addresses subjects including flood resilience, land use, transportation, economic development, noise, and more. 

It is composed of 16 guiding principles broken down into 97 goals, 386 policies, and 1,028 specific actions. 

A few speakers from local businesses, including Shotwell Auto Body and John’s Dairy and Pool Supply, asked for specific zoning changes to their properties from what were in the plan, which they feared could lead to the demise of their long-running businesses.

Speakers pushed back on increases to building height limits, which they said would erode the city’s charm and lead to increased traffic. Some worried that the city understated the severity of drought impacts on the city’s future water supply and misrepresented the amount of water residents would use in the case of a drought.

Submitted comments showed support for 15-minute activity centers and goals to grow more food within the city. Other speakers supported the higher-density units proposed around transit hubs and measures to encourage pedestrian and bike activity throughout the city, among others.

Petaluma Voice will publish an updated version of this story next week with more substantial updates and details on what’s included in the plan.

To review the city’s General Plan, visit planpetaluma.org. To see the documents reviewed during last night’s meeting, see item 16: cityofpetaluma.primegov.com/Portal/Meeting?meetingTemplateId=20537.

Jennifer Sawhney is a reporter and co-founder of Petaluma Voice. She can be reached at jsawhney@petalumavoice.org.