LETTERS TO THE EDITOR 2-2-12

Rotary mission
Editor: The Rotary Clubs of Sebastopol and Sebastopol Sunrise
have not taken a political stance for or against the CVS/Chase
project. Members of our clubs are business owners and
professionals, active citizens in this community. Rotary
International is a non-political and non-denominational service
organization. Any political opinions our members express are on
their own behalf and in no way represent either Rotary Club. Rotary
Clubs are made up of both men and women representing over 200
countries in the free world. Our mission is to improve lives in our
communities and around the world. For more information on Rotary
and our local clubs please visit our websites, sebastopolrotary.org
and sebsunriserotary.org.
Aleia Coate, president
Rotary Club of Sebastopol
Jerry Meshulam, president
Rotary Club of Sebastopol Sunrise
 
My three minutes
Editor: I didn’t get a chance to speak to the City Council on
Jan. 23 about the Design Review Board’s rejection of the CVS
project, but this is what I wanted to say in my three minutes:
• The Berlin Wall: To accommodate the “racking” inside their
store, CVS plans no real street-level windows along the entire
120-foot frontage — only fake windows a few inches deep with “art”
in them.
This design is contrary to the City’s design guidelines: the
Council should insist that CVS have real windows, like the retail
stores along Main Street. The developer can see a good example of
street-level windows in the old Pellini Chevrolet building.
• The Portico: A child could have designed the currently
proposed entryway to the CVS project with a ruler and three quick
lines. It’s pig-ugly. The DRB rejected this design: they say it’s
boxy, corporate, over-large, and out of keeping with Sebastopol’s
style.
A speaker referred to the storefront of Whole Foods as a low-key
design (with street-level windows) that fronts a large and very
successful retail operation. Why can’t we see something like that
for this project? We don’t need a building that looks like Office
Depot.
• Gridlock at Frizelle-Enos: The Pellini car dealership never
had anything close to the traffic the bank and pharmacy will
generate.
Petaluma Avenue between Frizelle-Enos and the Highway 12
intersection is already often at gridlock. Dumping a stream of cars
down an alley onto Abbott Avenue will make it worse.
At the hearing, even supporters of the project began to lean
forward and listen carefully as Peter Schurch of the DRB described
how difficult it will be for shoppers to exit onto Petaluma Avenue
and edge their way through two lanes of traffic if they want to
head south or west of town.
After a couple of stressful trips down that alley and onto
Abbott, and then begging their way through lane changes, many of
CVS’s current customers will just move their prescriptions to
Safeway or RiteAid, and it will be a lose-lose situation for both
CVS/Chase and for the community.
A keep-clear zone on Petaluma — the second in 150 feet — will
not solve the problem. Unless some kind of major change is made in
the plan, the only thing that will allow CVS/Chase traffic to exit
is another stoplight on Petaluma Avenue.
Won’t CalTrans love that? Won’t we all?
Kevin Dwan
Sebastopol
 
Pellini contributions
Editor: One Bill Southridge recently wrote a letter to the
editor in Santa Rosa’s daily newspaper, claiming that the Pellini
family has a responsibility to our community regarding the
development of their commercial property. Really?
For over nine decades and four generations, the Pellini family
ran a successful auto dealership in our community. They employed
scores of individuals, many lived and shopped here, they paid
property taxes as well as sales taxes on a high ticket item, to our
community for those nine decades. They sold and serviced a 100
percent American-built product at fair, competitive prices.
They have served on various boards and committees in our
community during that time. They have donated their time, money and
resources in support of our community, including donating the use
of rare automobiles from their private collection for our signature
community event, the Apple Blossom Festival.
How much more responsible should they be?
Perhaps, Mr. Southridge, you should write another letter to the
editor apologizing for your impudence to the Pellinis. While you
are at it sir, make sure you thank the Pellinis for their
contributions to our community. After all it would be the
responsible thing to do.
Bob Aita
Sebastopol
 
A sad legacy
Editor: At the last City Council meeting regarding the CVS/Chase
project, I was struck by the general distinction between those who
spoke in favor of the project and those opposed to it. Outside of
the pro-business community, friends of the Pellini family and
conscripted Rotarians, most of the remaining advocates were either
senior or near-senior citizens.
On the other hand, many of those in opposition to this project,
as currently proposed, described how they were attracted to
Sebastopol specifically to start and/or raise their families. They
spoke of walking and biking around town, and how the impacts of
this project would negatively affect them and their children far
into the future. One speaker’s young daughter asked why he had to
spend the evening at that meeting. He explained to her that he was
trying to prevent her town from starting to look like Rohnert Park,
which garnered her full support for his attendance.
Many older residents of Sebastopol have children who have grown
up and moved away, often due to economic necessity. To avoid
becoming an affluent “grey-haired ghetto,” we need to do all that
we can to encourage young families to locate here. The detrimental
impacts of this project on our downtown are certainly no inducement
to do so.
Long after these current supporters are deceased, in a nursing
home or living elsewhere with their adult children, the residents
remaining here will be left to deal with the effects of the sad
legacy they seek to leave behind.
John Eder
Sebastopol
 
Bloated budget
Editor: At a time when budgets are tight, and programs and
services in our community are being cut back, the Pentagon budget
keeps getting bigger. The Secretary of Defense announced on Jan. 26
that he plans to slow the rate of growth for the Pentagon budget,
but even under this proposal in 10 years the Pentagon budget would
still be bigger than it is today.
Our members of Congress must stick with the current law, which
requires the Pentagon to cut its budget by nearly $1 trillion over
the next decade — twice what the Secretary is proposing.
Over the last decade, the Pentagon budget has grown by 100
percent. Some of that growth was to pay for the wars, but a lot of
it went right into the Pentagon budget. Right now, we are all
having to cut back. The Pentagon should have to as well.
Deanne Thompson
Sebastopol