Resident group protests development

City moves forward with parking, hotel studies
Anti-development residents continue to push for a hotel moratorium in Healdsburg despite a pair of studies currently underway to analyze hotel development and parking issues.
While councilmembers are asking the community to trust the city’s planning and building process, some residents are pushing for an immediate ban on new construction.
Warren Watkins and other supporters of Healdsburg Citizens for Sustainable Solutions approached the city council Monday night with a list of signatures that they say shows support for a temporary moratorium on hotel development downtown while the city engages in a strategic planning process.
“We have a spontaneous grassroots effort we want to present to you tonight,” Watkins told the council. He said the proclamation included signatures of people who are requesting that the city place a “moratorium on approval of new hotels pending the completion of the current strategic planning process…”
He noted that the request was being made the night before an important day in the town of Sonoma, which would vote on a hotel limitation initiative Tuesday. Watkins and his group have threatened a similar measure in Healdsburg.
A handful of supporters of Healdsburg Citizens for Sustainable Solutions, and others who also want to see tourism limited and the economic foundation of Healdsburg’s businesses diversified, echoed Watkins’ sentiments.
“The city has had a somewhat conscious plan to promote tourism, and it has worked too well in some ways. … Now we want to focus on the economic diversity and keeping our small town character,” said Robert Neuse.
The city of Healdsburg, meanwhile, has engaged in two separate studies dealing with both of the major issues that most residents became vocally concerned about when a large-scale hotel proposal was proposed on Healdsburg Avenue last month. While the 75-room, 5-story Kessler project was officially dropped by developers last week, other potential projects are being discussed, which worries residents who are concerned that Healdsburg has become too tourist-oriented.
Various city councilmembers and staff continue to say that the “process works” and the city is engaging in a strategic planning process, as well as a downtown parking study and a hotel market analysis, all led by consultants for the city.
“We are moving forward and we do have a process,” councilmember Gary Plass said. “We have a hotel study and a parking study. We have to be patient and let them work through the process.”
As for potential future projects, City Manager Marjie Pettus said though there are lots of rumors, speculation and talk, the city doesn’t analyze projects until they receive a formal proposal. Since the withdrawal of the Kessler project, no other downtown hotel projects have been submitted.
“We can’t afford to start allocating resources until we get something in writing,” she said. With all of the speculation, she said, “what we get in hand is completely different sometimes.”
City councilmembers said that the city’s strategic planning process offers them a good opportunity to have discussions about the hotel and parking issues downtown, and plan to discuss the parking study soon during a joint meeting with the Planning Commission (not yet scheduled).
The market analysis is being completed by an international consulting group that will look at saturation points and evaluate project sectors including moderate and high-end hotels. Assistant City Manager David Mickaelian said the hotel market analysis should be complete by mid-January or early February.
Councilmember Shaun McCaffery said he recognized that timeliness was important for the city since changes or decisions they make regarding parking exemptions, for example, could change the way future projects are submitted.
The city will meet again in the next few months to discuss its strategic plan, and those conversations will likely include the hotel and parking issues, as the city develops its annual goals after the first of the year.