The opposition has been strong and yet the City Counsel has ignored the concerns of citizens.
- For nearly 5 years Petaluma Residents, Scientists, Environmentalists, Community Groups, and Elected Officials have all spoken out in opposition to the Sid Commons project. It is a model example of a development that puts profit over people.
- The Audubon Society is hugely opposed as well saying, “This site is not appropriate for this massive development, and would destroy natural resources and ecological functions critical for wildlife and the public.”
- The community was stunned when the City Council voted to overturn of the Planning Commission’s rejection of the Sid Commons development.
- Citizens turned out en masse at the City Council meeting to cite the EIR’s use of expired and obsolete data and analysis, and to object to specific technical problems with the project including: flood risk, biological impact, pollution, traffic, water quality, river ecosystem integrity, emergency evacuation, and more.
- Because Petaluma’s General Plan states that the City’s priority should be to “preclude new developments from compounding or impacting the potential for flooding in the developed areas,” citizens find it of grave concern that the site will be “locked in” by SMART train fencing to the west, and the River to the east.
- For 480 families in this neighborhood, there is only one way out in event of flood, earthquake, or fire: heavily congested Payran Street. During the 1982 flood disaster, residents could not escape via Payran because it too was flooded.
- Compounding the neighborhood’s irregular street pattern, the development brings with it traffic levels that drastiacally exceed City standards by approximately 1,000 cars per day, with no bike/pedestrian/transit options and hazardous intersections for all three.
