Yes, isn't it refreshing to be able to discuss things before they're carved in stone?? Like concerned citizens?
My big question is:
HOW could we get Pellini what they want and get us what we want--assuming CVS/Chase has learned they are definitely NOT WHAT WE WANT!
Got any ideas? Anybody? :hmmm:
I lived in Mammoth Lakes for 30 years, and I remember watching as the prime "gateway" corner property first became a Bank of America, and then a strip mall with a Safeway, laundromat, and Rexall. "Welcome to Mammoth, banking, groceries, laundry and drugs on the left"...
It was, and still is, an eyesore. The problem is that we fought it, and fought it, and eventually Safeway out-spent the county, greased the right pockets, and built it. There was plenty of time to stop it by coming up with a better idea, but instead, they tried to beat a huge company in court, and predictably failed.
This is the same issue facing Sebastopol right now, and the same in-effectual game plan. If CVS really wants that location, they will just start suing the town until it's broke. Additionally, everybody has a price, especially politicians.What's a few hundred thousand in bribe money to buy a vote or two when you are a multi-billion dollar corporation/bank? Chase is worth what, half a trillion dollars? You're not going to beat them that way, you have to have another plan.
You have to beat them to the punch, and come up with an offer to the Pellini's that puts the same amount of money in their pocket, faster.
Sebastopol is the Center of California Pinot Noir, what more logical than anchoring the property with the existing classic building turned into a co-op tasting room for small local wineries? The rest of the property can be turned into small retail spaces for restaurants and shops of a like vein.
Co-op tasting rooms are a great way for small producers to get their products into the hands of consumers without going through all the licensing, fighting your neighbors, use permits and finally building a tasting room off on some country road where it's hard to find.
Start contacting every winemaker in the area and float the idea, get somebody that wants to play property management company, and they can take the loan to Exchange Bank or such.
Maybe I could play a part in it, but I don't have any information. If somebody out there has the numbers on this property, let me know, and we can see if they come out right. What's the lot square footage, the existing zoning, the size of the improvements (buildings), the environmental concerns (It was effectively a toxic waste site for 70+ years). Do the owners want to lease or sell and what's the price?
I don't live in Sebastopol right now, but I do want to move back there from the South county area, and as a winemaker, if I had my own small brand, which I soon will, I would love to get my product into a gateway location like that, in a classic old building. The co-op up north of Healdsburg is always full of customers. Why not a place dedicated primarily to Pinot Producers?
This is the first idea that popped into my head that would bring enough businesses together to be able to come up with the money the property owner surely wants
If somebody out there has the numbers and math, post it here, or contact me.
KAT
I think you may be behind the curve here, Kat. The Barlow development just down the road from Pellini, and currently under construction, has already signed up Kosta Browne and Marimar Torres, two distinguished local Pinot producers for tasting rooms. I wouldn't be surprised if a cooperative tasting room or two pops up there like Locals in Geyserville. Besides, this Chase/CVS deal is pretty far along for Pellini to just pull out, if they legally can. More likely Chase may abandon ship if it looks like opposition is too strident and it becomes too risky politically.Quote:
Posted in reply to the post by Karen the KAT:
Regardless of what happens with the Pellini property, Sebastopol really needs to figure out a better way of getting the public into town from the east. Hwy 12 is a real bottleneck and if the town wants to attract business something has to give. If I lived in SR and wanted to come into Sebastopol to the Barlow or some other attraction, it wouldn't take me too long to just blow it off if I had to endure a traffic jam every time.
PS - I think it's a Von's in Mammoth, not a Safeway, not that there's a difference.
Hi Kat,
You can get all that information at the County (Permit & Resource Management) on Ventura Ave in Santa Rosa.
Quote:
Posted in reply to the post by Karen the KAT:
KB and Torres are but two of almost a hundred small labels around Sebastopol. Torres is anything but a small label, and KB has gotten pretty big since they sold. Neither are the type of labels I am talking about. I'm talking about people that produce 2,000 cases, not 20,000...
Yes, exactly like Local's, but specializing in Pinot (Chard and SB) Cold climate (coastal) varietals. Nobody is doing anything like that. Most people I know would love to have a tasting room, but can't afford one and so the only place we can pour for the public is contests, which isn't exactly where your average $50 a bottle customer is hanging out.
The Mammoth Vons was a Safeway long before it was re-branded as a Vons, and moved to where it is now, at the corner of Old Mammoth Rd and Meridian. It was a Safeway at the corner of Old Mammoth Rd, and hwy 203 (AKA Main St.). Before that (1975-76), the only place for groceries was Buster's market, or drive to Bishop, which was our big city vacation LOL!
The numbers needed are what the Pellinni's want to get paid, that is the biggest number. Anybody that would have that would likely have everything else, thus avoiding a trip from Sonoma to Santa Rosa for me. IF anybody has them...
The person with that info would also likely know how far along the deal is.
If it's past time where they could back out, then everything that has been posted about this is moot, because in that case you ARE going to have CVS, like it or not, so better get used to it.
CVS isn't going to be that far along in the process and let some town council dictate terms to them, they have far too much money to put up with that. There comes a certain time in the proceedings where you stop fighting, and get out the honey and try to nicely suggest things, or you run the risk of pissing off some executive(s) that has the power and money to make the whole thing an ugly mess, and they will, just because...
It would not be the first time I have seen that happen. The Town of Mammoth Lakes has gone through that a couple of times before and just recently filed for bankruptcy and is over a hundred million in debt because they decided to oppose a certain development too far into the deal. They blocked the deal, and pissed off the wrong person, and now have a $120,000,000 loss of income judgement against them that they lost, and then lost again on appeal. Then the same company filed dozens of personal suits against the town council, town staff, and everybody else involved, with the publicly stated intention of keeping them all tied up in court until they are all broke. Worse yet, the town was forced to green light the project with no further delays.
It sucks big time, several people I know lost their jobs and everything they had over it...
The trick is getting organized as soon as possible, and of course this rarely happens.
If it's too late, the only thing I can think of is circulate a petition of locals who vow to never shop there if this deal goes through.
It might make them think twice, but they will probably just build it anyway out of spite.
I was a small part of an early major success in blocking a development in Mammoth Lakes in the early 1970's, which has impacted every major development since.
My mother, a lifelong Republican, organized, and paid for out of her own pocket, the landmark court case and subsequent ruling that made environmental impact reports required for any sizable commercial development in California, which every state has since adopted. She also organized and paid for the first environmental impact report, which was done by UCLA, that combined with the ruling, kept the development from moving forward.
The group she organized was called: "The Friends of Mammoth", and still exists as "The Friends of the Sierra". I spent two years of my childhood helping her with it :):
You have to nip shit like this in-the-bud, before it grows too big. Usually that means somebody needs to write checks when they really can't afford it...
If nothing else, pray. Prayer does indeed sometimes move mountains.
all i know is unconfirmed rumors, the price is 5 mill and there is an option. is it to far along to discourage cvs/chase? the waiting for the election game makes me think no. could the pellinis get more if the option is not renewed? probably yes considering when they had the property on the market, but then a lot has come up... you know a lot about mammoth, i think the bankruptcy move is brilliant, a mirror for corporate process. legal action is the elephant in this story, increasingly mentioned in the buildup to election day. i hate that we live in a world increasingly ruled by liability control. risk is a natural part of life and freedom!
Hey Sebastopol Don't $hope at CVS
Please sign the petition to stop shopping at CVS.
When it comes to J P Morgan CHASE and CVS money talks.
Please do not spend your hard earned money at CVS until they withdraw their application to move downtown.
Please help us get the message out. Tell your friends and share this message on Twitter and Facebook.
Thank you
https://www.change.org/petitions/cvs...-of-sebastopol
Love, :heart:
Occupy Sebastopol
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