CVS/Chase development proposal

[News Radio Tony]

If you missed the interview with Shepherd Bliss this morning, it's uploaded to the archives.

Linky:

https://www.ksro.com/Programs/KSROAMNews.aspx

[Peace Voyager]

OK, now it's clear, you created a new thread and moved it to:
Going over-time when commenting at public meetings

I don't think that was needed.

My response to this seems to have disappeared; any clues WaccoTechs? It was there, then gone, then I posted this, then I saw the one I was looking for, so I tried to delete this, now the other one is gone again. Very strange. I put a lot of time and thought into it; can you rescue it? It was posted just a few minutes ago.

Thanks!

[Barry]

OK, now it's clear, you created a new thread and moved it to:
Going over-time when commenting at public meetings

I don't think that was needed.

I did.

I expect to comment on your post, and I suspect many other will too. It's more about how public meetings are run and participated in than it is about the CVS/Chase development.

Sorry, I thought the system was going to send you an automatic notice that it had been moved.

[sandoak]

Hi Barry, Thanks for requesting a copy of my letter to our City Council Members. Here it is:

As a co-owner of a Main Street business, I'm concerned that this project, if approved, would damage, perhaps fatally, our business and others in Sebastopol's downtown. A large part of our business comes from tourists passing through Sebastopol on their way to the coast, or exploring our town for its unique qualities. Our current traffic congestion motivates many residents of Santa Rosa and points east to bypass Sebastopol by taking Occidental Road and other routes to the coast. When you merge increased traffic with decreased uniqueness, you create conditions for loss of clientele, small business failure, and more commercial vacancies. I believe this scenario is far more likely than "increased jobs and taxes."


What would serve Sebastopol well would be for CVS and Chase to invest their proposed development money in improvements to their current buildings at the Redwood Center. Let this center become a vital commerce point. That they aren't pursuing this option seems to confirm their track record of putting competitors out of business. With CVS at Redwood and Rite Aid downtown, Sebastopol can support two pharmacies. At the proposed site, CVS will eliminate Rite Aid, our choices, and many jobs.


I'm tired of seeing projects that do not serve the unique, CittaSlow character of Sebastopol demand the time and energy of concerned citizens. Caring people come to hearings at great personal expense, patiently waiting their turn to oppose corporate representatives who are paid for their time. Sebastopol needs new regulations that keep us safe from corporate interests. We need enforceable guidelines that nurture local businesses, innovate sustainable practices, express our unique esthetics, and offer leadership in relating human commerce to the needs and character of local ecosystems.


Last night I attended a presentation about the ongoing disaster at Fukushima. Watching the struggle of the Japanese people to receive even minimal government response, I saw more clearly than ever that we are living in a time of struggle between the forces of profit and the forces of life. There must be a process by which the leaders, businesses, and citizens of Sebastopol can align ourselves unequivocally with the forces of life.

[misha77]

I will not vote for any council member who supports CVS or Chase because they are both heavily involved with ALEC which is a secretive operation that undermines local legislature and minimizes environmental protection laws. First Chase, then Walmart and Target and before you know it, our small town will be just another casualty of big business. No way, no day do the people of Sebastopol want that.

I wouldn't be apposed to a parking garage if it was connected by a road from the back of that property. I am apposed to Chase. Chase is an evil entity. I am not interested in giving Chase further footing in this town.
Council Member Kathleen Shaffer

[email protected]

Please email Kathleen and let her know she will be loosing your vote if she continues to support the Chase Development.

[sandoak]

I haven't heard of ALEC before. Would you provide us with more information? Sounds important.

I will not vote for any council member who supports CVS or Chase because they are both heavily involved with ALEC which is a secretive operation that undermines local legislature and minimizes environmental protection laws. First Chase, then Walmart and Target and before you know it, our small town will be just another casualty of big business. No way, no day do the people of Sebastopol want that.

[Shepherd]

In response to Sandy's question, ALEC is the American Legislative Exchange Council. It is indeed one of the worst wealthy groups in the U.S. It has recently been exposed and you can go to ALECexposed.org for details. Even many of the other worst corporations in the U.S. have pulled out their support. I will try to copy and forward information in this email from their homepage, which may or may not forward. Its further presence in Sebastopol through Chase/CVS would further limit our freedoms of choice.
Shepherd

THE CENTER FOR MEDIA AND DEMOCRACY EXPOSED THESE BILLS! CLICK HERE TO READ BREAKING NEWS OF OUR INVESTIGATION ON CMD'S PRWATCH!

ALEC Exposed

Through ALEC, Global Corporations Are Scheming to Rewrite YOUR Rights and Boost THEIR Revenue Through the corporate-funded American Legislative Exchange Council, global corporations and state politicians vote behind closed doors to try to rewrite state laws that govern your rights. These so-called "model bills" reach into almost every area of American life and often directly benefit huge corporations. In ALEC's own words, corporations have "a VOICE and a VOTE" on specific changes to the law that are then proposed in your state. DO YOU?

["Mad" Miles]

Mark Fiore has explained ALEC in a very direct, brief and accessible way:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?featur...&v=NXUPDAMc_6o

[misha77]

Shepherd Bliss and "Mad" Miles, is there anyway that we can send that link to the video ALEC Rock, which is quite educational and enlightening, to every city council member?

Mark Fiore has explained ALEC in a very direct, brief and accessible way:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?featur...&v=NXUPDAMc_6o

[billbb]

I've been a West County resident since the early 90's. I've chosen to live here for one main reason -- it's an escape from much of the corporatizing that's going on most everywhere else. I've treasured Sebastopol and Occidental for the small town, respect-your-neighbor culture. Small and local business is a big part of our ambience.

It's a sign of these ugly times elsewhere that Chase and CVS and their thug legal team would try to bully -- with threats of lawsuits -- Sebastopol into allowing them to invade our area and overthrow our culture. I thought bullying was finally/recently on our radar as unpermissible.

I hope Sebastopol council members value the town they're sworn to serve enough to stand up to the behemoth. It's committed to gobbling up everything in its path, strewing waste in its wake.

[dominus]

Thank you for acknowledging the many individuals who have come forth to express disagreement with this project and who don't get paid for their time and effort.

Hi Barry, Thanks for requesting a copy of my letter to our City Council Members. Here it is:

As a co-owner of a Main Street business, I'm concerned that this project, if approved, would damage, perhaps fatally, our business and others in Sebastopol's downtown. A large part of our business comes from tourists passing through Sebastopol on their way to the coast, or exploring our town for its unique qualities. Our current traffic congestion motivates many residents of Santa Rosa and points east to bypass Sebastopol by taking Occidental Road and other routes to the coast. When you merge increased traffic with decreased uniqueness, you create conditions for loss of clientele, small business failure, and more commercial vacancies. I believe this scenario is far more likely than "increased jobs and taxes."


What would serve Sebastopol well would be for CVS and Chase to invest their proposed development money in improvements to their current buildings at the Redwood Center. Let this center become a vital commerce point. That they aren't pursuing this option seems to confirm their track record of putting competitors out of business. With CVS at Redwood and Rite Aid downtown, Sebastopol can support two pharmacies. At the proposed site, CVS will eliminate Rite Aid, our choices, and many jobs.


I'm tired of seeing projects that do not serve the unique, CittaSlow character of Sebastopol demand the time and energy of concerned citizens. Caring people come to hearings at great personal expense, patiently waiting their turn to oppose corporate representatives who are paid for their time. Sebastopol needs new regulations that keep us safe from corporate interests. We need enforceable guidelines that nurture local businesses, innovate sustainable practices, express our unique esthetics, and offer leadership in relating human commerce to the needs and character of local ecosystems.


Last night I attended a presentation about the ongoing disaster at Fukushima. Watching the struggle of the Japanese people to receive even minimal government response, I saw more clearly than ever that we are living in a time of struggle between the forces of profit and the forces of life. There must be a process by which the leaders, businesses, and citizens of Sebastopol can align ourselves unequivocally with the forces of life.

["Mad" Miles]

Shepherd Bliss and "Mad" Miles, is there anyway that we can send that link to the video ALEC Rock, which is quite educational and enlightening, to every city council member?

The email addresses of all City Council Members, and Staff are on the city's website. I assume you're talking about, "Town". As many refer to Sebastopol here. And it's the obvious city in this Thread Topic. Just riffing!

And thanks for asking.

https://ci.sebastopol.ca.us/city-directory

[Shepherd]

Does the following on the suburbanization of Lexington, KY, by CVS look and sound familiar?
Shepherd

LEXINGTON DESERVES BETTER

Lexington has long suffered at the hands of developers who don’t value or respect the way a downtown should look and feel.

In the most recent example, CVS has proposed building a suburban CVS at the entrance to our downtown, in between Main and Vine. This site is one of the most crucial in downtown Lexington. The buildings at this intersection set the tone for most visitors entering Main Street and downtown Lexington.

A suburban CVS has no place in our downtown. CVS should deliver a store appropriate for an urban location. We know they can do it — they do it in most major metropolitan areas — and when pressured, they also do it in smaller cities. We need to apply that pressure, now — before a design is finalized.

Join us by signing your name to the petition below. Pledge to never shop at a downtown CVS if they build a suburban CVS in our crucial downtown location. We’ll deliver this petition to Mayor Newberry, in the hopes that he will care enough about this crucial entrance to our city and call CVS on behalf of all Lexingtonians to encourage them to reconsider their inappropriate design


What’s wrong with the current design?

Primarily, the design reflects a far greater effort to stamp the building with the CVS brand than to respect and respond to the downtown context.

For example: The synthetic stucco arches have no architectural integrity, make no reference to any architectural idea or form, and yet they are dominant elements. Simply put, the arches are CVS signage, without the letters.

CVS store in Huntersville, North Carolina -
A much better alternative design

The false windows with the pseudo arched tops are arbitrary quotes from building types dating from the late 19th century. When plastered on a building like this, they have a Disney-esque quality: they reek of a tepid attempt to introduce quaintness.

The city and state need to work out a better way for pedestrians to walk from the east to this location. It is a frightening experience trying to cross that intersection, and it is just a matter of time before a tragic accident will result from failure to address this deficiency, because the new drugstore will attract considerable foot traffic from the residential areas immediately to the east.

[billbb]

If anyone is wondering about why CVS and Chase are being opposed, know this. We have local banks and credit unions that support our local economy while Chase and other big banks run a casino, gambling with government-guaranteed coverage in order to pay their top-tier managers mega-million salaries each year. And CVS has manipulated Sonoma County into a health insurance scheme for county employees whereby prescriptions are paid only if they are filled at a CVS pharmacy, taking business away from local pharmacies such as Tuttles and threatening their ability to stay in business.

If we cannot draw a line here in West County in holding back rapine capitalism, I don't know how to maintain hope for the future.

[misha77]

ALEC via CVS/Chase is attempting to strong arm the community and infiltrate local legislation is also what is ultimately at stake here. We have to say no to the CVS/Chase proposal for so may other reasons, of course. It is not just a cosmetic issue. Architectural continuity and integrity, traffic issues, etc. It is by allowing CVS, part of a huge conglomerate corp. and a very destructive, secretive "charitable" organization that will open the door for further destruction of the power of local government. They are already diminishing the validity of community, local government and the voices of the people who live here and want to keep business local. I think that should be obvious to those who have already participated in the town council meetings. Their lawyers do not respect us and are trying to convince the council that our careful considerations do not matter. ALEC has a right wing fundamentalist agenda and is opposed to environmentalists in a huge way. Make no mistake about this. Environmentalism is what they consider to be the "Green Dragon". Please understand this on no uncertain terms. If you search for the words "green dragon" on youtube, you will find videos. I do not wish to undermine anyone's religion, but I do think that we should all take pause when a fundamentalist group is attempting to over run legislature and to diminish environmental protection laws.

[Barry]

I'd like to keep this thread focused on the local issues, rather than an investigation of ALEC and wide ranging corporate misdeeds. But since the Alec videos were mentioned (and are excellent) I'll repost them here, but please let's stay on the topic of this proposal.

[Helen Shane]

Finale, sort of:

Expand

CVS/Chase/Armstrong
This Tuesday
August 7

City Council Meets6 pm to 10 pm(?)

Sebastopol Community/Cultural CenterMorris St. off Hwy 12.

While we’d like to believe that justice will be done…

It ain’t over ‘til it’s over. Recommendation by staff is “that the City Council continue their deliberations on this Agenda Item and Act on the Appeal."

The outcome is unpredictable, and many factors can help sway the City Council.

Public testimony is not on the agenda, but you know that the proponents of the project will try to outnumber us in attendance.

Wear thick skin, broad shoulders, sturdy derriere; bring neighbors, friends and family.

See you there… it should be very exciting. Pertinent information on the application can be found at https://ci.sebastopol.ca.us/page/mee...inutes-reports scroll to Agenda Item 6.

Send a message to Council Mayor and Members…Urge them to do the right thing.

Mayor Guy Wilson [email protected]
Vice Mayor Michael Kyes [email protected]
Council Member Sarah Gurney [email protected]
Council Member Kathleen Shaffer [email protected]
Council Member Patrick Slayter [email protected]
City Clerk Mary Gourley [email protected]

Never doubt that a small group of thoughtful, committed citizens can change the world. Indeed, it is the only thing that ever has.
Margaret Mead

[1104GT]

I cannot attend the City Council meeting, but wanted to share my note to our Council members:

Mr. Wilson, Ms. Gurney, Mr. Kyes, Ms. Shaffer, and Mr. Slater:

Thank you for your continued efforts in reviewing the CVS/Chase project and for conducting organized and civil meetings. As you know, I oppose the design of this project due to the suburban nature of the site design which has not changed in any meaningful way since the last version which was rejected by the design review board and you supporter that rejection. In fact, the 4 to 1 vote of the design review board indicates that this project has gone in the wrong direction.

I think CVS views Sebastopol as a suburban, auto based community, so their suburban business model is the one that works here. With 7,000 people in town and 35,000 surrounding us, I'm not sure they're wrong, but if they want to move downtown, they need to operate in a downtown way. If that doesn't work for them, then downtown is not the place for them to move.

Summary of Changes Since the Last Meeting
A. Front door of CVS moved off the sidewalk - Now this project, with hundreds of linear feet of frontage on our two most important streets, has one insignificant entry on the sidewalk. Really? How can this possiby conform to our General Plan and Design Review Guidelines that call for our downtown to be "pedestrian friendly". This move makes it obvious that CVS is still in "suburban" mode and feels they must tether the entry to the closest parking stalls. Pedestrian and downtown activity is clearly not valuable to them.

B. Mid-block driveway changed to in-only - This driveway is unacceptable in any configuration. Downtowns rely on a City's street grid for vehicular access and should not have mid-block driveways that endanger and discourage pedestrians.

C. Windows changed to vision glass - While I applaud this move, I was very aware of Kevin's use of the word "scrim". In theater, this term refers to backdrops and in the signage world, "scrim" is large format digitally printed material used on billboards and supermarket ad banners. I suspect they intend to add a vision block of some sort so we still won't be actually seeing into the space. While this isn't a huge issue with me, the photo attached shows what it will really look like. We might as well know now so we're not surprised later.

D. Wood and stucco changed to brick - Building decoration changes are meaningless and a waste of energy until the site plan is fixed. I think they are offered mostly as a distraction. That said, in looking at CVS examples across the country, they seem to have three models: Brick, stucco or Dwell magazine (wood). They started with stucco, then went to the Dwell model which was rejected, so now we have the brick model. Kevin offered a lot of disingenuous reasons for brick ("wood is too expensive" ... hmmm, wood was their last proposal!). I suggest a revolutionary idea of a combination of materials. Again, this the least of my concerns.


Specific Direction
Many of the findings from the City Council and the DRB speak to the project needing to be "downtown" in nature, but nothing has been done to change the nature of this project. I certainly can't find a reason to approve it now when it was unacceptable before. Once again the applicant has done more work on a flawed plan rather than fix the design. And instead of the temper tantrums and personal attacks that we saw at the last Council meeting, they decided on parading out their junior attorney. This applicant has wasted way too much of this City's time and Kevin has done a masterful job of twisting and turning things and adding distractions to make it look like their responding to input when they're not. It's time to give them very specific instructions because being vague and expecting good responses is not working.

4 conditions of approval:

1. Eliminate the mid-block driveway. They are inappropriate in downtowns and ours has too many of them already. If our FD and PD need access, make it EVA only. If that's a deal breaker for them, their suburban business model doesn't belong downtown.

2. Move the front door of CVS to the sidewalk, and/or offer a second door at the corner and include language that it is to remain and accessible open during business hours. How can two front doors on the sidewalk on a whole city block be too much to ask for? If that's a deal breaker for them, their suburban business model doesn't belong downtown.

3. Entry on Sebastopol Road is to be right-in, right-out. Duh.

4. Approve the building massing, scale and basic design with the understanding that no more that 20% of the view into the space be obscured by product displays, graphics or other "scrims". Ask them to come back with new, more appropriate exterior materials and make that the only item DRB is to review.

Again, I want to be clear that I support downtown development and have no issue with CVS or Chase, but they must propose a downtown project. If their suburban business model is the only one that will work in Sebastopol, then they by their own admission should not do business in our downtown. We should not be expected to change our downtown to meet the needs of their suburban business model. This same battle is being fought in other places. Here's Lexington: https://www.progresslex.org/lexington-deserves-better/

I cannot attend the next meeting, but thank you again for your valuable time and service to our community.

Ted Luthin

[Helen Shane]

Dear Ted Luthin,

You speak the truth so potently. I applaud your efforts, and feel deep in my gut that justice and common sense will prevail and that a Council majority will decide on the facts, not the opinions or suppositions, but the facts. They will be convinced that they can with integrity and honesty deny the Chase/CVS/Armstrong appeal.
It's happened before. The Barlow, on which Barney Aldridge once proposed to build 300 mostly market rate homes has metamorphed into what will be an asset to Sebastopol, both in services and revenue flow. And why was the residential plan abandoned? Because the community saw the foolishness in such a project, and told Council members and candidates for Council that through public meetings and other communications. As Mr. Aldridge said so succinctly, "the people were right."

Helen Shane

[tommy]

May this project be rejected for the vitality of Sebastopol. In my opinoin, considering the ideas of Jane Jacobs, author of The Death and Life of Great American Cites, the CVS/Chase project, if built, will erode the energy of our town:

"Cities need old buildings so badly it is probably impossible for vigorous streets and districts to grow without them.... for really new ideas of any kind--no matter how ultimately profitable or otherwise successful some of them might prove to be--there is no leeway for such chancy trial, error and experimentation in the high-overhead economy of new construction. Old ideas can sometimes use new buildings. New ideas must use old buildings.
Read more at https://quotes.dictionary.com/author/jane+jacobs#thTsgtSD01lIXBh4.99

“To generate exuberant diversity in a city's streets and districts four conditions are indispensable:
1. The district, and indeed as many of its internal parts as possible, must serve more than one primary function; preferably more than two...
2. Most blocks must be short; that is, streets and opportunities to turn corners must be frequent.
3. The district must mingle buildings that vary in age and condition, including a good proportion of old ones so that they vary in the economic yield they must produce. This mingling must be fairly close-grained.
4. There must be a sufficiently dense concentration of people, for whatever purposes they may be there...”

“A city street equipped to handle strangers, and to make a safety asset, in itself, our of the presence of strangers, as the streets of successful city neighborhoods always do, must have three main qualities:

First, there must be a clear demarcation between what is public space and what is private space. Public and private spaces cannot ooze into each other as they do typically in suburban settings or in projects.

Second, there must be eyes upon the street, eyes belonging to those we might call the natural proprietors of the street. The buildings on a street equipped to handle strangers and to insure the safety of both residents and strangers, must be oriented to the street. They cannot turn their backs or blank sides on it and leave it blind.

And third, the sidewalk must have users on it fairly continuously, both to add to the number of effective eyes on the street and to induce the people in buildings along the street to watch the sidewalks in sufficient numbers. Nobody enjoys sitting on a stoop or looking out a window at an empty street. Almost nobody does such a thing. Large numbers of people entertain themselves, off and on, by watching street activity.”
― Jane Jacobs, The Death and Life of Great American Cities

[photolite]

Still, everybody chooses to ignore the extreme impact on traffic of the Barlow Development.

Dear Ted Luthin,

You speak the truth so potently. I applaud your efforts, and feel deep in my gut that justice and common sense will prevail and that a Council majority will decide on the facts, not the opinions or suppositions, but the facts. They will be convinced that they can with integrity and honesty deny the Chase/CVS/Armstrong appeal.
It's happened before. The Barlow, on which Barney Aldridge once proposed to build 300 mostly market rate homes has metamorphed into what will be an asset to Sebastopol, both in services and revenue flow. And why was the residential plan abandoned? Because the community saw the foolishness in such a project, and told Council members and candidates for Council that through public meetings and other communications. As Mr. Aldridge said so succinctly, "the people were right."

Helen Shane

[Barry]

Final decision due Tuesday for Sebastopol CVS project
https://www.pressdemocrat.com/article/20120805/ARTICLES/120809747/1350?p=all&tc=pgall

By BOB NORBERG
THE PRESS DEMOCRAT
Published: Sunday, August 5, 2012 at 7:34 p.m.

After two years, 25 public meetings, hours of sometimes acrimonious debate and under a cloud of potential lawsuits, the Sebastopol City Council on Tuesday is expected to make a final decision on the controversial CVS Pharmacy project.

“It is a conspicuous location, different members of the community have differing expectations of how that space should be utilized, and people care a lot,” said Mayor Guy Wilson.

Armstrong Development of Sacramento is proposing to build a 14,576-square-foot CVS Pharmacy and 4,327-square-foot Chase bank branch at the site of the vacant Pellini Chevrolet dealership on one of the city’s most prominent intersections.

CVS and Chase would move to the 2.4-acre site from locations elsewhere in the city.

The City Council has given all necessary approvals for the $10 million project, including approving a negative declaration of environmental impacts — except for an approved design.

The debate has raged over whether the impact report should have included a full traffic study, whether the design fits with Sebastopol’s Main Street character and whether the city should take into account alleged corporate malfeasance by CVS and Chase.

The council finds itself in the unusual position of being involved in the design process, the final approval necessary before construction can move ahead.

“The issue is completely about the design, it is downtown and it needs to fit in,” said Vice Mayor Michael Kyes. “The city has a business plan, and the plan is to design a downtown that is attractive for its residents and tourists. The pharmacy and bank are perfectly legitimate businesses to put downtown. What we need to decide is have they developed a project that fits in with the rest of the downtown.”

In this, the fourth design, Sebastopol architect Kevin Kellogg varied roof heights, added a brick facade instead of quasi-industrial metal siding, removed some parking, created a larger plaza, added clear glass windows and gave the driveway a one-way entrance.

The changes were made at the request of the City Council in February, but the redesign was still rejected by the Design Review Board on May 30. Board members said the project still looked like a shopping center-style complex with two buildings and a large parking lot.

Armstrong contends, however, that it has met all of the guidelines set down by the council and is asking the council to overturn that rejection.

“I think we have satisfied a lot of people who were critical of the project,” Kellogg said. “There are some critics that are taking a hard line against the project, there is no compromise and it seems to be a philosophical point of view rather than working within the parameters of the design review guidelines.”

Regardless of how the council acts Tuesday, there is the possibility of litigation.

The Committee for Small Town Sebastopol already has filed a suit challenging the environmental impact report, contending that it failed to include a full study on the impact on traffic at that already-congested intersection.

“The real issue is that a proper traffic report was not done, so the council and the public did not have all the facts to make a good decision,” said committee spokeswoman Helen Shane. “I believe that had a traffic study been done, we wouldn’t be here today.”

Armstrong Development and CVS have had a stenographer at the last Design Review Board and City Council meetings, and could also sue the city if the council doesn’t uphold its appeal

“We have invested a lot of time and resources in this project,” said CVS spokesman Michael DeAngelis. “At the end of the day, we want to be treated fairly.”

The meeting is at 6 p.m. at the Community Center.

[Writewords]

As a two- year resident of Sebastopol coming from the Bay Area, I admire and applaud the activism of all you Sebastopol residents who are standing up, walking your talk, and opposing this absurd relocation of CVS/Chase to your (and now my) center of town--a center that these two mega-corporations want for their own profit and their shareholders. This unique location in the center of Sebastopol and the "development proposal" to concretize it cry out in the name of all the values that Sebastopol exemplifies to me--abundance of nature, small enough to feel safe, attractive shops and buildings, enjoyable services and shopping , friendly folk, human connection, sustainability, tolerance, even to dogs! as well as an appreciation and connection to the past. Though the site looks seemingly abandoned, it is in fact the object of unrelenting greed--for the sake of whom? Not for me. For you? For who?

[Helen Shane]

Welcome aboard, Writewords. Hope to see you, and all others who have participated or not in opposing the CVS/CHASE/Armstrong plan for our downtown core

At 6 pm
Tomorrow (Tuesday)
at the Sebastopol City Councill meeting
Sebastopol Community and Cultural Center

Morris St. off Hwy 12.

[Peace Voyager]

A lot of people think only a very vocal minority are being served by the Council and Planning Commission. I think it helps to show visually how many are on which side of this, or any significant issue.

Will someone be bringing the "Vision" name tags again so it's clear where the majority stands?

Thank you,

Colleen Fernald

Candidate for PEACE!
Sebastopol City Council

Some history: Once Warm Springs dam was built, growth was able to occur with impunity. And how it did! Commerce and housing rushed into the county. What we're seeing, like the light from a distant start, is the continuing impact of that growth. Living at The Orchards right on Bodega Avenue just west of town I see the weekend late afternoon traffic backed up all to way to my window. Weekday commutes are Traffic Hell. And no wonder - Bodega is two lanes and gets squeezed further at the Laguna crossing. The Barlow has Morris Street to turn on (my escape route from backups on the highway) and will have internal parking lots. Morris Street will change, surely. One change might be to divert traffic from the present backlog to Morris.

But the Pellini property is a different matter entirely and I appreciate the holding to community commitment to keep growth sustainable and non-corporate. I thank the DRB for their intelligent dissent to corporate demands and urge the Council to act with Solomonic wisdom so that the family who have held the corner for so long are adequately compensated. May brilliant ideas proliferate! Thank you, Helen Shane, for holding our ideas out so clearly.

[Peace Voyager]

You're right Dian. This City owns property, perhaps a swap of some kind could happen; & everyone wins.

Some history: Once Warm Springs dam was built, growth was able to occur with impunity. And how it did! Commerce and housing rushed into the county. What we're seeing, like the light from a distant start, is the continuing impact of that growth. Living at The Orchards right on Bodega Avenue just west of town I see the weekend late afternoon traffic backed up all to way to my window. Weekday commutes are Traffic Hell. And no wonder - Bodega is two lanes and gets squeezed further at the Laguna crossing. The Barlow has Morris Street to turn on (my escape route from backups on the highway) and will have internal parking lots. Morris Street will change, surely. One change might be to divert traffic from the present backlog to Morris.

But the Pellini property is a different matter entirely and I appreciate the holding to community commitment to keep growth sustainable and non-corporate. I thank the DRB for their intelligent dissent to corporate demands and urge the Council to act with Solomonic wisdom so that the family who have held the corner for so long are adequately compensated. May brilliant ideas proliferate! Thank you, Helen Shane, for holding our ideas out so clearly.

[Barry]

A new article by Jonathan Greenberg that highlights the requirement of prohibiting left turns onto Bodega Ave from either direction on High Street has just been published, along with many other problems with the design of the CVS/Chase development. See it here: The Inconvenient Truths Surrounding the CVS Vote

Expand

[La.Sereniti]

I am pissed off and fed up with CVS/Chase wasting the time and energy of the citizens of this community.

If the people that owned these corporations actually lived here and half a brain they would realize how freaking absurd their proposal is.

THEY ARE (((_NOT_))) WELCOME DOWNTOWN~~! GET OUT!!!

At this point not only would I boycott them at that location, but I want to boycott them NOW at their current location.

This corporation has no SOUL. It is not run by a human being. (Oh don't get me started... on the amendment issues...)

CVS you have been spaming my phone telling me I am ready for my next fix of drugs from you. How obnoxious!!! DON'T YOU THINK THAT IF I NEED MEDICINE I HAVE ENOUGH OF A BRAIN TO REMEMBER WHEN/WHERE TO GET MORE???! Frankly I don't want to do business with you for that reason alone.

QUESTION TO THE CITIZENS OF SEBASTOPOL:.... When you have the unfortunate need for drugs, where do you turn to?? I'D LOVE SUGGESTIONS TO WORK WITH A LOCAL BUSINESS THAT IS RUN AND OWNED BY SOMEONE THAT LIVES HERE.

THANKS!!

I didn't move here so I can watch Wall Street suck us dry!!!!

6pm Tuesday night...
Today (Tuesday) 6pm
at the Sebastopol City Council meeting
Sebastopol Community and Cultural Center on Morris street

Give 'em hell!! I'm very sorry to miss this opportunity to do so myself. (other than here)

[La.Sereniti]

Barry, all ~~

I haven't read all of the proposal.... Regardless of what happens with the CVS/Chase proposal, at some point more traffic control will be needed at that intersection (at least during certain hours).

That is the reality of growth and keeping the city a safe place for pedestrians and bikers.

So let's (((not))) get side tracked on this traffic topic. THE REAL ISSUE IS HAVING 2 MAJOR CORPORATE BLOOD SUCKERS AT THE HEART OF OUR TOWN.

I don't talk like this often.. but I LOVE THAT I HAVE THE RIGHT TO DO SO IN A PUBLIC FORUM ABOUT SOMETHING SO IMPORTANT TO THIS TOWN!!!

What surprises me is that CVS/Chase got this far....Who's pockets have they been stuffing?????

CVS/Chase----- GO AWAY!! Go deal drugs and steal money in New York, not Sebastopol!
... oh wait... you already do that.

A new article by Jonathan Greenberg that highlights the requirement of prohibiting left turns onto Bodega Ave from either direction on High Street has just been published, along with many other problems with the design of the CVS/Chase development. See it here: The Inconvenient Truths Surrounding the CVS Vote

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[cleanair]

Hello Sebastopol friends,

fyi: I submitted the following letter on July 31st.

Dear members of the the Sebastopol City Council and Design Review Board,

I appreciated the opportunity to present my perspective as a Petaluma resident and participant in Occupy Petaluma on Sebastopol's Chase/CVS issue at your recent Thursday evening public session. In my remarks I noted that I planned to propose Occupy Petaluma stand in solidarity with Occupy Sebastopol and the greater Sebastopol community in opposition to relocating Chase and CVS to the center of Sebastopol's downtown.


I am writing to inform you that on July 25 the Occupy Petaluma General Assembly unanimously approved the following statement and proposal:

Occupy Petaluma supports Occupy Sebastopol in their struggle against Chase Bank and CVS. If said corporations proceed with a lawsuit against the city of Sebastopol, Occupy Petaluma will
A) develop plans to focus on encouraging customers of Chase Bank in Petaluma to move their accounts, mortgages and automobile loans to local banks and credit unions and b) begin to encourage Petaluman's to shop at locally owned businesses instead of CVS.

Please feel free to contact me if you have any questions. Also, for your reference, I have pasted below a copy of my remarks from the public hearing.

Sincerely,
Amy Hanks
Occupy Petaluma


My name is Amy Hanks. I love Sebastopol. You've done a wonderful job of preserving a small town feel here. I have been a resident of Sonoma County for close to 3 years, and have been shopping at the CVS in my town -- Petaluma -- since I moved there. This is my well-worn CVS "Extra Care" card that I keep on my keychain. I was already familiar with Chase's role in the national financial crisis, and that it is under investigation for fraudulent foreclosure practices, but I didn't know that CVS had paid 13.75 million dollars in civil penalties to cities and counties throughout California for mishandling medical and pharmaceutical waste and other hazardous materials. I learned about that because of the issue here in Sebastopol.

I am very concerned to learn that the city of Sebastopol faces a lawsuit if it doesn't approve this Chase/CVS project. As a CVS shopper this leaves a very bad taste in my mouth, so much that I don't think I want to shop at CVS in Petaluma anymore. Cities and towns should be able to determine what businesses they want in their community, without being threatened by large national corporations with questionable business practices.

As a participant in Occupy Petaluma, I sometimes spend my weekends handing out these "Go Local -- Move Your Money" flyers to customers of the big banks in Petaluma. Once of the challenges of being an Occupier is that there are so many scandals, so many problems in our wonderful country that it can be difficult to choose which problem-causers to focus our energies on. So here I see an opportunity to propose to the Occupy Petaluma General Assembly that we stand in solidarity with Sebastopol and the greater Sebastopol community. I plan to propose that Occupy Petaluma focus over the coming months, perhaps years, on encouraging Chase Bank customers in Petaluma to move their bank accounts, mortgages and automobile loans to locally-owned banks and credit unions. I also plan to propose that we disseminate information about the business practices of CVS to the residents of Petaluma so that we can begin to find alternatives to shopping at CVS; no easy task as, to my knowledge, only one independent pharmacy remains in our city of 55,000, with all the other business going to two huge CVS stores, one on the east side of town and one on the west.

With big corporations like Chase and CVS controlling the reigns of government through unlimited campaign contributions our only option for re-asserting control over our lives and communities is to rebuild them locally with small businesses, from the ground up. I encourage you to wait for a better offer that is more suitable to Sebastopol's wonderful small-town character.

Thank you.