Once upon a time the Dibs family of Santa Rosa had a small business selling used cars. They owned the lot and had it paid off, and made a nice living for their family. In 2009 the City of Santa Rosa targeted them for an eminent domain action. The City wanted to widen Santa Rosa Avenue right there at the Dibs' property. First they low-balled the Dibs and then they finally agreed to pay them a fair price---the City said it really needed that land quick--that widening had to happen NOW.
So the Dibs family moved to a property that they leased, that wasn't as good a location for them. The City of Santa Rosa then did nothing with their old lot and didn't widen the street. And it still hasn't.
Now, the Dibs' have come, hat in hand, to beg the City of Santa Rosa to let them buy Bob's RV Center on Santa Rosa Avenue at Highway 12. Well, the City will let them buy it but they won't let them move their car lot onto a lot that was used for selling RVs because 'it's a different use and we don't want to see car lots on Santa Rosa Avenue anymore.'
What does the City want to see? Smart Growth. Apartments over shops. That's the VISION for Santa Rosa Avenue. The City's General Plan/Comprehensive Plan says that MIXED USE is the preferred development for Santa Rosa Avenue. They don't care that it has been an historically car-related street, the old Auto Row. No, that's just not sustainable.
Now the goal is to narrow the street down to just a couple of lanes and have a median strip and wide sidewalks and the walkable bikeable dreamland of community and joy (as long as you go along to get along). Except that isn't what people can build there because they'd go bankrupt in a minute. Just like the building owners at 10th and Healdsburg did. The former owners. They went bankrupt building a 4 story mixed use apartment building where the ground floor retail not only never rented up but never even got completed. Go look in the windows. Bare pipes and concrete.
So. Where does that leave the Dibs and Bob Montgomery, the owner of Bob's RV Center who would like to retire? Yes, you guessed. Another empty lot on Santa Rosa Avenue coming up. The City is blighting the Avenue themselves by not allowing businesses, legal businesses, taxpaying businesses to get a use permit. The City is preparing the Avenue by depressing the land values so that their crony developer can come along later, buy it cheap, and build Smart Growth with subsidies.
When the City held those visioning meetings for the General Plan it didn't matter at all what you had to say. It was SMART GROWTH and that was it.
And that's the news from Santa Rosa.
WE WILL STOP THIS.
FIGHT PLAN BAY AREA. www.StopPlanBayArea.com
So the Dibs family moved to a property that they leased, that wasn't as good a location for them. The City of Santa Rosa then did nothing with their old lot and didn't widen the street. And it still hasn't.
Now, the Dibs' have come, hat in hand, to beg the City of Santa Rosa to let them buy Bob's RV Center on Santa Rosa Avenue at Highway 12. Well, the City will let them buy it but they won't let them move their car lot onto a lot that was used for selling RVs because 'it's a different use and we don't want to see car lots on Santa Rosa Avenue anymore.'
What does the City want to see? Smart Growth. Apartments over shops. That's the VISION for Santa Rosa Avenue. The City's General Plan/Comprehensive Plan says that MIXED USE is the preferred development for Santa Rosa Avenue. They don't care that it has been an historically car-related street, the old Auto Row. No, that's just not sustainable.
Now the goal is to narrow the street down to just a couple of lanes and have a median strip and wide sidewalks and the walkable bikeable dreamland of community and joy (as long as you go along to get along). Except that isn't what people can build there because they'd go bankrupt in a minute. Just like the building owners at 10th and Healdsburg did. The former owners. They went bankrupt building a 4 story mixed use apartment building where the ground floor retail not only never rented up but never even got completed. Go look in the windows. Bare pipes and concrete.
So. Where does that leave the Dibs and Bob Montgomery, the owner of Bob's RV Center who would like to retire? Yes, you guessed. Another empty lot on Santa Rosa Avenue coming up. The City is blighting the Avenue themselves by not allowing businesses, legal businesses, taxpaying businesses to get a use permit. The City is preparing the Avenue by depressing the land values so that their crony developer can come along later, buy it cheap, and build Smart Growth with subsidies.
When the City held those visioning meetings for the General Plan it didn't matter at all what you had to say. It was SMART GROWTH and that was it.
And that's the news from Santa Rosa.
WE WILL STOP THIS.
FIGHT PLAN BAY AREA. www.StopPlanBayArea.com
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