The City Council must address this issue with a “formula retail ordinance” that expands the boundaries of the retail area and codifies “formula business.” The 2030 General Plan protects businesses directly facing the Plaza, but not those around the Plaza, which explains why Faherty can slip into Ooh la Luxe’s space.
"The work of Healdsburg’s city staff is inherently apolitical, but staying above the fray can be a challenge during a contentious election season like the one we are all enduring. I’ve worked through a lot of elections, but the tone of this one—both locally and nationally—has at times been discouraging..." So writes Healdsburg City Manager Jeff Kay in this opinion column...
In a momentous decision that almost wasn’t reached at all, the Healdsburg City Council voted 4-0 to name the Saggio Hills park after Native artisan, historian, linguist and “culture bearer” Laura Fish Somersal - and to rename the Healdsburg Community Center after the first Hispanic mayor, Abel De Luna.
"We voted on Prop. 12 in 2018 to ban factory farming of the kind promoted by the Yes on Measure J people from outside the county, which was a statewide initiative. It went into full implementation on January 1, 2024. It has barely had the opportunity to go full swing and here we are targeting only Sonoma County. Why?" So asks one reader in our Letter to the Editor column, found online only this week...
Measure O, which will be on the Nov. 5 ballot, would ease restrictions on new housing construction imposed by Healdsburg’s Growth Management Ordinance (GMO) by creating zones of exclusion from the GMO. But that’s not the whole story...
After a relatively quiet summer, the race for three seats on the Healdsburg City Council is picking up speed. Three candidate forums are scheduled for the next week, including a League of Women Voters online event on Wednesday night, and the second on the following Tuesday, a live-only event presented by the Healdsburg Chamber of Commerce...
A formula store is defined in the General Plan as, “A business that is required by contractual or other arrangement to maintain any of the following: standardized services, menu, decor, uniforms, architecture, signs or other similar features and is not part of a locally- or regionally-based group of businesses...”
Starting next year, a new city commission will take its place in the structure of local government—an Arts and Culture Commission, to join the Planning Commission, Parks & Recreation Commission and Senior Citizens Advisory Commission as an advisory body to review policies and programs under its purview...
Two former Olympians who live in Healdsburg were honored, including Gail Roper of the US Swim team in 1952, and Hanna Scramaglia who competed with Sweden in the 1996 Olympics. Plus more City Council action that might be unexpected....