12/12/2025
PHA’s Argus Courier Letter to the Editor; it is also online, located on their eEdition/app, and will be in the print edition today (Friday, December 12th).
Letter to the Editor:
PHA supports smaller hotel
EDITOR: We write in response to John Burns’ gratuitously insulting column in support of the Overlay Zoning and the originally proposed, six-story EKN Appellation Hotel (“Will Petaluma nurture or stifle its downtown?” Nov. 28).
Petaluma Historic Advocates fully supports responsible steps to revitalize downtown Petaluma. But authorizing six-story buildings with zero off-street parking, as the Overlay Zoning would do, would choke downtown with traffic congestion, air pollution and noise rather than revitalize it. It would become a destination to avoid in Sonoma County while other neighboring towns are offering a more quiet, relaxed ambience that travelers are looking for when they come to the wine country.
EKN’s newly submitted plans would provide downtown Petaluma with a four-story, 56-room upscale boutique hotel that complements our historic downtown, rather than the six-story behemoth originally proposed. Nor would it be a downscale Marriott, as Burns snobbishly asserts. The name on the newly submitted plans is “EKN Appellation Hotel.” The new hotel includes a large ground floor restaurant — presumably still Charlie Palmer — with both indoor and outdoor seating. It also includes an outdoor fourth floor bar and dining area.
Rather than being angry or dismissive, we should be giving EKN credit for its honesty in violating the first rule of developer-speak, namely insisting that if the developer doesn’t get 100% of what it’s seeking, the project won’t pencil and the community will be left with nothing.
Before the new submittal, Petaluma voters might have believed their choice was between a huge, out-of-scale hotel or a vacant lot. Now they know a 45-foot-tall, zoning-compliant upscale boutique hotel is the real alternative. This makes the task of passing the referendum far easier.
We encourage EKN to withdraw its original plans and proceed with the revised plans only. If it does so, PHA and the community at large will support it, and trust Site Plan and Architectural Review to work out the design details.
Proponents of the original hotel design and the Overlay Zoning seriously misread widespread public sentiment regarding appropriate development downtown, and 6,462 verified signatures on referendum petitions prove the point.
This revised hotel design provides a gracious offramp from the acrimonious Overlay Zoning debate. It could also be a win-win for the whole community and would be an important next step in revitalizing downtown while safeguarding its historic charm.
Jane Hamilton, Mike Healy, Tom Lewis,
Petaluma Historic Advocate
