Open space and other natural systems have been an important topic in Petaluma for decades. For example, the Urban Growth Boundary first approved by voters in 1998 established the city as a leader in growth management efforts to prevent sprawl and minimize costly infrastructure required by unchecked growth. Planning efforts such as General Plan 2025, the current general plan that will be replaced with the adoption of this plan, and the River Access and Enhancement Plan include particular focus on natural systems and open space.

What did we hear from the community in the General Plan process?

Community input reaffirmed the importance of natural systems and open space as part of the Petaluma community. Specifically, we heard an overwhelming community voice to continue to preserve and enhance open space, with particular focus along the Petaluma River. Additionally, the community input requested focus on building strong programs and oversight to protect these important systems.

What does the plan say about this topic?

The General Plan has a robust Natural Features, Systems, and Resources Element that includes policies related to stewardship and preservation of connected natural lands and open space, water resource management, and the use of green infrastructure. These policies guide the city to center environmental stewardship, coordinate and consult with the Federated Indians of Graton Rancheria, protect special status species and supporting habitats, take a holistic approach to watershed management, and maintain permanent open space around the city. There are goals that speak to this topic in other elements, including Parks & Recreation, Transportation, and Land Use.

The urban tree canopy is a valuable and important asset for the Petaluma community. It emerged in many conversations with the community as a key topic due to the diverse benefits of a healthy tree canopy, including the tree canopy’s impact on community character, its ability to provide shade, lower the urban heat island effect, and sequester carbon, and its important role in supporting active transportation efforts.

What did we hear from the community in the General Plan process?

Community input reaffirmed the importance of protecting and enhancing our tree canopy. This included reframing how we think about and talk about trees and acknowledging their value to the community as well as their role in other policies such as corridor revitalization. Some requests for how to accomplish this included relocating the discussion of the urban tree canopy in the plan document and establishing coordinated City maintenance of our street trees.

What does the plan say about this topic?

In response to this input, the discission of the urban tree canopy has been relocated from the Parks & Recreation Element to the Natural Features, Systems, and Resources Element. That discussion includes direction to develop an urban forestry program, establish an urban forest dataset, implement street tree soil and irrigation standards, plant empty tree wells, create food forests, and engage with the community to support the urban forest. There are also policies like creating green streets that overlap with other elements including Transportation and Parks & Recreation.

The Petaluma River runs directly through the city’s historic downtown and serves as a cultural, ecological, and economic asset to the city. It has a large role in the city’s identity and history. Policies to protect, preserve, enhance, and provide public access to the river have been officially in place even before the River Access and Enhancement Plan was adopted in 1996. The city’s position around the river and its creeks also puts parts of the city at risk of flooding, which are anticipated to increase with climate change. In 2023, the City updated its flood modeling to consider sea level rise and other climate change impacts.

What did we hear from the community in the General Plan process?

Community input reaffirmed how much the river is valued in Petaluma, expressing a desire to increase both visual and physical access to the Petaluma River for the public and to maintain existing views of the river.  The Petaluma community understands that land use policy plays a significant role in flood resilience, and there was a strong desire to protect the Upper Reach from future development due to that area’s flooding risk and impact on the watershed. Concerns about flooding have increased in response to climate change and sea level rise, and the community has asked the City to evolve and adapt along with these changes. This includes recommendations to create development standards that go further than Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) requirements in areas prone to flooding and to ensure a buffer along the river with reduced development potential.

What does the plan say about this topic?

In response to this input, this topic is evident in multiple elements, including Natural Features, Systems, and Resources, Flood Resilience, and Land Use. To continue to improve our understanding of and reaction to flooding risks, the plan calls for ongoing updates to modeling and mapping, including integrating flood and sea level rise modeling and exceeding FEMA standards. The General Plan reinforces and/or establishes areas where development is not appropriate, including a policy to “Preserve open space along the Petaluma River,” specifically establishing a 330-foot buffer along the Upper Reach (north of Lynch Creek) of the river where new development is not permitted as well as defined Retention Areas where development is prohibited.

The Land Use Element also includes direction to help the Petaluma River evolve into a publicly accessible green ribbon, as well as to maximize access to the river with launch facilities in various locations. To balance both the flood risk adjacent to the river and the desire to celebrate Petaluma as a city on a river, the General Plan re-establishes the River-Oriented Development Areas originally conceptualized in the River Access and Enhancement Plan. These areas have some flooding risk but are not within the locations where no development is appropriate. The Land Use Element creates a maker/microbusiness land use designation to allow non-residential uses that support the city’s Economic Development goals in areas that have flooding potential but also contribute to the vibrancy of the city. For areas with flood risk where development is allowed, the plan incorporates development standards for construction.  The General Plan also recommends updating the River Access and Enhancement Plan, which is 30 years old.

Land Use explicitly addresses the General Plan’s primary purpose to direct the long-term physical development of the city. Over time, historic policies have resulted in the development patterns that we see today, including large areas of single-family, detached housing, a physical divide between East and West Petaluma, and underutilized shopping centers. Before starting the General Plan process, there was already a community desire to shift more of our travel to alternative mobility modes like walking, biking, and transit. There was also a long-standing community commitment to providing affordable housing and focusing on infill development, particularly in proximity to transit and services.

What did we hear from the community in the General Plan process?

While Petalumans are proud of the city they call home, and want to preserve the look and feel, there is a clear interest in addressing housing availability and creating flexibility in allowing a wide range of land uses to thrive. This includes protecting the character of historic neighborhoods and ensuring that we don’t lose what makes the city unique. However, there are several improvements that the community would like to see that are directly tied to land use. For example, being able to walk or bike to key services is a common request, and there is also agreement that new development should be infill rather than green-field development. To achieve the goal of more housing, the community requested that the city allow more opportunities to increase density in existing single family residential neighborhoods. There was a wide range of comfort and preference for building heights in various locations. Most of the community was comfortable with keeping parts of the current General Plan and zoning that includes four and five stories in most locations, but also a desire to increase housing density nearest the downtown SMART station.  

What does the plan say about this topic?

In response to this input, the Land Use Element establishes a comprehensive framework to guide Petaluma’s physical development over the coming decades. For most of the city that is made up of single-family neighborhoods, the General Plan proposes incremental development meant to retain neighborhood character while providing more housing options. This approach is balanced with focusing development and preservation along the major corridors and city center, what the plan calls Areas of Change, which were identified through the planning process and include two main areas:

1. Upstream and Downstream River-Adjacent areas with a focus on protecting open space, flood hazard mitigation, enhancing public access, and minimizing development in areas subject to flooding

2. The City Core, including the downtown, the SMART station and River Park areas, Key Corridors, and 15-minute activity centers, with a focus on historic character, housing, mixed-use development, and neighborhood vibrancy.

The Land Use element is organized in five parts:

Part 1: Land Use Foundations introduces Land Use Designations, which define intent, provide examples of allowed uses, and establish standards for density, intensity, and height for each land use designation. These designations include both minimum and maximum densities to ensure efficient and appropriate use of the remaining land available for infill development. This part also includes the Land Use Map, which specifies the location, distribution, and extent of proposed future land uses. The community had the opportunity to react to the detailed map, and the project team reviewed each and every comment. Recommendations and edits that were compatible with the General Plan goals and policies were added to the map.

Part 2: Citywide Evolution reaffirms the Urban Growth Boundary, directing the city to only build and provide City services within the Urban Growth Boundary. It also preserves open space, directing the city to maintain permanent open space around the city and along the Petaluma River and to preserve scenic ridgelines and hillsides.  It prioritizes infill, including higher density housing development, more nuanced mixed-use development, and more flexibility in building form and use. For example, the General Plan proposes more Mixed-Use designations than the options that currently exist. This allows for more precise fine-tuning to different contexts, which supports desired development on underutilized parcels to support transit-oriented development as well as along key corridors such as East Washington and Petaluma Boulevard North and South.

This suite of Mixed-Use designations is also more reflective of the massing and height allowed under existing zoning—the new categories largely preserve the existing height limits in Downtown and the Central Petaluma Specific Plan Area. One of the new Mixed-Use designations in the plan is the Station Mixed-Use designation, which was recommended by the General Plan Advisory Committee and Planning Commission as part of the land use discussion to allow higher densities and intensities in limited areas close to the SMART stations. This designation, which includes a maximum building height of up to eight stories, is only proposed on one parcel: the SMART-owned property directly adjacent to the Downtown SMART station. It is one way that this plan prioritizes development near transit to support the city’s active transportation goals. Part 2 also directs the city to ensure necessary infrastructure to support these changes.

Part 3: 15-minute City strives to advance the concept of a community with decentralized mixed-use development nodes that provide most of residents’ daily needs within a 15-minute walk, thereby reducing automobile use and leading to healthier, human-centric, and sustainable cities. Based on key parcels identified in the planning process, Part 3 establishes activity centers, or areas that are re-designated to a variety of density ranges with the goal of becoming areas where residents can meet daily needs within a 15-minute walk of their home. This part provides direction to create, enhance, and guide public investments in these centers.

In the surrounding residential neighborhoods, it provides direction to evolve through mechanisms such as allowing middle-density housing. Applying strategic increases in allowable density to allow smaller housing units is critical for implementation of the Housing Element as well as delivering on the commitment to provide housing for all Petalumans. These strategic increases in allowed housing density are also in the new mixed-use designations—six of these new categories allow more housing units per acre than the existing Mixed-Use designation. 

Part 4: Community Design and Character focuses on maintaining the City’s identity with a specific focus on heritage sites and thoughtfully managing the future of the Petaluma Fairgrounds. It provides direction to improve gateways and corridors, encouraging quality design, and advancing sustainable development.

Part 5: Sub-Area Policies addresses priorities unique to 16 different neighborhoods in Petaluma.

Petaluma is a city with a long and proud history. Reflecting that history, the community is very passionate about the historic and cultural resources that are part of the city.

What did we hear from the community in the General Plan Update process?

Community input confirmed that agricultural heritage is very important to the identity of the city. Petalumans are particularly proud of the historic downtown, and they want to protect its character. They also want to protect the city’s other historic resources. In addition to the Petaluma River and open spaces, nature, and the environment, which are all addressed in previous topics, the community also places a high value on public art. Input requested that the city create more opportunities for public art and artists and recognize the contributions of artists.

What does the plan say about this topic?

The General Plan addresses this topic in several places, including an entire element on Historic & Cultural Resources and another element on Arts, Culture & Creativity. The plan includes policies to support the agricultural industry and strengthen the local food economy. It also includes policies for historic resource preservation, including to identify and designate history resources, maintain heritage sites, protect river-dependent and agricultural-support uses, and honor the historic downtown. It calls for additional history surveys and studies as well as guidelines to continue to strengthen the City’s preservation program. The plan encourages adaptive reuse of historic structures, and it also provides new policies to emphasize high-quality design.

Petalumans have long been concerned about climate change and protecting the environment for future generations. City Council adopted a Climate Emergency Framework, which outlines principles to guide the City’s ongoing response to and discussion about the climate crisis, in 2021. Council also adopted the Blueprint for Climate Action, the City’s Climate Action Plan, in 2024. While the intent is for the Blueprint for Climate Action to be part of the General Plan update, it was completed and adopted on an accelerated schedule to reflect the urgency of the climate crisis.

What did we hear from the community in the General Plan Update process?

Climate change is a primary concern of many people in the community. These concerns are two-fold. They include the city’s contribution to greenhouse gas emissions and how we can reduce impacts through changes to land use, transportation, and development. They also include the impacts of the changing climate including flooding, sea level rise, extreme heat, drought, and wildfire. The community has demonstrated that it is ready to take action, and that sentiment was reinforced in this process with broad requests to prioritize climate initiatives.

What does the plan say about this topic?

The draft General Plan reinforces the strategies in the Blueprint for Climate Action, recommitting to greenhouse gas reductions and recognizing that fighting climate change is both a long-term effort as well as an emergency. To address the city’s contribution to greenhouse gas emissions, the plan encourages Land Use policies that guide development to infill sites, particularly close to transit and the identified 15-minute activity centers to enable people to walk, bike, and take transit more often. The Transportation element coordinates with the city’s Active Transportation Plan and enables low-carbon travel and encourages electric transportation. The plan also aims to reduce emissions through policies that encourage retrofit, rehabilitation, and adaptive reuse; advance sustainable design and development; ensure carbon neutral parks and public facilities; and improve energy recovery and onsite energy production at water and wastewater facilities.

To address necessary adaptation to a changed and changing climate, the plan includes Safety and Flood Resilience elements, and it also added the river buffer described under the Petaluma River, Upper Reach, Flooding, and Sea Level Rise topic above.

To protect our resources, the plan has a Natural Features, Systems, and Resources element to ensure that the City will protect open space, habitat, air and water quality, and the environment. It also has urban forestry policies recognizing the dynamic impact of a healthy urban forest and the importance of creating green streets. In addition, the plan has policies to implement environmental protections with new development, reduce solid waste, promote composting, and prioritize reuse and recycling.

Finally, the General Plan strives for these improvements to be for everyone. Policies include a commitment to affordability as well as prioritization of health, equity, and environmental justice for all Petalumans.

Like many cities, much of Petaluma’s past growth was dominated by suburban and auto-oriented land use and transportation patterns. As a result, most trips in Petaluma are made by private vehicle. Additionally, Petaluma is impacted by several physical barriers—the Petaluma River, the railroad, and the interstate—that divide the city into what people perceive as East Petaluma and West Petaluma. As a result, transportation generates approximately two-thirds of the city’s greenhouse gas emissions.

What did we hear from the community in the General Plan Update process?

There is a strong desire to be able to travel more by alternative modes of transportation like walking, bicycling, and taking transit. Requests to improve transportation options included more connections for walking and bicycling as well as higher quality connections through improved corridor design that accommodates bicycles and pedestrians. People would also like to see an expanded transit system. There is interest in establishing improvements to last-mile connections and other transportation demand management (TDM) strategies, or strategies to help shift more of our travel to alternative modes.

In addition to wanting more travel options, Petalumans also recognize the connection between vehicle travel and greenhouse gas emissions. Input reflected an understanding of the relationship between jobs and housing and how that impacts travel patterns.

What does the plan say about this topic?

The General Plan supports the City’s ongoing efforts to create a complete, multi-modal transportation network that facilitates safe connectivity for all modes including people walking, biking and taking public transit. It acknowledges that Land Use and Transportation are interrelated, and that close alignment between these two elements is necessary to achieve community goals of connectivity, emission reduction, and community health. The Land Use strategy is to promote infill, particularly around transit and 15-minute activity centers with the explicit goal of supporting multimodal transportation. The Transportation element recommends both improved and new safe connections for people walking and biking, including new street standards and a focus on corridor improvements. The transportation-related policies in the plan aim to achieve safety and equity for all forms of travel.

The city is positioned to continue attracting additional business activity and job growth with the right policies and programs in place across a number of industries. As an example, manufacturing will continue to be the city’s largest industry by number of jobs, and the demand for industrial space is high and likely to continue growing. However, challenges facing new industrial development growth include costs of space, lack of workforce due to the area’s high cost of living, traffic congestion on Highway 101, and lack of land suitable for industrial development. Furthermore, the General Plan will need to guide city economic policy in a way that recognizes its history and makes way for new economies to thrive well into the middle of the century.  

What did we hear from the community in the General Plan Update process?

Petaluma needs to increase its accessibility for new and current businesses. Suggestions for how to accomplish this include supporting small local businesses and start up opportunities. Flexibility is important for business success, so granting flexibility where possible is critical. This is particularly true in permitting requirements, which can be cumbersome and prohibitive for new businesses.

What does the plan say about this topic?

The General Plan has an Economic Development element that includes policies and actions aimed at economic diversity and resilience such as streamlining business permitting and maintaining industrial land inventory. Augmenting what is in the Land Use and Transportation elements, it also includes policies related to transportation access for businesses and workers such as maximizing development near SMART stations and enhancing multimodal commute options. Economic Development also includes policies to support new and existing businesses such as providing tools, expert advice, references to regional resources, and funding to locally-owned businesses and responding to the broader work from home trend.

Additionally, the Arts, Culture & Creativity element calls for thriving creative businesses with policies to expand the arts, cultural, and creatives sectors and to enable creative businesses.