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CHAMBER’S WINE, BBQ AND BLUES GATHERING CELEBRATES HEALDSBURG
August 29, 2024
Healdsburg, California Healdsburg, California
Date, Date, 20202020
ANNUAL SUMMER FUNDRAISER BRINGS AWARDS AND REWARDS FOR MEMBERS, OTHERS Staff Report
➝ Chamber, 4
Photo by Christian Kallen
The weather on Wednesday, Aug. 21, was just about perfect—bluebird skies and a break in the summer heat, with the thermometer dropping into the 70s when the annual Healdsburg Chamber BBQ & Blues Party got underway at 5:30pm at Rodney Strong Vineyards. About 300 people showed up, many dressed in blue (as the organizers requested) to celebrate the rock ’n’ roll “Blues” theme. Wine was consumed, barbecue was served, swag was distributed, and community members engaged in lively and diverse conversation. “It was an unforgettable evening filled with good company, fine wine and lively music, all set against the stunning backdrop of Rodney Strong,” said Chamber CEO Tallia Hart. “It really is just to celebrate the businesses and members, and all the achievements they have made throughout the year, and to support our programming for the next year,” Hart added. Most of the Healdsburg City Council attended (aside from those members in Chicago for the Democratic National Convention), as did city staff, area businesspeople and their families, artists and educators. Attending in large numbers, local realtors seemed to have their own ad hoc convention, making connections that might have
GUTCHECK Skip Brand of the Healdsburg Running Company posted a number of ‘Vote Local’ signs in the downtown area before last week’s city council meeting about formula stores.
‘Formula Businesses’ Get a Hearing LACK OF ENFORCEABLE ORDINANCE COMPLICATES CITY COUNCIL DISCUSSION By Christian Kallen
In the third week of August, a number of elect i o n - s ty l e s i g n s w e r e positioned downtown near the Healdsburg Running Company. “Vote Yes on Local!” they read, with a big checkbox graphic. But there is no local ballot measure on the topic, nor a candidate named “Local.” Instead, the issue was hashtagged #No-BigFranchises-Downtown, and the target was the Aug. 19 City Council meeting. Skip Brand, co-owner of Healdsburg Running Company, had the signs made and posted to bring the issue to light, along with a brief online survey (at yesonlocal.com) asking about franchises and the definition of downtown Healdsburg. “I just want people to know before it happens,” Brand said. “Because if you don’t make
a decision about franchises, they just come in.” What is a franchise? Many cities work from a definition of a “formula store”—but what’s that? And are they allowed in downtown Healdsburg or not? Those questions were posed at the City Council meeting last week when a discussion was held on “Formula Business Regulations in Downtown Healdsburg,” at the request of Councilmember Ariel Kelley. The issue arose when a business woman in town complained to Kelley that her two clothing stores on Matheson Street could face competition from Faherty, a national chain of menswear (fahertybrand.com). Faherty’s motto is “From Malibu to Martha's Vineyard, our stores are where the good vibes come alive …” The New York Times characterized its clothing as “mainstreaming the surf hippie aesthetic.” Though Faherty doesn’t currently run a store in Sonoma County, it does in Corte Madera and San Francisco, among the 60 or so it directly operates nationwide. Now Faherty
has plans to open a store at 326 Healdsburg Ave., in the former Ooh La Luxe— two storefronts away from the Plaza. Local business owners and operators have long assumed that “formula stores” are prohibited from opening in Healdsburg’s downtown area, though as it turns out that assumption isn’t quite true. Although the Planning Commission in 2011 did prepare an ordinance to limit the parts of Healdsburg where such stores could operate, the ordinance was never presented to the City Council and never went on the books.
What’s the Formula?
The definition of a formula store that the city approved at the time appears in the General Plan, a series of non-binding guidelines that provide a road map for development in the city. The definition, which Planning Director Scott Duiven presented to the council during their discussion, reads: “A business that is required by
HEALDSBURG’S LIBRARY READIES FOR CHANGE MOVE TO NEW ‘MINI LIBRARY’ NOW UNDERWAY, TO OPEN SEPT. 3 By Jon Haupt
Photo by Christian Kallen
BROWSING BUS Simone Yingst, the new outreach
coordinator of Sonoma County Library, inside the BiblioBus parked at Healdsburg Regional Library while the library undergoes modernization.
The time has finally arrived for the Healdsburg Regional Library to undergo its long-awaited modernization project. The staff are working diligently to prepare the building and collections for the impending project, but with all of the questions coming our way, I hope to answer some of
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 regionallybased group of businesses.” Two policies in the general plan invoke formula business. In the Land Use element D-5, which prohibits formula businesses “on properties round the historic Plaza in order to preserve its character of small, unique businesses that are attractive to residents and visitors.” And in the Economic Development element, B-3, which prohibits formula businesses on properties “around the Plaza in order to support localand independently-owned businesses and protect and enhance Healdsburg’s unique character.” However, despite the good intentions of the General Plan (GP), no ordinance prohibits formula stores from opening anywhere in the city. City Manager Jeff Kay, while acknowledging that the 2011 ordinance was not
taken up by the council (“I’m not certain why that is,” he said), stated that “the City’s enforcement of the General Plan policy has been essentially the same as what would have occurred had the ordinance been adopted. I can’t point to anything that would be different, in terms of our business mix, if the ordinance were in place.” The woman with the two stores on Matheson who called Kelley’s attention to the matter was Merete Wimmer, owner of Rete and Ereloom. “It’s very frustrating because we as merchants have thought that there was an ordinance in place,” she said. She added another factor: “We have all been under the impression that ‘around’ means including the nearby couple blocks around the square.” The Plaza Retail District consists in fact only of the businesses whose storefronts face the Plaza, on Healdsburg Avenue, Plaza and Center Streets, and Matheson. There is no broader definition of it in
them in this column. For the rest of the week through Saturday, Aug. 31, we will offer services via the BiblioBus from 10am to 4pm at the 139 Piper St. location. On Sunday and Monday, Sept. 1-2, the library will be closed for Labor Day. Books and DVDs can be returned via the book drop at 139 Piper St. We will pick up the remaining items on Tuesday, Sept. 3, and that book drop will be closed. We hope everyone can take advantage of our Healdsburg Mini Library at the Community Center this year while the building on Piper Street is under construction. The Mini Library is set to open on Sept. 3 to offer most of the same services we provide normally, with the same hours as previously offered at Piper St., seven days a week. The extensive modernization project will take
several months to complete—we are planning to reopen at 139 Piper St. in Spring 2025. In the meantime, we hope to see you around at the Mini Library: Monday, Thursday, Friday and Saturday from 10am to 6pm; Tuesday and Wednesday, 10am to 8pm; Sunday, 1-5pm.
➝ Vote Yes, 7
Mini Library
The Community Center is located at 1557 Healdsburg Ave. in the former Foss Creek Elementary School. This important city facility also houses Healdsburg Community Services as well as Corazón Healdsburg, Alliance Medical Center and YWCA’s Healdsburg Childcare Program. We are grateful to the City of Healdsburg for making space available for the library during this important project. ➝ Modernization Project, 4