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TheHealdsburg HealdsburgTribune Tribune The Enterprise & Scimitar Enterprise & Scimitar
Visit www.healdsburgtribune.com for daily updates on local news views www.healdsburgtribune.com for daily updates on local news andand views Our 158th year,Visit Number 7 Healdsburg, California 1865 –February 16, 2023
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DRINKING IN PUBLIC RULES MAY STAY RELAXED, SAYS CITY
Healdsburg, California Healdsburg, California
Date, Date, 20202020
FEW PROBLEMS ENCOUNTERED DURING COVID PERIOD OF RELAXED OPENAIR DRINKING By Christian Kallen
➝ Public Drinking, 6
Photo courtesy of Cloverdale Citrus Fair
The city’s Parks and Recreation Commission contemplated new rules for public consumption of alcohol at their Feb. 8 meeting, a month after their endorsement of a new set of nonsmoking rules for city parks, which broadly expanded non-smoking areas to include sidewalks and parking lots. Unlike the smoking restrictions, which were in response to a resident’s complaints about the unhealthy atmosphere at Tuesday in the Plaza and other similar occasions, the new alcohol consumption rules are the result of the imminent expiration of Gov. Gavin Newsom’s COVID State of Emergency declaration. That declaration times out at the end of February, so the more lenient consumption rules that were allowed during the pandemic to help downtown businesses stay open will likewise expire, and previous limits on public consumption will once again be in effect. Unless, that is, the rules are rewritten to reflect the pandemic experience. That’s why Mark Themig, Healdsburg’s community services director, spoke at the Feb. 8 meeting to propose a few adjustments to the Municipal Code, adjustments that reflected the experience of the past two and a half years. He said that not only have a number of downtown food and beverage businesses become used to relaxed regulations, but law enforcement and city staff have found
CITRUS PARADE A community band marches down Cloverdale Boulevard during the 2017 Citrus Fair parade, usually held on a Saturday,
which will be Feb. 18 this year.
Citrus Fair Has the Juice FEST KEEPS QUAINT CLOVERDALE ON THE MAP By Christian Kallen
Healdsburg has its Future Farmers Fair in May, Petaluma has the SonomaMarin Fair in June and Santa Rosa has the Sonoma County Fair in August. But for fans of Americana, the first one on the calendar, and perhaps the best, is the Cloverdale Citrus Fair this coming weekend. It’s just 22 miles up Highway 101 to Cloverdale, where the 131st annual Citrus Fair takes over the town’s eponymous fairgrounds for four days of family activities. The fair was first established in
1892 to celebrate the citrus crop that was once a big part of northern Sonoma County agriculture. While citrus production is no longer as widespread, the Citrus Fair goes on and keeps Cloverdale a magnet for family gatherings to hear music; take in agricultural, arts and crafts exhibits; ride the Ferris wheel; and enjoy the carnival atmosphere of small town California. There’s a Senior Day (Friday, Feb. 17), a Parade Day (Feb. 18), a Family Day (Feb. 19) and of course a Kids Day (Monday, Feb. 20, a school holiday). There’s even a Battle of the Bands on Sunday for local musicians, and a headliners concert in the auditorium on Saturday night, featuring Outlaw Mariachi from Los Angeles, also
My personal favorite thing about our fair is its uniqueness. It is the first fair of the year and one of two citrus fairs in the state of California. Our fair is built on support and community. All of our hard work for the past year is for you. DYLAN DAVIS, CITRUS FAIR PRESIDENT
known as “Los Charros of Rock.” “What a Wonderful World” is this year’s theme, expressing renewed optimism as the COVID pandemic recedes into history. Just last year, the Citrus
Fair was delayed from February into April, to avoid the winter pandemic closures. Its return to its traditional date is a welcome one for long-standing fair-goers. “My personal favorite
thing about our fair is its uniqueness. It is the first fair of the year and one of two citrus fairs in the state of California,” said Dylan Davis, the Citrus
THE RUSE PULLS ITS APPEAL OF CITY’S DENIAL
Initial efforts to contact their lawyer, Erin Carlstrom of Clement, Fitzpatrick & Kenworthy, were unsuccessful. Her letter to the city, delivered late on Tuesday, read, “On behalf of my client, 891 Grove Street, LLC (‘Applicant/Appellant’), and its appeal of the Planning Commission’s Decision of October 25, 2022, Applicant/Appellant have (sic) elected to withdraw its appeal in this matter.” The letter was addressed to Scott Duiven, the city’s community development director, and copied by email to all members of the Healdsburg City Council. No further explanation was proffered. The directors of the LLC now include brothers Patrick and Jonathan Wilhelm, whose family owns the Mayacama Golf Club in Santa Rosa, and an agent, Levi White. Silicon
FUTURE OF ‘PRIVATE RECREATIONAL PARK’ ON GROVE STREET IN DOUBT By Christian Kallen
Photo by Christian Kallen
HIGH HOPES Current signage at 891 Grove St., where The Ruse took over
the former Honor Mansion.
The owners of The Ruse, the luxury bed and breakfast formerly known as Honor Mansion, have withdrawn their appeal to the city council of the city’s denial of their proposed use for the three-acre property. The hearing had been anticipated to take place at the Feb. 21 meeting, but with their withdrawal, the city’s decision will stand. City Manager Jeff Kay confirmed the news Tuesday evening, Feb. 14.
➝ Citrus Fair, 4
➝ Ruse Pulls Appeal, 6