The Floodway Community Marketplace

09/07/2025

I attended SoCo Market's Fork'n Good food festival at the Petaluma city-owned fairgrounds yesterday. It was their third event but the first I had attended. It was an excellent event, very well organized, very well attended. I will definitely attend their future events and highly recommend you check it out too!

I expected the event to be set up on the paved parking lot in front of the fairgrounds, because the city has continued to deny us a simple permit (even the 60-day temp use permit they claimed for years would be granted) to do this very thing on a much smaller scale. The city falsely claimed that vehicles cannot drive or park on unpaved / undeveloped land and our entire market must be made "ADA compliant" with no explanation of what that actually means.

But this festival was actually set up on the unpaved / undeveloped land within the fairgrounds area with many, many vehicles (food trucks, trailers, vendor vehicles, etc.) parked on the undeveloped / unpaved land and no extra ADA accommodations in sight. The land was flat and level, just like our lot, and wheelchairs could have easily traversed the area, meaning that was clearly enough to meet the alleged ADA requirements.

This is the clear hypocrisy of city manager Peggy Flynn, city attorney Eric Danly, M-Group owner Heather Hines, community development director Brian Oh, mayor Kevin McDonnell, and councilmembers Brian Barnacle and Janice Cader Thompson. The city's corruption is on full display.

Heather

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09/02/2025

Buddy's Farm is one of my favorite local mobile vendors and now they are selling honey-based sodas! Oh wow, that sounds delicious. Please support them and every other vendor at the Fork n' Good Festival, Petaluma fairgrounds, Saturday September 6, from 4 to 9pm. I'm looking forward to an evening of glutt... er, I mean, supporting local small businesses!

08/30/2025

Today I received a phone call from a guy standing on my lot, asking if I'd be willing to rent the lot to him for a small circus for one week. He said it was the perfect size and location for his project. And I couldn't help but laugh.

I told him that I would support his business in a heartbeat if I could. Circuses and carnivals are a clear permitted use on that lot. But then I had to explain that the Petaluma city manager Peggy Flynn, city attorney Eric Danly, and the outsourced for-profit M-Group owner Heather Hines had stolen my land, that they falsely claim I can't park or drive on my own parking lot, that I'm in the midst of a constitutional rights violation lawsuit.

By the end of that conversation - which was mostly funny - he said that he was going to give up on trying to find a location in Petaluma. I told him that was his best bet and that I wouldn't wish the horrors of the city of Petaluma government on any other small business owner.

And that's when it started to feel a bit sad. I've lost three years of opportunity to support local small businesses. To give them a leg up, a great location to build their brand and business, a supportive community of small business owners that lift each other up.

All of that time, opportunity, and success down the drain because one lazy M-Group employee refused to process my application. A lazy and corrupt city manager and city council majority who refused to hold that lazy contractor accountable. A corrupt city government that spits in the face of small business owners. And now I'm done laughing and right back to being just as pi**ed off as I was yesterday.

Our lawsuit is slowly moving forward, but it's been less exciting than watching paint dry. Justice needs to pick up her pace!

Thanks for listening to my rant.

Heather

08/04/2025

"The Supreme Court has repeatedly made it clear that the government can’t force people to give up their property rights in exchange for a permit."

I've been following the Pacific Legal Foundation since the city's illegal takings and violation of our fifth amendment property rights. PLF does great work! But it also amazes me just how common illegal takings are in the state of California.

If the topic interests you, I highly recommend following and supporting this organization. And if you are dealing with your own property rights issue, PLF is an excellent resource with some seriously skilled attorneys!

Heather

PLF is the oldest and most successful public interest legal organization that fights for limited government, property rights & individual rights.

05/25/2025

Hi, this is Heather, owner of the future Floodway Community Marketplace! Our lawsuit against the city of Petaluma for illegal takings in violation of our fifth amendment property rights is slowly moving forward and I remain very confident that we will prevail.

What happened to me and my family with this lot is unfortunately not a unique problem, but just one symptom of a much bigger problem in our city. Nick the Greek on the eastside waited two years for a simple use permit to take over an existing restaurant space while paying commercial rent the entire time. Stellina Pronto downtown waited three years for a simple use permit to fire up their wood fired pizza oven, forcing them to adjust their business model to survive the long delay. There are many more examples, but the bottom line is that small businesses like mine that don't generate big development revenues for the city's outsourced for-profit M-Group planners are considered a very low priority and treated poorly by our city government.

I submitted the below commentary to the Argus-Courier and Press Democrat papers to explain how the outsourced M-Group bent over backwards to help a hotel developer violate existing zoning laws while causing great harm to two other local small businesses and property owners. The city's ongoing unwillingness to hold the M-Group accountable and support small businesses - the backbone of our local economy - is inexcusable.

If you haven't already signed the petition in support of a voter referendum that will give our community a voice in the future of our historic downtown, I respectfully encourage you to do so. You can contact Petaluma Historic Advocates at [email protected] to find a signing location near you OR to request a volunteer come to you. You can also reach out directly to me here as I am one of the many volunteers collecting signatures.

Thank you for reading and for supporting all of our local small businesses! We can and should demand better from our city government.

Thanks,
Heather

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Why are we even considering an overlay (zoning amendment) in our historic downtown?

Over the years, great effort has been put into protecting and preserving our registered historic downtown, making Petaluma one of the best preserved and most unique historic downtowns in the region, if not the entire country. Petaluma's historic charm attracts residents and businesses and is critical to the tourism dollars that support our local economy. One example of such historic protections is to limit building heights to 45 feet and lot coverage to 80% via zoning laws.

When Ross Jones, owner of the tiny 0.33-acre lot located at 2 Petaluma Blvd S, and his hotel developer, EKN Development Group, approached the city with the idea of building a 72-foot tall / 6+ story hotel with 100% lot utilization, the city should have responded with a simple but firm "no". When the applicants explained they’d have to exceed height and lot utilization limits to make a profit, the city should have told them this is clearly not the right lot for a hotel and to come back with an idea that works within the existing zoning rules.

Instead, the city's outsourced for-profit M-Group planners offered to collaborate with the lot owner and hotel developer on an overlay (zoning amendment) that would allow them to violate the existing zoning laws. To accommodate this hotel, the outsourced M-Group suggested increasing the maximum building height from 45 feet to 75 feet and increasing lot utilization from 80% to 100%. This change allows for a huge, out of character, mass that will overshadow our historic downtown and forever harm its character.

The city council, staff, and M-Group consultants willing to risk our protected historic downtown for short-term profits have at the same time ignored existing buildings, property owners, and small businesses that are critical to our long-term economic success. They often point to the properties located at 101 4th Street (the old Fourth and Sea restaurant) and 310 D Street (the old Walnut Park Grill) as being "blighted" and claim that this overlay is somehow the solution.

What those same people fail to mention is that the city's outsourced M-Group has for years denied simple use permits to allow those properties to be used. Their excuse has been "insufficient parking", even though both lots have off-street parking, an absolute rarity downtown, that had been deemed sufficient in the past.

They also point to the chain link fences as blight, but neglect to mention that those unused properties (due to the denial of simple use permits) have been subject to vandalism, graffiti, and garbage dumping. The city responded to those crimes by citing the property owners. Yes, the victims of those crimes were cited and held responsible for the cleanup by the city. The obvious choice was to put up a fence to prevent further vandalism, dumping, and unwarranted fees. The "blight" these city folks continue to point out was in fact caused by the city and their outsourced M-Group.

It's not a coincidence that the Fourth and Sea and Walnut Grill lots sit within the overlay. The city and M-Group could have easily worked with these property owners over the years to prevent blight and support local business. There simply isn't enough profit in that approach and those lots are much more valuable to the city and M-Group if those property owners are forced to sell to a developer.

Whether you support the idea of a new hotel or not, it's important that we all understand why we are even having this conversation in the first place.

Heather Kratt
Petalumans for Accountability

05/12/2025

Please support the voter referendum to give our community a voice in the future of our historic downtown!

05/12/2025

Please support the voter referendum to give our community a voice in the future of our historic downtown!

EASTSIDE FOLKS! COME SIGN THE REFERENDUM PETITION THIS COMING FRIDAY MAY 16th AT PLAZA NORTH SHOPPING CENTER. LOOK FOR US AROUND THE OLD K-MART SPACE AROUND 5:00-6:30 pm.
***during the American Graffiti Kickoff event***

PS: now imagine a 6-story luxury hotel right here…

02/20/2025

For those following along with the city of Petaluma's ongoing hypocrisy, the city announced yesterday that it will be developing an outdoor amphitheater - with a concrete slab, stage, and metal seating - in the protected wetlands at Shollenberger Park. Hmmm.

Exciting news, Petaluma - we’re bringing an outdoor amphitheater to Shollenberger Park! [Español abajo]

It will be a beautiful new space for environmental education, community events, and connecting with nature.

This project includes a ground-level, low-profile stage and seating designed to blend seamlessly into the park's landscape. We will also be installing accessibility improvements to the gravel pathway leading to the stage and a new informational sign to enhance your park experience.

We’re taking extra care to protect local wildlife as we bring the amphitheater to life. A biologist is monitoring nesting birds, setting up buffers, and keeping a close eye on construction to minimize impacts.

Stay in the loop and get project updates at cityofpetaluma.org/shollenberger
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Ciudad de Petaluma y visite nuestra pagina la cual está escrita enteramente en español. ¡Gracias!

02/01/2025

We filed our lawsuit against the city of Petaluma on January 29. We are suing for inverse condemnation, or the illegal taking of our land in violation of our fifth amendment rights. We have demanded a jury trial. I'll update this post to include a link to the lawsuit once the court has made it available.

I thought I would feel more excited to finally get our lawsuit filed, but it's been a long and draining three years to reach this point. The use permit we submitted in October 2022 is surely one of the simplest the city has ever received (zero development), but the city completely failed us.

At the time we bought the land, I was recovering from breast cancer, my most stressful life experience up to then. My twin sister helped me buy the land because she knew it gave me hope, a future, and would fulfill my longtime dream of owning a small community marketplace with food trucks and other mobile vendors. I was excited for my future and considered Petaluma to be the place I would retire and live out the rest of my life.

And then we encountered the M-Group. [insert ominous music here]

There has never been any rhyme or reason to the M-Group's nonsense, other than to flex the great power their for-profit corporation has over our city government. The last three years have been filled with lies, ridiculous excuses, stonewalling, retaliation, misinformation campaigns from M-Group supporters, and performative appeals that resulted in nothing.

The city of Petaluma is the most corrupt and broken local government I have ever encountered. In the last three years, I have learned of so many other businesses that have been harmed by the M-Group (permits denied for bogus reasons or delayed for years at great expense to the small business owners), while the city manager, mayor, and city council majority do absolutely nothing to address the problem.

Dealing with the corrupt city and its outsourced for-profit M-Group has since replaced cancer as my most stressful life experience to date. I hope my lawsuit will lead to some city staff improvements and a better functioning city that supports everyone equitably, fairly, and honestly. There's no excuse for the current state of our city government and the damage caused by it.

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11/07/2024

I tried twice to post the following appreciation for my two favorite Petaluma City Council candidates on Nextdoor, but the power-tripping pricks that moderate and control the site couldn't take it. My original post is below, but I will take more liberty with my post here.

I am beyond grateful to Lance Kuehne, Alex DeCarli, and JJ Jay for their efforts during this City Council election cycle.

Lance Kuehne took on two incumbents for district 6. He ended up with 28% of the vote, with a total of 58% going to him and Mike Healy, an incumbent. Brian Barnacle, the biggest piece of s**t running, won the election because of that split vote. May Lance hold his head high for a job well done and may Brian Barnacle be humbled by his loss of the popular vote. Lance, you have my absolute respect!

Alex DeCarli won the district 5 vote against another piece of s**t, Blake Hooper. The Blake team tried their best to villainize Alex for having the *gasp* nerve to successfully run his family business, which has provided clean energy propane to our community (remote ag workers and mobile businesses) since 1946. They also tried to discredit him for possibly, maybe, they weren't sure, about being anything other than a registered Democrat. What a sad attempt at keeping a good man down. Congratulations, Alex, and I look forward to your positive contributions to our city council!

I was rooting for JJ Jay in district 4, but he lost to Brian Barnacle's recruit, Frank Quint. Frank will vote in lockstep with Brian and the M-Group, so this a total loss to our community. JJ Jay has the smarts, experience, and quality of character that would have made a great and much needed contribution to our city council. Thank you, JJ, for all of your efforts and contributions to our community!

--Heather

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My Nextdoor post which keeps getting removed:

Congrats to Alex DeCarli and my heartfelt thank you to Lance Kuehne!

Congratulations to Alex DeCarli, voters in district 5, and all of Petaluma on your city council win! Your opponent and his supporters did their best to distort the truth during this campaign, but you stayed focused on the issues and community, and you showed your true leadership skills during this campaign. Thank you for stepping up to provide true representation for our community and for fighting the good fight. I look forward to your positive impact on our city council!

To Lance Kuehne, my favorite candidate running this year, I offer you my most heartfelt gratitude for your contributions to our community! You stepped up to take on not one but two district 6 incumbents with name recognition, existing political connections, and more money, power, and influence. That took guts, determination, and a clear dedication to our community. I hope that today you are holding your head high and see the election results as the amazing accomplishment they are. You and Mike took 58% of the vote, meaning Brian won due to a split vote and not because he is better liked, and your 26% of that total is truly impressive!

Lance, you are not just a great candidate for city council or any other community representation, you are the real deal and a neighbor that makes me proud to be a Petaluman. Thank you, thank you, thank you!

11/04/2024

Hopefully Tuesday 11/5 will be the day Petaluma citizens stand up and take back control of our M-Group controlled City Council majority. If we elect Lance Kuehne (district 6), Alex DeCarli (district 5), and JJ Jay (district 4), we will finally have a City Council majority that is not beholden to the outsourced for-profit M-Group, their sole goal of profit over community, the impending destruction of our historic downtown, and the ongoing disparate treatment of small business owners. We can do this, Petaluma!

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