Appeal sends Sonoma Cheese Factory to City Council for review

The ink was barely dry on the Sonoma Planning Commission’s stamp of approval of the Sonoma Cheese Factory ambitious remodel when rumors began to circulate that an appeal would be filed.

But it wasn’t until the last day the appeal could be made – 15 days following the commission’s April 12 decision – that two West Spain Street neighbors filed an appeal with the City of Sonoma, taking issue with the redevelopment plan for the family-run cheese market on Spain Street.

Project developer Steve Carlin, with support of the Viviani family which owns the Cheese Factory, has proposed a remodel for the historic building inspired by the Oxbow Market in Napa, with multiple indoor vendors, two restaurants and both indoor and outdoor dining. The remodel would take down most of the 1945 building that has been added to the historic register, except for the distinctive façade.

It was approved by the Planning Commission on April 12 in a 5-2 vote, with commission members James Bohar and Bob McDonald the two nays.

Calling the commission’s decision – which sidestepped an environmental review – “flawed and based on unverifiable assumptions,” and the conditional use permit itself marked by “inconsistencies” and non-conforming with the city’s development code and General Plan, the owners of the Swiss Hotel and the Mary’s Pizza Shack building filed their appeal on Friday, April 27.

Tom and Ingrid Dunlap of the Swiss Hotel, and Jim and Hank Marioni, who own the building that houses Mary’s Pizza Shack, filed as joint appellants.

Tom Dunlap is a cousin to Jim and Hank Marioni, with their families owning the two restaurant buildings since the 1920s.

The Marioni Building at 8 W. Spain is where Mary’s Pizza Shack is located. Hank Marioni told the Index-Tribune that, while he had no objection to someone improving the Cheese Factory building, he thought the current proposal was too large for the location – in the heart of the Plaza business district, accessible only by the two busy intersections where Spain Street meets First Street West and First Street East.

“I just think the scope of this project is a lot bigger than what is allowed for that area,” said Hank Marioni. “It would be different if it were two or three blocks off the square – but there, it’s a bottle-neck.”

Dunlap, a cardiologist with a practice in Santa Rosa, focused on the number of parking spaces that would be used by employees of the stalls and restaurants projected for the Oxbow-modeled Cheese Factory. “Figure two or three people operating each of the 10 stalls, right there you’re talking about 30 people parking their cars – that already exceeds the parking estimates the city came up with,” he said.

No on-site parking is proposed in conjunction with the building expansion associated with the proposed project, according to the city staff report. The two restaurants planned for the new complex would add another 60 employees, said Dunlap. “And that’s not counting the customers.”

Carlin responded to an inquiry for comment by saying, “We are confident that the Sonoma Cheese Factory project as approved by the Planning Commission meets all applicable standards for city, state, and local historic codes and design guidelines, including CEQA.”

He added, “We do not anticipate making further changes to the project.”

Both the Swiss Hotel and the Mary’s Pizza Shack have restaurants operating on site, and the question about the competition from new food service businesses arises.

“I don’t have any problem with the commerce side of it,” said Dunlap. “We’ve always felt you bring in good-quality businesses, even if they’re competitive, it doesn’t really hurt your business, it enhances it.

“But it’s a much too ?exuberant, ambitious project in terms of the scope of what the property and parking can handle, and I don’t think the proper studies have been done to mitigate that.”

After outlining their objections to the approval, which included inadequate traffic studies and particular objection to the cultural resource impacts of the project, the appeal turns its attention to a statement Planning Director David Goodison made at the April 12 meeting:

“We can continue to ask for more studies, but I think that we are, as a practical matter, at a decision point for this project,” Goodison is quoted as saying in the appeal.

Goodison went on to speculate that further studies would “kill the project,” which the appeal alleges has the effect of “dissuading additional information and clarification.”

“If the appellants believe that the review of the project was too rushed or that additional studies should be required, that is a legitimate basis for appeal,” Goodison told the Index-Tribune.

The appeal takes the Planning Commission’s decision before the City Council, which last month overrode Planning Commission approval of three private homes at Fourth Street East and Brazil Street.

No date has been set for the Sonoma Cheese Factory appeal.

Contact Christian at christian.kallen@sonomanews.com.