In the beginning, the court of public opinion ruled the proposed Urban Design Plan an abomination, but on Tuesday — nearly four years after talk of the need for the plan started — the planning commission approved myriad changes and sent the blueprint for downtown development to the Calistoga City Council.

Approval came on a 4-0 vote, with Carol Bush absent.

“I still think the whole process, the way it was started, was not done properly,” said Planning Commissioner Paul Coates, the only commissioner to ever oppose the plan.

“I still don’t agree with adding another layer of government, but this thing has been so negative, most likely because the public felt they weren’t being listened to. We’ve removed the wills, shall, and musts that mandated certain things to certain people and their properties, making the document more flexible, and I applaud that,” Coates said.

It was Coates who, during the first official public consideration of the plan, made the first motion on the issue. That was to discard the plan in its entirety because it was believed to be the result of work done during nearly two years of ad hoc committee meetings of the Calistoga City Council that were not legally noticed to the public — in violation of the California Open Meeting law, the Ralph M. Brown Act.

“It was so negative in the beginning,” Coates said. “The public repeatedly said it felt it was not being listened to. The city staff has been able to turn that around, and I commend that, and although part of me wants to vote ‘no’ since I fundamentally disagree with creating a new layer of government, I support the changes.”

Coates gave the plan his approval, “with reservation,” he said, although he did not share his specific reservations. But he was not the only commissioner to bare his soul.

Commissioner Nick Kite, using a childhood memory of fishing with his dad as a kind of analogy, also recalled the early days of consideration of the plan.

“My dad used to take me fishing and every once in a while I’d make a terrible mess of the string on the reel,” Kite said. “I’d take it to my dad and he’d hand it back and say, ‘You figure the bugger out,’ and I felt like we had been handed a terrible, knotted mess,” said Kite.

Concerns remain

Though the rhetoric has softened, there are still some concerns, including parking to be provided by Indian Springs and other businesses.

Kristin Casey, a longtime opponent of the Urban Design Plan, presented more than three pages of concerns — mostly suggestions on changing the wording from mandating to suggesting or offering ideas of how a property may use his or her property, or deleting “mysterious statements” like one that accommodates “expanded commercial uses” La Prima Pizza, a family restaurant, La Prima Pizza.

Real estate broker Kurt Larrecou, who has expressed environmental concerns throughout the process, urged the commission to get a second opinion on whether the plan needed a California Environmental Quality Act review rather than take the staff’s word that none was needed.

Additionally, a mandate for Indian Springs Resort to provide parking for downtown was dropped. Indian Springs general manager Erik Fair was told expansion plans at the resort would only be required to accommodate expansion of the resort, not downtown.

Likewise, Roman Spa owner Michael Quast endorsed the UDP recommendation to update standards for regular and shared parking.

On to the council

Now that the Planning Commission has completed its deliberation, city staff will create and present a final draft — with tracked changes — to the City Council for their review and discussion.

Upon completion of the public hearing process and final action by the council, staff will complete final production of the document before commencing work on a development an implementation schedule incorporating the UDP into the General Plan, Zoning Ordinance and other regulatory documents, as well as establishing a priority schedule with timelines for commencing work on public-initiated infrastructure projects as identified in the UDP.

Draft implementation programs will also be presented to the Planning Commission for review and recommendation to the City Council.

“During processing of this implementation of this program, public comment will be solicited,” said City Planning Department Director Charlene Gallina.

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