One of the main goals of the West End Neighborhood Association is to provide neighborhood input to the City of Santa Rosa. DeTurk Round Barn’s use permit is currently under review and the City is asking for significant changes. The DeTurk Round Barn is in the heart of the West End- it is of vital importance that events at the Round Barn do not take away from the quality of life in our neighborhood.
Dear Neighbors,
This Thursday night S. R. Recreation and Parks Department will be asking the Planning Commission to modify the Conditional Use Permit that governs the operation of the Round Barn. In 2009 neighbors worked with the City for over six months and the impact from the weddings and events over the first year have been minimal. This is due to having a use permit that works. Now the Rec. and Parks department wants to modify this permit and that will strip the neighborhood of the protections we fought hard to have. Here are the changes they are asking for:
1) Increase the occupancy from 150 to 500- without a special event permit. This is an increase of over 300%.
2) Allow events of under 200 people to occur without any limits.
3) They are also asking to allow 3 events of over 200 every month. This would allow large events every week for a six week period without a break. Currently the use permit allows events of over 70 people to occur only twice in a 30 day period.
4) Allows for private New Year’s Eve party without a special event permit. Many residents voiced concerns regarding hours of operation, alcohol consumption and loud parties at the Barn. This new permit turns its back on all of those concerns.
The current use permit recognizes that the Round Barn has no off street parking. Facilities like the barn of similar size would need 130 “off “street parking spaces. The neighbors agreed to put up with the reality that most if not all event parking would take place on our streets if the City limited the size and frequency of the events. Now the City seems determined to increase the impacts on our neighborhood.
What can you do?
#1 Voice your objection to these changes by writing a letter or calling Noah Housh, City Planner, Department of Community Development – telephone 707-543-4322 or e-mail: mailto:nhoush@srcity.org
#2 Attend the Planning Commission this Thursday, April 12th meeting starts at 4 p.m. but we are item 10- so this might start anywhere after 4:15 p.m.
Take a moment to email or commit to attending on Thursday. If you are involved now– we can prevent long term neighborhood problems that this new proposal might cause in the future.
Sincerely, Lea Barron-Thomas
President
West End Neighborhood Association
DeTurk Round Barn is a community building in the heart of the West End
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