The cookware giant now wants to build a store at the same site in Sonoma where it first opened more than a half century ago, but is facing hurdles as the Sonoma City Council considers a zoning ordinance to regulate chain stores in the city’s historic district.

The City Council was to vote Wednesday on a temporary moratorium on chain stores from its downtown plaza while it drafts a permanent zoning ordinance that will regulate and possible ban “formula” stores from its historic city center. But when it became clear that the four of five votes needed to pass the urgent moratorium were not there, they shelved the issue until they could discuss it further.

Mayor Joanne Sanders worries the proposed ordinance could hurt the local economy for the 10,000 residents in the town that was once the capital of the California Republic in the 1800s. The small-business owner is opposed to chain-store regulations and believes there is room for growth while maintaining the charm of the rural community nestled in the Sonoma Valley.

“It’s a business that has become somewhat of a household name,” Sanders said of Williams-Sonoma. “And with that, it has tugged us along behind in the little red wagon. Sonoma is on the map as a tourist destination, a premier wine-country venue, a historic town — partly because of that name recognition.”

She believes the kitchenware store would draw more tourists to Sonoma and create badly needed jobs.

Williams-Sonoma spokeswoman Rebecca Weill released a statement describing the city as having “tremendous significance to Williams-Sonoma” and to its founder, Chuck Williams.

“When we learned of this real estate opportunity, we thought what better way to honor Chuck than to bring his journey full circle,” the statement said. “Our goal is to connect to our roots and honor Chuck’s legacy by creating a space of historical significance.”

The company met with city officials last week to present its plans. City planners say Williams-Sonoma wants to open a smaller, boutique-style version of its typical outlet. The store would not be on the main historic plaza, but would have to meet new criteria not currently on the books if the current language of the draft ordinance is approved.

City planners said Williams-Sonoma Inc. is negotiating the contract on the property where Chuck Williams, now 97, first started selling his high-end cookware imported from France. There are now more than 250 Williams-Sonoma stores nationwide. The company also owns the housewares and furniture behemoth Pottery Barn.

While there is a Chico’s clothing store and a Ben & Jerry’s ice cream shop on Sonoma’s main plaza, there are no Starbucks, and most of the boutiques, restaurants, pottery, artisan cheese and wine-tasting stores are locally owned.

City Councilmember Ken Brown said that while he favors…to read the rest of the story, please click here.

The Sacramento County Board of Supervisors voted unanimously in December to adopt new zoning code amendments that will potentially foster growth of Sacramento’s wine industry. The changes will take effect in just a few days.

Among other things, the ordinance provides the grape growers of a certain size the right to produce and bottle their own wine; gives wineries the ability to open small tasting rooms in agricultural zones; and eliminates the requirement for conditional use permits for private events, with restrictions based on the size of the property.

“It promotes people growing local and buying local,” said Don Nottoli, supervisor for district 5.

The presence of wineries in Amador, El Dorado and Yolo counties increased dramatically in recent years, but Sacramento county’s growth has been minimal, a fact the Board of Supervisors addressed with the ordinance.

“We feel this is an important step to encourage economic growth, job creation and keep tourism dollars in our county,” said Nottoli in a press release on Dec. 14. “By reducing regulatory obstacles, we can help Sacramento County become an important part of the wine tourism industry.”

These amendments allow for a more streamlined process and will save businesses thousands of dollars and as much as two years in permitting time, Nottoli said. The money, previously spent on permits, can be invested into growing the businesses.

“One of the things we’ve seen is that Sacramento’s culinary tourism has increased dramatically,” said Mike Testa, senior vice president at the Sacramento Convention & Visitors Bureau. “If we put the same attention into our wine industry, the tourism package is something we can certainly sell.”

Testa added that groups attending conferences in Sacramento often make day trips to wine country, and Sacramento should be making every effort to keep them here.

Revolution Wines, at S and 29th streets in Midtown, is an urban winery, said owner Gina Genshlea. In addition to the tasting room and bistro that serves snacks and small plates…to read the rest of the story, please click here.

The Orange County Register’s Fast Food Maven, Nancy Luna, has shared with her readers that Wahoo’s Fish Taco will be hosting a VIP preview party on February 2, 2012 at its soon to be open location in California’s largest historic district, Old Town Orange.

The opening of this new Wahoo’s location will be in the Vineland Hotel building on West Chapman Avenue in the City of Orange.  It was built in 1886 and was the first hotel in the city.

Opening up a business in a historic district involves preserving the building’s historical character while complying with current building codes.  It took Wahoo’s about three years to open this new location.

The following is from an Orange County Register article regarding what it took for Wahoo’s Fish Taco to open its new location in Old Town Orange – Mingo Lee has never taken more than three years to open a Wahoo’s Fish Taco.

He and his brothers Wing Lam and Eduardo Lee have opened more than 50 locations during the past 14 years – and each took four to six months from conception to completion.

But progress in the state’s largest historic district takes place at its own pace, as Mingo Lee learned when purchasing the old Vineland Hotel for $1.1 million in 2008. After more than three years, multiple historical consultants and countless plan revisions, Old Towne Wahoo’s Fish Tacos should be opening it doors early next year.

The final cost of the additional renovations?

Nearly $2 million.

“Without the city’s (financial) partnership, we would have left the deal on the table,” Mingo Lee said.

Once filled with antique shops, Old Towne Orange is evolving into a popular shopping and dining destination for people around the county. But those who want to do business here must balance profit seeking with preservation.

Mingo Lee admits he didn’t know what he was getting into when he purchased the Vineland Hotel, on West Chapman Avenue, two blocks from the traffic circle. Built in 1886, it was the first hotel in what is now the city, and is one of the county’s oldest. Owners had left it vacant for decades.

Five layers of roofing material had to be stripped away and replaced. The second floor of the building was unstable, and the staircase lacked support beams. Even the brick-and-mortar foundation had to be replaced with concrete.

Bringing the old building up to building codes would be costly. Doing so while preserving the building’s historical character would be costlier. And historical approvals had to be sought and construction documented at every step of the way.

“We weren’t totally prepared for all the work it was going to take,” Mingo Lee said.

It’s been the same story for many new businesses in Old Towne.

Ed Patrick, co-owner of Gabbi’s Mexican Kitchen at 141 S. Glassell St., was so wary of the approval process that after he completed his renovations in 2005, he didn’t erect a sign over their restaurant. The façade is still bare today.

“That would have held us up from opening,” Patrick said. “We’ve been a very word-of-mouth place.”

Al Ricci, who developed several Old Towne restaurants, including Beach Pit Barbeque on 128 N. Glassell St., said he also had to spend millions to bring his properties up to code.

“If you want to be in Old Towne, you have limited choices,” Ricci said.

The federal government does not enforce historical design standards. That’s the prerogative of local groups like the Old Towne Preservation Association and the city, said Orange’s historical planner, Dan Ryan. He said that business owners should know what they’re getting into: some uncertainty.

“There’s always unforeseen problems in any historic structure,” Ryan said.

The city can use redevelopment funds to…to read the rest of this story, please click here.

As the successor agency, the council will have greater control over the process of liquidating agency assets to pay the $52 million owed by the agency in debt and other obligations.

Forming a housing authority provides similar control and will allow the city to continue its affordable-housing programs, including the subsidized living program in Little Hollywood that provides 34 homeless families with apartments and townhomes. The housing authority will consist of council members and two members of the public.

A report from Tom Clark, the agency’s legal counsel, allayed fears that the city would lose control of the agency’s $13.8 million real estate portfolio.

A state law dissolving redevelopment agencies as of Feb. 1 includes language that will allow the city to keep the properties owned by the Redevelopment Agency as long as they are used for governmental purposes, Clark said.

The law does not define such purposes but lists roads, schools, parks and fire stations as examples.

Clark said that section of the law protects almost all the properties owned by the Redevelopment Agency. Those include the three downtown parking lots, the Camino Real Playhouse, the Blas Aguilar Adobe, Historic Town Center Park, Los Rios Park and the San Juan Capistrano Sports Park, among others.

The news came as a relief to Tom Scott, president of the Camino Real Playhouse. The theater was a product of the Redevelopment Agency, and Scott said it serves 10,000 patrons a year, in addition to training youths in the ways of theater.

“Thank you for recognizing the community contributions that the theater makes,” Scott said.

The one exception is…to read the rest of this story, please click here.

Although the parcel is small — just under 3 acres — the city is pursuing the case to discourage future lawsuits, and because the surrounding Avenida San Juan neighborhood has opposed the plot’s development.

“People in the neighborhood are nearly unanimous and very vocal in their opposition,” said City Attorney Jeff Oderman. “If this had been a project where there had been a division of opinion in the neighborhood, [the city] may not have gone the extra mile.”

A landowner wants to subdivide a 2.85-acre parcel at 404 Avenida San Juan and build four homes overlooking the I-5 freeway at the south end of town. In 1993, the city zoned the area “very low residential,” meaning it would allow only one single-family home per 20 acres, the practical outcome of which is to maintain open space, according to court documents.

A 1983 landslide in the neighborhood prompted a petition drive to zone the area as open space, although the slide didn’t involve that property. The City Council at that time didn’t reclassify the land, according to court documents.

The city asserts it has the right to zone as it sees fit, and that the landowner failed to challenge the 1993 zoning amendment within the statute of limitations, Oderman said.

The property owner, Avenida San Juan Partnership, sued in late 2007 when the council denied development plan based on the zoning amendment. The partnership said it obtained permission to subdivide the lot in 1983, three years after buying the parcel. The lawsuit also claims the plaintiff wasn’t notified of the zoning change in 1993, and notes that none of the surrounding properties comply with that zoning, so the rule is discriminatory.

On Dec. 15, Orange County Superior Court Judge David McEachen ruled…to read the rest of this story, please click here.

But wave energy developers say Oregon’s initial draft leaves them in a watery ghetto. Oregon is the first to produce detailed ocean maps.

At first glance, the Pacific Ocean looks wide open and mostly empty. It’s anything but on a digital map the state of Oregon has recently put online. The interactive display includes around 150 layers of data about existing ocean uses and natural features.

Oregon Sea Grant fellow Todd Hallenbeck demonstrates on his laptop by highlighting prime fishing grounds.

“There’s a large area of the territorial sea that’s important to fishing with the darker red colors representing some of the most important areas for each of the ports,” Hallenbeck points out.

The map lights up from Neah Bay, Washington to the Oregon-California border.

He adds, “We can turn on things like commercial shipping lanes,” which adds purple lines crisscrossing the screen.

“We can turn on some of the seabird layers that represent areas where there are seabird colonies. These are represented by these little dots that show up right along the shoreline and rocky reef areas.”

I ask him, “After we put all of these layers on — and we’ve just selected some of the big ones — what’s left if I’m a wave energy developer?”

Hallenbeck responds, “There are not a ton of areas that seem to not have something of importance in them already. So the challenge here is finding the few areas that exist that have the least amount of conflict.”

That’s the nub for actual project developers. Justin Klure of Pacific Energy Ventures feels boxed out by the initial set of lines drawn on the ocean planning map.

“First blush, those maps look a little intimidating from the industry perspective,” he says. “Because the areas that they’ve identified are relatively small and don’t align with some of the basic requirements that the industry is looking at, which is access to port, access to transmission, certain water depths.”

Klure isn’t giving up hope yet. It’s early in the process, too early in his view to be “drawing lines in the sand.” To stay with the zoning analogy, he argues for a “mixed use” approach while more data is gathered.

The planning process is moving slowly. That’s creating regulatory uncertainty. It’s scared off at least one…to read the rest of this story, please click here.

A graduate from the University of Southern California, Mr. Bacerra has utilized his experience in long range and current planning to secure entitlements and permits for a diverse set of clients. He has also composed zoning and development policy for numerous jurisdictions.

Mr. Bacerra has worked for various municipal agencies, such as the Southern California Association of Governments, the Los Angeles County Metropolitan Transportation Authority, the City of Los Angeles, and the City of Westminster.

His passion and experience in multi-modal planning advocacy lead to his appointment to the Orange County Transportation Authority’s Citizens Advisory Committee.

Mr. Bacerra has also served as the Executive Director for the Democratic Foundation of Orange County and worked on several political campaigns throughout the state of California.

Mr. Bacerra was born and raised in Orange County, California.  He is a graduate of Santiago High School in Garden Grove.  Mr. Bacerra currently resides in the city of Santa Ana.

According to OCTA, you can ride transit for FREE in Orange County from 6:00 PM on Saturday, December 31, 2011 until Sunday, January 1, 2012 at 2:30 AM.  The following OCTA routes will be running after midnight:

43 – Harbor Boulevard
50 – Katella
57 – Bristol
60 – Westminster Blvd./17th Street 

These routes were originally Night Owl routes, but due to the recent economic situation, they no longer run 24 hours.  In fact, the latest that any of these routes run is the 57-Bristol, which reaches the Newport Transportation Center near Fashion Island at 1:58 AM.

LA Metro will offer FREE rides on transit in Los Angeles County from 9:00 PM on Saturday, December 31, 2011 until Sunday, January 1, 2012 at 2:00 AM.  LA Metro has many bus routes that run 24 hours.  For New Years Eve, the Metro Red, Purple, Blue, Green, and Gold rail lines will also run 24 hours, every 20 minutes.

Please note that the Long Beach Transit Mall will be closed from 7:00 PM – 3:00 AM due to a New Year’s Eve event in Downtown Long Beach.  Metro Blue Line trains will only travel as far south as 1st Street Station.  Please click here for more information.

You can also use Google Maps to plan your trips in Orange County or Los Angeles.

Have a safe and wonderful New Years celebration!

“For travel between Orange County and downtown Los Angeles’ Union Station, trains are often faster than freeways,” said Acting Caltrans Director Malcolm Dougherty. “We want to give commuters real-time information to help them get to their destination quicker.”

The train and highway travel is being displayed weekdays on the northbound

Interstate 5 and westbound State Route 91 electronic signs located closest to the Anaheim and Fullerton train stations. The travel times will resemble the message shown here:

TO DOWNTOWN LA    MIN

FWY                                   55

11:55  TRAIN                   40

“This pilot project will highlight the time a commuter could save by taking a Metrolink train, but that’s only one of the many benefits of opting for public transportation over driving your car,” said Metrolink Board Member Paul Glaab. “Commuters can also save money, have a positive impact on the environment, and enjoy a stress-free commute. We hope this project will encourage Southern Californians to get familiar with their public transportation options.”

Caltrans provides the freeway travel time information using data collected from its vehicle detector stations throughout the freeway system. Metrolink provides train travel times, which include Amtrak and Metrolink train departure and trip duration information.

From Metro’s The Source – In the Bay area, a test of the travel time/rail time system displaying comparisons of transit and highway driving times for Millbrae and Redwood City train stations showed an increase in ridership at both. This good idea is still in its infancy but certainly could be a useful tool for commuters if it can be made to work successfully.

The airport, which is east of Denver International Airport, is comprised of 4,000 acres and is surrounded by 6,000 acres zoned for industrial development.

Gov. Hickenlooper said it is important to have a spaceport that is both in a remote location and has access to the support services it needs.

Gov. Hickenlooper said his administration has sent a letter to the Federal Aviation Administration stating that it is seeking the designation.

He said the state has the potential to have the designation in place by the end of 2012.

A spaceport designation would allow for the creation of a facility from which space-bound payloads can be launched. The sites are viewed by many as important economic development tools because of…to read the rest of this story, please click here.