Petaluma City Council members Monday night officially announced their approval of a controversial legal settlement that pays opponents of a Target-anchored development $150,000 to drop legal challenges to the big-box retail development.
The city signed a three-way settlement in closed session on July 19, after which the other parties signed on.
The agreement calls for Florida-based Regency Centers, developer of the 380,000-square-foot East Washington Place project, to pay the Petaluma Community Coalition $100,000 in exchange for promises the coalition will no longer oppose the development.
Regency also agreed to pay the coalition $50,000 for costs incurred in a lawsuit against the city and $32,000 toward the city's legal costs to defend a suit filed by Regency. An additional $40,000 will be set aside for traffic improvements on East Washington or in the nearby East D Street neighborhood.
The no-strings-attached $100,000 payment has rankled some Petalumans, including a majority of council members.
Coalition leader Matt Maguire has said he isn't sure how the group will spend the money, other than reimbursing himself and fellow group leader Paul Francis for the "thousands of hours" they spent on legal work and other research.
The council voted 4-2 to approve the settlement. Mayor Pam Torliatt and councilmembers David Glass, Teresa Barrett and Tiffany Renee voted yes, while councilmen Mike Healy and Mike Harris voted against. Councilman David Rabbitt was absent.
Despite her yes vote, Renee said she has concerns about the six-figure payment. She said she has been in contact with "a number of upset neighbors" about what Maguire and Francis intend to do with the money.
"I have appealed to them to do the right thing and do something great for the community," she said.
Harris said before the meeting that the payment sets a dangerous precedent.
"This would embolden other groups in the future to tie up projects beyond the normal course of business, and could give groups an incentive to initiate litigation," he said.
The agreement prohibits the coalition from any future opposition of the project, including if Friedman's Home Improvement formally applies. The Sonoma-based chain has a nonbinding agreement with Regency to build a 100,000-square-foot store and a separate drive-through lumber yard on the rear third of the 34-acre development.
It does not prevent the group from using the money to fight a proposed 315,000-square-foot project on North McDowell Boulevard that includes a Lowe's Home Improvement store.
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