The delays keep coming for the Deer Creek Village proposal in north Petaluma, which is planned to include a Lowe's home improvement store.
The dates on a city website that showed a tentative December release of a draft environmental impact report and January and February Planning Commission and City Council hearings have all been delayed.
In a change posted Thursday, the dates are all "to be determined."
Marko Mlikotin, a spokesman for developers Merlone Geier, said Friday thyy have received no further information on a timetable for their application.
"They have been told the project timelines have been changed, but haven't been informed what it will be," he said.
The Deer Creek project proposes 346,000 square feet of retail and office space, a health club, garden center and restaurant on 36.5 acres of vacant land at the southwest corner of Rainier Avenue and North McDowell Boulevard.
If approved, the project would give Petaluma its only home improvement store. The local favorite, Friedman's Home Improvement, recently confirmed it would not be part of the East Washington Place project, which the city approved in February.
Lowe's has reaffirmed its intent to build in Petaluma, pending city approval, Mlikotin said.
"Even in this economy, they are interested in this market for a home improvement store," he said.
Still, he said, there is some degree of doubt because of the city's lengthy planning process.
"Nothing is ever certain," Mlikotin said. "Like any company, they have timetables. They go through reassessments several times a year."
Petaluma has ordered three additional studies beyond what was originally planned in the initial study period. Along with the customary EIR, the city requested separate reviews of air-quality impacts, traffic and economic impacts the project may have.
The delays prompted Merlone Geier to fire off testy letters to the city asserting their property rights and issuing thinly veiled threats of lawsuits over "persistent, unwarranted delays."
Councilman Mike Healy said he understands both Lowe's and Target, which is to anchor East Washington Place, hope to open in October 2012. He said he also was unsure of any new timetable for Deer Creek.
City staff wasn't available to clarify Friday, when city offices are closed.
The next step for the project is the release of the draft environmental impact report. That opens a 45-day public comment period, after which the Planning Commission and City Council weigh in on the draft report.
The report is then finalized and reviewed again by planners and the council. Those meetings had been scheduled for January and February.
The latest delay may be crucial for the project. Next year, the council will have a new makeup and perhaps a different outlook on development.
The council that will be sworn in on Jan. 3 will be led by new Mayor David Glass and is currently evenly split between those who are welcoming of new developments and those who favor stricter control of building projects.
A seventh member, and potential swing vote, is to be appointed by the new council early next year.
You can reach Staff Writer Lori A. Carter at 762-7297 or lori.carter@pressdemocrat.com.
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