Penngrove’s not sitting still these days.
Sonoma County’s Board of Zoning Adjustments approved a use permit and design review for a project from Martin Sessi and Tom Richman to go ahead with plans for a two-story mixed use building on the northeast corner of Main Street and Woodward Avenue.
And county work crews are adding sidewalks, curbs and gutters to the west side of Main Street from Adobe Road south. In addition, work crews are building a large lot designed for parking up to 13 trucks between Redwood Montessori School and NWPRR tracks on the west side of Main Street.
Woodward Avenue begins at Main Street and winds uphill to meet Old Adobe Road east of town.
Urban designer Richman and Sessi are no strangers to Penngrove. The Grove shopping center, built five years ago in the triangle where Main Street meets Old Redwood Highway at Rancho Adobe Fire Station, was their first Penngrove project.
The yet-unnamed building will  front both Main and Woodward.  It will be 10,907 sq. ft. in size on a 14,128 sq. ft. parcel. Four apartments will be on the second floor with three commercial spaces on the ground floor. Tentative plans call for parking on the roof for occupants since this portion of Woodward Avenue slopes downhill to Main Street. An existing cottage and a metal shed will be torn down to make room for the new building.
“The old metal shed on Main Street was about ready to fall down,” said Sessi. “It was filled with construction debris, like a couple hundred doors in bad shape. I called Habitat for Humanity and they came and took the doors that were still usable. The rest was window frames with broken glass, but the frames were rotting away. I did save an old piano and took three or four huge dumpsters loaded with junk to the disposal site.”
At the BZA meeting Sept. 24 in Santa Rosa, several issues came up. Most notably was one from Lindsay Mickles, who lives on Woodward Avenue and has his own business management firm in Petaluma. He wondered why the California Environment Quality Act (CEQA) wasn’t involved in the approval process.
 “Main Street is a main artery here and causes major traffic jam-ups, the hillside is an unstable slope, there are railroad tracks, a school, Post Office and now a truck parking lot,” Mickles told the BZA. “We need CEQA protection.”
But according to a CEQA spokesman in Sacramento, the building qualifies as “an infill project” and does not need CEQA participation.
Kim and Jeff Mattison, owners of the Montessori Redwood Pre-school were concerned about the two structures to be torn down and the hazardous materials that could be released. There used to be a Sinclair gas station on Main Street but it was abandoned in the 1950s.
“There should be a licensed and qualified hazardous materials contractor on site during any demolition,” they said in a letter to the BZA. They also cited the possible lead and asbestos contamination during the demolition.
Richman, in testimony to the board, said, “Main streets in small towns have been neglected.” He said the project has been reviewed by the Landmarks Commission, the Design Review Committee and a traffic analysis, which said, “The addition of project-related trips is expected to result in less than significant impacts during both the morning and afternoon peak traffic periods.”
Richman was also commended with his building design work to make it as compatible as possible with Penngrove’s historical designation. The town’s also in a Scenic Corridor area, except in peak commute traffic hours. But for years, there’s been talk of building a bypass road to ease auto congestion.
A small group of Penngrove residents spoke to the BZA and all backed the Richman-Sessi plan.
There are other approvals needed for final acceptance of their plan. “If no one appeals the decision we can continue our plans,” said Sessi. “We still have to bring our plans to Permit and Resource Management and county Public Works Department.
But since it’s an Infill project,” within an urban area, it will not need an OK from the Sonoma County Board of Supervisors. Penngrove is in the Second Supervisorial District of Mike Kerns.
“The Penngrove business owners are excited about our idea,” said Richman. “It will bring people downtown.”