Penngrove Station by Lyndi Brown - May 2018
Down Home Day - May 19
The 4th annual family fun day and fundraiser offers affordable family fun on Saturday, May 19th from 11am-4pm on the grounds of a working 1915 homestead in Penngrove. Admission is free, and so is parking. Enjoy live music by
The food and cold brews are affordably priced, including BBQ Chicken and hot dogs from $3 to $10.
The day allows children to practice good manners, social skills and respect for elders – quick, before kids get cell phones! Contests and activities include the applesauce challenge, egg toss, feed the chickens, learn about farm animals, hula hoop hop, and the egg relay. The photo contest includes best hat, amazing pet, families on the tractor. Contest winners receive $25 gift cards from sponsors.
This is a fundraiser for Artful Arrangements, a 501(c)(3) nonprofit that finds ways for parents (or grandparents) and children to play together in affordable, fun settings. Proceeds from the grand drawing tickets ($1 each), food and beverage sales help create more programs like this. Learn more at artfularrangements.org. The ranch is at 205 Orchard Lane, Penngrove. For more information, contact 707-664-8656.
Awakening to Aging – May 23
Explore the joys and challenges of aging with local marriage and family therapist Myrtle Heery, PhD, at Petaluma Library, 100 Fairgrounds Dr., Petaluma on Wednesday, May 23 from 10:30 am to Noon.
Heery is editor of Awakening to Aging: Glimpsing the Gifts of Aging. The book is a deeply insightful anthology of personal stories of practical advice, wisdom, and compassion for the complexities of growing older.
The panel discussion includes two local chapter authors. Regina Reilly and Bev Miller.
Heery is the founder of the International Institute of Humanistic Studies. She also teaches psychology at graduate and undergraduate schools, writes and publishes on psychology and trains others in the mental health field.
The program is sponsored by Village Network of Petaluma, a nonprofit membership organization empowering adults 50+ to continue living active, vibrant and connected lives in our own homes as we age. The local Village is part of a national movement, with 230 villages across the U.S. Refreshments will be served. For information, contact 707 776-6055 or info@VillageNetworkofPetaluma.org.
Cannabis (Ordinance 6189) An update by Rick Savel
After the January 8th meeting with the Penngrove community the project applicant decided to organize another informational meeting on January 30th. The applicant’s supporters canvassed the area before the meeting with questionable promotional materials soliciting community sympathy citing the unfairness of being uprooted from their previous location due to conflicts with incompatible land use zoning.
This struck me as an odd statement coming from an applicant who is proposing a commercial business venture, not a non-profit or charity, with a non-traditional, non-conforming agricultural crop adjacent to housing on a sub-standard size DA (diverse agriculture) parcel of 5.46 acres with similarly “incompatible land use zoning.”
The Penngrove Plan Committee is on the County official notice checklist and for 35 years the Committee has reviewed and commented on application referrals regarding Plan conformity of private and public proposed projects including proposed County Public Works road projects within our Plan boundary.
Part of the controversy about this application is that permits are issued by the Ag Commissioner for smaller Cannabis grows without any notice or referrals from County PRMD, no comments taken, no public hearing, no further CEQA review, and no appeal process. It is a fast track “Ministerial type permit” that just bypasses all the usual public input and customary due process checks and balances with our Planning Commission and elected officials.
This unusual fast track, Ministerial type permit process is what created an extremely contentious meeting on January 8th. It was unfair to both the applicant and the community who were both uninformed and absolutely blindsided by this process.
NOTE:Concerns or questions about Sonoma County’s new Cannabis permit process or to check the status of a property for compliance please contact the County Cannabis Hot Line at: 707-565-2420
Please send your Penngrove news, comments, events, etc. by the 7th of each month.
