How Retrograde Coffee Roasters, And Barn 5400, Officially Became Part Of The City Of Petaluma This Past Monday
On Monday evening, October 21, the City Council of Petaluma approved the annexation of a new piece of property to let popular coffee roaster Retrograde Roasters build a small cafe space.
The motion passed the city council soundly after presentations on the proposal in a 5 to 2 vote.
The property in question is Barn 5400 off Old Redwood Highway North, just shy of a 13-acre property for local artisans and makers. It is also the home of the roasting operation for local roasters, Retrograde Coffee Roasters, the leading proponents of this annexation.
But why do they want the space to become part of the city of Petaluma?
Retrograde has been in Barn 5400 since 2018. There, they roast coffee for their Sebastopol location and for their other wholesale and online orders.
In 2021, however, they decided to open a small cafe beside their roasting operation in Barn 5400 to bring customers “behind the curtain,” as they said in a public email address on October 15. After signing a new lease and putting around 100,000 dollars into the build-out of the new coffee shop, which was approved with the space’s current zoning status, they found an unexpected roadblock.
Barn 5400 is on a private well and so not connected to Petaluma’s sewer and water system. And so, just as they were shoring up approval, their health permit was denied, requiring them to be annexed into the city to become part of their public water system. However, they did not want to do this, seeing as they would have to build new pipes into the building. Barn 5400’s landlord and creators, Cornerstone Properties of Petaluma, attempted to reclassify the well as public with the State of California, but that was denied, stating that they no longer reclassify wells as public.
So, annexation, which would bring the property under the oversight of the City of Petaluma, was their only and very last option. Retrograde and Cornerstone Properties submitted plans while still paying off the debts they had already amassed from the build-out of the space, which has been waiting since.
Sitting just north of the Petaluma River in an area that is a floodplain, the city’s main concerns with the project had to do with the location of the site and the potential flooding that might occur in that area, making the city liable in the event of any damages. When looking at the forecasting of large 100-year floods in the area, it is clear that the site could become inundated with water. Still, it does not damage many of the buildings themselves, save the parking lot and unbuilt areas of the property.
In the meeting, it was also mentioned that sea level rise will make these damages more severe. However, it’s important to note that this is already a concern in many of Northern Petaluma’s neighborhoods.
“Ultimately, I think it’s up to the city what that would look like and if they are willing to take on the additional hazards,” said Danielle Connor, co-owner of Retrograde to the Bohemian before the motion was passed.
“My goal with sharing our story on social media and asking for community support to the council is to show that the risk is worth the reward by allowing not only us, but many other small businesses at Barn 5400 like Harmony and Kickwheel, plus all of the small artists who have studios there, to be a part of the city of Petaluma,” said Connor.
This seemed to work, with 263 letters advocating for the annexation presented to the city council members during the meeting. This, along with many social media posts, newsletters, and the like, helped spread the word about the need to show community support for the project.
As the Barn 5400 space is a local artisan studio and retail space, the new cafe will add charm to the location. What’s more, all of these businesses will now contribute to the County of Sonoma and Petaluma.
“This second location will allow us to reconnect with our Petaluma community and further enhance the vibrant community of small businesses and artists at Barn 5400, not to mention contribute sales tax and license revenue to the city,” Retrograde posted on Instagram.
One of the dissenting council members, Mike Healy, was also concerned that this approval would create a precedent for businesses to be built in a hazardous floodplain. However, many on the council, as well as the city attorney, were quick to point out that it does not create a precedent, and any new construction on the property, just as with anywhere else in Petaluma, will have to go through a whole new permitting process.
Council Member Brian Barnacle also noted that Barn 5400 provides affordable rent for the artisans in its space.
“If we’re going to support artisans and support small businesses, we should probably annex this property and recognize that we’re not going to put all of Petaluma’s flood risks and things like that on this one project,” Barnacle said just before the motion passed. “We’re going to provide water and sewer so that Retrograde Coffee can expand their business and so that other small businesses [in Barn 5400] benefit from having city services.”
While there is still much work to be done on the space, such as the city providing water and sewer connections, the outlook for Retrograde Coffee and Barn 5400 is hopeful. The long-awaited moment for Retrograde’s newest cafe is now closer than ever.
