Leaf Blowers, Staples for Debate at Tonight's City Council Meeting

Tonight's Sonoma City Council meeting is everything a municipal meeting should be - chock-full of big-time small town issues. Check back in with Sonoma Patch at 6 p.m. tonight for our of the meeting.

In a last-minute agenda addition, the council will consider legislation limiting "big-box" chain stores, in response to the news that office supply store Staples has .  In order to limit chain businesses in the city, the council would have to amend Sonoma's general plan through an interim ordnance - which requires a 4/5 majority vote, and is an action limited to events which provide "a current and immediate threat to the public health, safety or welfare," according to state law.

If that weren't enough, the council will revisit adding amendments to regulations on leaf-blowers. Though the city considered an overall ban of gas-powered leaf blowers, which Mayor Pro Tem Joanne Sanders in the end, due to reports on the hardships that a leaf-blower ban would cause to city maintenance departments, the council , rather than enact an all-out ban.

See the full agenda at right.

Also on the agenda:

• Recognition of Patricia Sajor's work with the Community Services and Environment Commission and a Proclamation honoring John Donnelly, chair of the Sonoma Overlook Trail Task-force.
• Approval of a $25,000 CDA redevelopment loan given to Dave Mock to improve a business property at 711 Broadway.
• An update from city staff on state budget legislation.
• Discussion of the free-standing sign rules in the newly amended sections of the Sonoma Municipal Code.

The Sonoma City Council meets at 5 p.m. for closed session, the public session starts at 6 p.m. Check back here for live updates of the meeting.