The Square: What Doing Nothing Is Costing You

The Square: What Doing Nothing Is Costing You

Drive by Novato Boulevard and Wilson and you'll see it. Faded signs. Dark storefronts. A parking lot people cut through instead of shop in. The Square used to be a neighborhood hub. Now it's a symbol of drift, and it's been that way for years.

Novato says it wants fewer empty storefronts and more housing near jobs. The Square is proof we're not getting either. It's not just an eyesore. It's proof that our rules make it cheap to sit on a property and expensive to actually fix one.

Here's my position: we will not fix The Square until doing nothing costs the owner more than doing something. That means real standards, real fines, and a bill that follows the property, not the neighborhood.

How we got here

In 2016, the owner floated a plan for shops and new apartments. The city held a meeting. Renderings went up. Then the application sat until it quietly closed, because the owner never followed through.

That's the pattern. Not a lack of ideas. A lack of consequences. An owner can promise something, wait out the complaints, and walk away with nothing owed. Neighbors are left staring at the same empty center, year after year.

What I want the city to do

Call it what it is. Novato needs a rule that says: if most of a shopping center has sat empty for six months or more and shows visible decline, it's officially a vacant commercial property. The Square qualifies right now. Once it's labeled that way, the city can hold it to a higher standard.

Make the fines real. Once a property is classified vacant commercial, the owner has to register it with the city, name someone responsible, and keep it up: doors and windows secured, the lot reasonably clean, graffiti gone, lights working. If they don't, they get cited. If they still don't fix it, the fines grow the longer they wait. Right now, you pay for that neglect every time you drive past it. Under this plan, the owner pays, every day the property fails basic upkeep.

Put the bill on the property, not on you. If an owner still refuses to maintain the site, the city should be able to send in a crew to secure it, clean it up, and fix the lighting, then place a lien on the property for the full cost. That lien has to be paid off before the owner can sell or refinance. The city stops covering cleanup costs so an owner can walk away scot-free. The unpaid bill stays attached to the property until someone pays it.

Clear the way to actually build something. Fines shouldn't be the whole plan. Novato has already turned tired sites into new housing and shops at Hamilton and at Village at Novato. The Square should get the same treatment: zoning that allows housing and neighborhood businesses on that seven-plus acre site without a special fight every time, as long as the design meets clear city standards.

Set a deadline, so 2016 doesn't happen again. If a developer gets approval to build here, they need to pull permits and start construction within a set window. If they don't, the approval expires. No more open-ended promises that let a project sit for a decade while nothing changes.

What I'm asking you to support

First, a Vacant Commercial Property ordinance that puts The Square on notice, requires the owner to register it, and sets clear maintenance standards. Second, real enforcement, escalating fines and liens, so neglecting The Square costs the owner, not you. Third, zoning that opens the door to housing and shops there, with a deadline attached, so the door doesn't stay open forever with nothing behind it.

If you're tired of driving past a half-empty Square and hearing "someday," this is how we make "someday" an actual plan with a deadline attached.

Mike Little, Candidate for Novato City Council District 2