Sonoma’s city manager wants the authority to hire a consultant to evaluate a proposed ballot measure that would limit hotel expansion, before a single petition in support of the initiative has yet to hit the streets.

A Sonoma group that includes a former mayor of the city is seeking a ballot initiative to limit hotel development, including the controversial Chateau Sonoma & Spa proposed near the Plaza.

A heated dispute Monday over whether dogs should be allowed on property that forms Sonoma’s backdrop nearly derailed the City Council from formally authorizing acquisition of the site.

A controversial proposal to restrict chain stores in Sonoma has been significantly scaled back amid infighting among city leaders who are at odds over the issue. The original proposal called for banning all “formula businesses” from Sonoma’s historic Plaza and enacting new use permit requirements elsewhere in the city. But the latest version, which is supported by a slim majority on the City Council, calls for banning only formula restaurants on the plaza.

Opponents of proposed chain-store restrictions in Sonoma won a victory last week when city leaders backed away from enacting a temporary ban. But with a narrow majority on the City Council clearly favoring the concept, it’s probably only a matter of months before the city of 10,000 joins a select few nationwide that have such regulations. What, if anything, should the City Council do?

After days of making national news, Sonoma city leaders on Wednesday backed away from enacting a temporary ban on chain stores. Some saw the proposal as a way to protect the town’s character, but others said it would shut out economic development. Was it the right decision?

The city of Sonoma is moving closer to regulating so-called formula businesses, including an outright ban on the city’s historic Plaza.City staff are preparing a draft ordinance that would set limits on chain and similar businesses and where they can locate in the city of 10,000.

Sonoma City Councilman Ken Brown and his family have been living rent-free in their home for months after a bank foreclosed on the landlord. Brown, who says he made attempts to pay rent or purchase the home from the bank, is at the center of a national debate over the legal and moral requirements borne by tenants, homeowners and lenders in a housing market that has shifted views of responsibility.

Business owner and councilwoman Joanne Sanders will serve her second stint as Sonoma’s mayor after her colleagues voted unanimously Monday night to appoint her to that role. What does she want to accomplish as mayor? Shorten the City Council meetings. “I’m convinced we lose the public the later it gets,” she said.

Momentum is building once again toward bringing a community pool back to Sonoma. But as with numerous proposals, the current initiative hinges on where to put the pool — and who is going to pay for it. The Sonoma City Council set a deadline of March for members of Citizens United for a Sonoma Pool, or CUSP, to present a plan.