Countywide Plan filled with questions for Marin's future

What would Marin County be like with:

• 10 million more square feet of commercial development;
• housing and tourist facilities at St. Vincent/Silveira;
• a doubling of the allowable density and mansions of up to 6,000 square feet in agricultural areas;
• a new town at San Quentin?

These are some of the issues raised in the draft Marin Countywide Plan, just released after years of work by county staff.

Through a new informal organization called the Campaign to Save Marin, the Marin Group of the Sierra Club together with other environmental organizations will be reviewing the document and pushing for strong conservation policies. The campaign, including the Marin Conservation League, Marin Audubon Society, Environmental Action Committee of West Marin, Salmon Protection and Watershed Network (SPAWN), and Marin Environmental Forum, will focus on four main objectives, based on policies in "Community Marin", a compilation of Countywide Plan recommendations from the major environmental organizations.

• Preserve natural resources: establish a Baylands Protection Corridor along the edge of San Pablo Bay, improve stream and riparian habitat, protect wetlands and wildlife habitat, and acquire sensitive lands. The draft plan offers three options for a Baylands Corridor, but only one would establish the boundary recommended by Community Marin and cover an area large enough to protect the entire ecosystem.
• Protect agriculture and open space: preserve genuine agricultural use on agricultural lands and preserve community-separator greenbelts. Major problems with the draft plan are that it contains options that would allow a doubling of the allowable density on agricultural lands now zoned A-60 (one unit per 60 acres) and would allow houses on these lands of up to 6,000 square feet, along with other non-agricultural activities.
• Reduce congestion: limit the amount of new commercial development, support mixed-use infill development, increase affordable housing in environmentally appropriate locations, and encourage the use of public transportation. The draft plan projects another 10 million square feet of commercial space at ultimate build-out, when all available land is developed. Most of this space would be in the cities of San Rafael and Novato, but the plan is legally binding only on unincorporated parts of the county. The intent of the original 1973 Countywide Plan was to involve the cities as well, and its development components can not function well without buy-in and parallel planning by the cities. Traffic generated by excessive commercial development will affect the entire county, which now has a high office vacancy rate. Another potential traffic disaster is a new town suggested at San Quentin. The Marin Group has not yet taken a position on development at San Quentin, but definitely the public should be able to review plans for its future in a separate community-planning process, rather than having this important issue slipped through as a minor part of the Countywide Plan.
• Go green: promote clean energy and green building, promote water conservation, and protect fisheries and other water resources. The draft plan contains extensive policies on green energy and building methods, but the current draft deletes a policy (in an earlier draft) for joint planning with water districts.

The draft plan boasts of "sustainability" as its main theme, and it contains many strengthened policies for protection of wetlands, streams, and habitat. The Sierra Club also supports its call for retrofitting shopping malls with a mix of uses including housing. The plan, however, because of its failure to engage the cities in the planning process, projects an excessive amount of development, and its policies for agricultural areas threaten the character of West and Central Marin. How "sustainable" will the plan really be?

WhatYouCanDo

The Community Development Department will prepare an Environmental Impact Report on the draft plan. The Campaign to Save Marin will work to assure that the impacts are thoroughly and accurately analyzed and to win adoption of the strongest-possible conservation policies. This effort will involve extensive organization and outreach.

For questions, comments, or most importantly - to get involved - contact Marge Macris, (415) 381-6667, fax: (415) 381-6668, or email mmacris -at- aol.com

Marge Macris, Marin Group delegate to the Bay Chapter ExComm