How do we stop sprawl in Marin?

Most residents agree on goal, but the development is in the details

Stopping sprawl has been the mantra of planning in Marin since its first Countywide Plan of 1973. Preservation of agricultural areas, of open space, and of community separators has become an accepted principle in the county and its 11 cities.

"Smart growth" and "sustainability" are enshrined in the current draft revised Countywide Plan, but these must not be allowed to become simply buzz-words. Too much development, or the wrong kind or in the wrong place, is neither smart nor sustainable.

The Countywide plan (Marin's term for its general plan) governs development on lands outside incorporated cities and towns.

The current draft plan proposes a "housing bank" of more than 1,700 units that can be transferred to "housing overlay zones" from ridgelands and agricultural areas. Not surprisingly, residents of potential receiver locations are objecting. The key to public acceptance of higher-density "smart growth" in Marin is to present a concrete proposal that includes something that the community really wants. For example, the recently approved mixed-use Whole Foods development in Novato includes on-site affordable housing and uses green building techniques. The Marin Group gave conditional support to the project, and is pressing for more below-market-rate units and green features.

The draft plan fails to deal with non-residential development. It projects that the county will eventually see an additional 10 million square feet of commercial/industrial development, a 30% increase over 2000. Most of this will be within cities, where it is not affected by the county's plan, but all Marin will feel the effects of such growth. In comparison, the plan projects a relatively small amount of residential development. It would be the commercial growth, the equivalent of 18 TransAmerica pyramids, that would fuel traffic, housing shortages, and environmental degradation. The Sierra Club wants the amount of new commercial development reduced, with some areas redesignated for housing or mixed use.

All the county's jurisdictions need to cooperate on studying the impacts of this development - and on planning for it. Work is under way to establish a City-County Planning Committee to do this, and the Sierra Club is supporting this effort, but it is meeting resistance from many city-council members.

How you gonna keep `em down on the farm when they can commute to San Rafael?

The draft plan relies on an outdated approach to protecting agriculture.

In 1973, when the original Countywide Plan was adopted, the primary threat to agriculture was subdivisions. A zoning requirement of one unit per 60 acres addressed that threat.

Now, however, wealthy people who are not farmers or ranchers buy hundreds of acres to build a megahouse on a ridgetop. They prevent further subdivision or development, but do not preserve true agricultural use.

The draft plan sets forth four options for agricultural areas, one to be adopted in the final plan. Some of the options would allow houses of up to 6,000 square feet. Some options would also allow a variety of non-agricultural commercial operations. Further study is needed to develop plan policies and zoning rules that can be a positive force in preserving the county's agricultural economy.

In the 1970s, Marin residents stopped the proposed Marincello development, which would have created a city of 20,000 on the Marin Headlands, now part of the Golden Gate National Recreation Area. This project would not have been typical low-density "sprawl", for it would have consisted mostly of high-rise buildings. But it was too much development, of the wrong type, in the wrong place. Similarly, development allowed in the Countywide Plan must do more than stopping sprawl; to be truly sustainable, it must respect and harmonize with the character of the community.

WhatYouCanDo

Come to the launch event for the Campaign for Marin on Sun., Aug. 27;.

For more information about getting involved in this critical effort for the future of Marin, contact Chapter conservation director or call (510) 848-0800, ext. 304

Marjorie Macris, member, Executive Committees, San Francisco Bay Chapter and Marin Group