Marin Supervisors begin hearings on Countywide Plan

The Marin County Board of Supervisors will hold its first hearing on the Marin Countywide Plan and its Environmental Impact Report on Mon., Sep. 10.

People who care about Marin's environment need to attend, to counter the developer interests who are expected to bus in their supporters, as they have for Planning Commission hearings.

The Planning Commission on July 23 unanimously recommended that the Board certify the documents, which include most of the strong conservation policies recommended by the Campaign for Marin, an organization of Marin environmental groups spearheaded by the Sierra Club.

A major success was the commission's decision to allow no more than 220 housing units on the St. Vincent/Silveira property on the shore of San Pablo Bay east of San Rafael. The site contains unique environmental and historic resources and is subject to hazards from earthquakes, flooding, and sea-level rise. Traffic on Highway 101 adjacent to the site is at gridlock several hours each day.

St. Vincent/Silveira has been the subject of controversy for decades. The commission's action was a reasonable compromise supported by environmentalists, whose long-term goal is to acquire the site for permanent protection. Development interests will undoubtedly try to convince the Board to allow more building there. The owners of St. Vincent have previously pushed for an almost 800-home project, and are now advocating a senior housing and care facility for up to 350 residents, in addition to conventional housing.

It is a disappointment, however, that the draft plan lacks adequate protection for streams on agricultural properties. It would prohibit agricultural practices that remove creekside vegetation through direct human action (e.g. chain-sawing), but not through indirect actions such as allowing cattle to knock down trees, trample roots, or deposit cow pies on the bare ground or in creeks. It would also prohibit corralling livestock next to a creek.

These are inadequate protections. Recent deaths from tainted produce have been attributed to bacteria from livestock. Throughout the county's agricultural lands, we find high counts of coliform bacteria in creeks and in the bays that the creeks flow into. Cows need to be kept far enough from creeks that vegetation can filter their manure.

The Draft Plan also approves building of large houses on agricultural lands. If this is to be permitted, owners should be required to agree to conservation easements guaranteeing that their land will be kept in agricultural use.

WhatYouCanDo

Write to the Marin County Board of Supervisors at:

Marin Civic Center
3501 Civic Center Drive, #315
San Rafael, CA 94903.

Also attend the hearing on Mon., Sep. 10, starting at 1:00 pm and extending into the evening, on the third floor at the Civic Center.

Urge the Board to support the plan as recommended by the Planning Commission, which has been holding hearings and reviewing the plan in detail for more than three years, with the four additional policies noted below. Major points include the following.

• Baylands Corridor. Extend the new planning corridor along the Bay throughout the county. This will include the St. Vincent/Silveira site, and will require measures to protect environmental resources and public safety. Additional policy: extend the corridor boundary all the way west to Highway 101 in the northern end of the county.
• Wetlands protection. Strengthen policies to protect wetlands. Additional policy: apply the stricter Cowardin definition of wetlands, now used in the Coastal Zone, to other parts of the county. This definition classifies an area as wetlands if it meets one of three criteria, rather than requiring all three.
• Stream protection. Additional policy: strengthen the requirements for properties in agricultural areas: keep cattle away from creeks.
• Agriculture. Additional policy: to build houses of 3,000 square feet or more, an owner would have to guarantee the continuation of agricultural activity on the land.
• Commercial buildout. Support formation of a city-county committee to review countywide growth, especially for new commerial space. Another 11.5 million square feet is now projected, mostly inside cities. This would greatly exacerbate already unacceptable traffic congestion and the jobs/housing imbalance.

To get involved with the Club's efforts working with the Campaign for Marin to strengthen the environmental protections in the Countywide Plan, contact or call (510) 848-0800, ext. 316

Marjorie Macris, Member, Executive Committees, Marin Group and Bay Chapter