Scott Ritter
20 Lower Via Casitas #5
Mike Spear, Regional Director
U. S. Fish & Wildlife
2800 Cottage Way
Room W-2606
Sacramento, CA 95825
916-414-6464 May 29, 2001
Re: Proposed Marin Bay Lands Mapping problems
Dear Ms. Spear:
I was born and raised in Marin County. For over a dozen years I have been working in the Title and Lending business where I have a very responsible, well paid position. My job responsibilities require me to travel a great deal, so I know how blessed I am living in one of the nation’s most beautiful counties. However, beautiful Marin has some problems and I am concerned that your Bay Lands mapping process may exacerbate those problems. Therefore, although I have never written a government official before I am doing so now.
For five plus years I have been looking to buy a home in Marin. As I mentioned I make good money, but Marin’s $650,000 median home price makes finding an affordable home for even the well endowed a difficult affair. My step-father was and still is in the home building business. Due to political pressures and their resultant zoning and density limits he was forced to seldom build affordable units. Marin’s self-described environmental groups helped insure that only expensive homes would be built on the very limited land (about 15% of the County is developable) where Marin allowed units to be built. Now, not even well-off guys like me can afford to live where we were raised.
My questions to which I would like a detailed reply:
1) Has your Bay Lands Refuge Mapping process been started by input from Marin’s self-described environmental groups that have caused the dearth of affordable housing in Marin?
2) Are you familiar with how the self-described Marin environmental groups will use this Boundary title to further decrease the delivery of any kind of Marin housing?
3) How much consideration do you give to the environmental repercussion that result from placing 17,600 acres into a Bay Lands mapping process and thereby making the delivery of critically needed Marin housing and train/transit solutions extremely difficult?
4) If the property owners at Canalways, St. Vincent-Silveira and the other lands demand not to be included in the mapping boundary, are their property rights respected and are they left out?
Thanks for your prompt attention to this matter. I look forward to your reply.
Sincerely,
Scott Ritter
CC:
Mel Martinez,U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development
Julie Bornstein, California Department of Housing
Bill Pavao, California Department of Housing
Mike Spear, Regional Director U. S. Fish & Wildlife
Dan Ashe, U. S. Fish & Wildlife, Refuge Director
Congresswoman Woolsey,
Senator Boxer
Senator Feinstein
Supervisor Murray & Marin Board of Supervisors
Bay Planning Coalition
San Rafael Planning Department
Assemblyman Joe Nation
Kerner Partners