by Elissa
Giambastiani, President
San Rafael
Chamber of Commerce Editorial in their newsletter of 1-01-01
On November 30 of last year the U.S. Fish
and Wildlife Service held a public meeting at the Hamilton Officers Club in
Novato to receive comments on a proposal to create a 17,600 acre Marin Baylands
National Wildlife Refuge.
According to a Marin Independent Journal
article, approximately 100 people attended the meeting. Unfortunately, most of
the people in attendance were members of environmental groups. None of the
other community organizations had been notified about the meeting. The
presenters did not hear from business or housing representatives. Nor did they
hear from many of the property owners who were unaware of the meeting.
The proposed refuge area takes in huge
portions of Novato and the entire St. Vincent’s and Silveria’s properties as
well as the Marin Airport and Canalways properties in San Rafael and sections
of Corte Madera and Mill Valley.
The City of San Rafael and the County of
Marin recently concluded an 18 month joint planning process for the St.
Vincent’s/Silveira properties. The task force recommendations include
preservation of all environmentally sensitive areas and development of the
property west of the railroad tracks for a compact mixed-used community.
Approximately 70% of the land will be preserved.
The Chamber has been very supportive of
the development, because it is our best chance to create a significant amount
of workforce housing. The City of San Rafael is required by the State to build
approximately 2,000 housing units during the next six years. The St.
Vincent’s/Silveira properties offer our best opportunity for new housing.
We sent a protest letter to U.S. Fish and
Wildlife regarding their poor public notification process for the meeting and
asked for a second public meeting so that other community groups could register
their opinions. I received a call from Cathy Osugi, a wildlife biologist for
the Fish and Wildlife Service who is responsible for coordinating comments
regarding the proposed refuge. I asked her whether or not the boundaries for
the refuge had been delineated by Marin County environmental groups, and she
responded affirmatively.
Although the properties cannot be “taken”
by U.S. Fish and Wildlife, setting up a wildlife refuge does several things. It
makes it easier for groups to get grants to purchase the land, and it sets up a
false impression that the public will acquire the lands in the future. More
importantly, it devalues the land, because prospective buyers of the property
will know that they will face environmental lawsuits immediately.
The Chamber is supportive of wetlands
preservation. However, it does not support the inclusion of non-wetlands areas
that have been designated for development in a wildlife refuge. If you share
our opinion, please phone, fax or email your comments to:
Cathie Osugi, Wildlife Biologist
U.S.
Fish and Wildlife Service
Division
of Refuge Planning
911
N.E. 11th Avenue
Portland,
OR 97232 Phone: (800) 662-8933; Fax:
(503) 231-6161;
email: HYPERLINK mailto:fw1planningcomments@fws.gov
You should also send your comments to
Congresswoman Lynn Woolsey at Fax: (202) 225-5163 or email: HYPERLINK
mailto:lynn.woolsey@mail.house.gov lynn.woolsey@mail.house.gov.
Our shortage of workforce housing is
critical. We cannot allow housing opportunity sites to be taken away from us.
Please send your comments to U.S. Fish and Wildlife today.
Postscript:
Due to a number of complaints about the
lack of notification for the November hearing, U.S. Fish and Wildlife has
agreed to hold another public hearing in late April or early May.