![[Under Construction]](images/undercon.gif){kind=small}
Current Issues
This is where we'll announce the most recent additions and issues to our web site. If you've visited us before and want to know what's changed, take a look here first.
March 2002. In February of 2002 the U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service released five Proposed Marin Baylands National Wildlife Refuge Alternatives. By April 5thpublic comments are due back to the U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service on which alternative you prefer. They will use those comments to release their Draft Plan to the public in the Summer of 2002. If you haven’t responded, you must do so in the next two weeks. To view sample letter suggestions, click:
It ain’t over till it’s over….
February 2002. The US Fish & Wildlife Service issued its Preliminary Alternatives for the Marin Baylands National Wildlife Refuge. To get a summary of those alternative and some directions as to what to continue doing to influence the outcome of the proposed Baylands Refuge, click Proposed Alternatives
December 2001. The San Rafael 2010 General Plan Update meetings continue and now move into difficult land use issues. Canalways was not listed as a site significant or timely enough to be considered for consideration in an upcoming design charette. Canalways, however, was invited to submit a report for the General Plan Task Force Committee to consider. Click General Plan Housing Opportunities & Issues to view the submitted report.
November 2001. In 1997 the state Senate directed the Bay Area
Council and Bay Area Economic Forum to appoint a Blue Ribbon Task Force to
evaluate the feasibility of expanding water transport on the San Francisco Bay.
That Task Force cited the need to establish “a comprehensive water
transit service as the centerpiece of an integrated, multi-modal public
transportation network.” In
February 1999, the Task Force presented its recommendations to the legislature
in a document entitled the ”San Francisco Bay Area Water Transit
Initiative.” Based on the
Water Transit Initiative, this new regional transportation agency, the Water
Transit Authority, was established under Senate Bill 428.
At a 11-15-01 San Rafael meeting the WTA explained how they were undertaking a Programmatic Environmental Impact Report. As a programmatic EIR, they were evaluating the big picture of doing 4 alternative water transit plans for the Bay. These alternatives ranged from many ferries emanating from many sites down to no change in the existing ferry transit system. They stressed that they were not yet to the position of evaluating specific sites. For more information: www.watertransit.org/
August 2001. After about a year of meetings and lots of work the City of San Rafael has printed and posted 35 General Plan Policy/Goal Recommendations 2020. You can read them at their web site http://www.cityofsanrafael.org
and then go down in the left corner for "General Plan Library."
If you are interested in seeing whether the issues since the last General plan update have changed much click:
10 questions for San Rafael from the 8-9-87 Marin IJ.
Marin County is moving into their General Plan Update. If you would like to view the Guiding Principles behind Marin's General Plan Update click the previous link.
On July 30, 2001 the Marin Rod and Gun Club held their annual festive family day picnic. Seven hundred kids and grown ups consumed great music, food, games and prizes and over 300 adults signed a petition saying "we strongly oppose the interference of the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Department in Marin land use decisions."
Click to see Rod & Gun Club anti-refuge petition. Print it out, get people to sign and send to:
On July 17, 2001 the Marin County Board of Supervisors had a hearing at which they readdressed their previous resolution endorsing the "study process" for the proposed US Fish & Wildlife Baylands Refuge. An almost packed house had one observer count 30 people address the supervisors and strongly request that the USFWS stop their study process. These 30 speakers wanted the federal government to leave Marin do its own local land planning and allow property owners to choose whether they wanted to be in or out of such a study. Nine people expressed support for the USFWS Refuge Mapping process calling it an opportunity to garner potential federal funds for land purchases.
For the San Rafael Chamber's proposed Resolution offered to the Marin Supervisors, but not acted upon: click:
San Rafael Chamber proffered Resolution
Dwayne Hunn's proffered Resolution
Notes on the July 17, 2001 meeting
On June 10, 2001 Canal homeowner Bill Jones called for a meeting of disgruntled and muddied San Rafael Canal homeowners. The crowd of 75 grew to about 100, causing Congresswoman Woolsey to come across the hall to address the crowd for three minutes. An organizing committee was formed. For more information click to: San Rafael Canal ( SRCanal)
Can removing mud from the San Rafael Canal help lower the cost of providing future workplace housing? Canal waterways in bad shape from the June 7, 2001 Marin IJ gives back ground. Go to CanalwaysInfo and San Rafael Canal (SRCanal) for more information.
May 16, 2001 a Competitive
Advantage
through Sustainable Business
May 31, 2001 is the stated cut-off date for getting comments into the US Fish & Wildlife Service regarding placing 17,600 acres of North Bay lands into a wildlife mapping designation, or Baylands Refuge. If you have concerns, you should be writing now. Some sample letters can be found at the link "Baylands Refuge."
April 2001 news: Baylands Refuge
In February of 2001 a process was begun by the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (USFWS) to place the lands of a number of property owners into a "Baylands Refugee Mapping boundary." As of April a clear delineation of the acreage and up-to-date list of the properties has not been compiled by USFWS. Guesstimates from property owners say the boundary acreage may total about 17,000 acres.
The USFWS emphasizes this as a benign program that only lists these properties as sites the government may be interested in purchasing sometime in the future. USFWS emphasizes that it does not condemn or take the land. This is a purely voluntary government program.
Many of Marin's landowners and developers familiar with the political skill of many of Marin's so-called environmental leaders fear that having their land placed in a Baylands Refuge may:
- Devalue the land
- Force property owners to spend large amounts of money and time dealing with the misconception the politically adept Not In My Backyard leaders will add to property owners land costs.
- Cause tax revenue, workplace housing, transit and energy problems to increase for the North Bay region.
For more in-depth reasons as to why property owners are opposed to being placed in the Baylands Refuge click to Baylands Refuge where a sampling of letters sent in opposition to the USFWS program can be found.
On April 30, 2001 the Marin Community Development Agency and Marin Economic Commission sponsored a talk by Stephen Roulac of the Roulac Group and a sussequent public workshop. Click Marin's Economic Future to see a summary.