Everyone on the Steering Committee deserves commendations.  Now, however, the heavy lifting you have already done gets heavier as you approach land use, housing, traffic and neighborhood needs.  With that in mind, I’d like to give you some factual background and insights on one of the more significant sites (#58) included on the Potential Housing Opportunity Sites handouts given to you at the 11-08-01 meeting.  In discussing site #58 (Canalways), you have  heard that the site has “significant issues… wetlands… lots of potential but…”  It is important that you and other public members know in more detail some of the Canalways issues.

Issues:

Wetlands:  Canalways, like all of East San Rafael (and most of San Rafael to around the 4th Street bus depot) was once wetlands.   In 1973 the 100 acres Canalways parcel had a 15 acre City flood control pond designed on it with what was supposed to be “automatic pumps” in the pond’s pump house..  Connected to the pump house is a 60” pipe that was designed to empty the pond into the Bay during all but periods when Bay tides were too high to allow the pumps to work effectively.  Since its initial design the automatic pumps have not worked “automatically.”   In reality, a city worker had to visit the site and manually switch the pump on in order to begin pumping water from the pond.  In 2001 these automatic pumps were finally technically enabled so that they would not need a manual visit to be turned on.

 

For many years (perhaps a dozen or more) the section of the 60” pipe connected to the pump house has been broken from its pump house connection. This broken connection has allowed the Bay at high tides to flow back into the pond and flood the site.  This site flooding has understandably upset the property owners who over the years have contributed over $700,000 to the East San Rafael Drainage District to insure that such flooding would not happen. A last-resort lawsuit by Canalways property owners finally caused the City to hire Ghilotti Construction Company to replace the broken section of pipe. The broken section was replaced around 1999.

 

There is wetlands at Canalways.  Poor maintenance of the pond, pump house and a section of the connecting 60” pipe may have caused the wetlands that existed there in 1973 to expand.  With proper maintenance, the wetland that may have been enhanced by many years of poor maintenance should shrink.  This proper maintenance will allow more usable Canalways land to address community needs.

 

Endangered species:  The little story repeated often enough makes reality much bigger than life.  In April 1982, after 300 trapping days and nights at Canalways, the Department of Fish and Game wrote:

 

"The trapping effort totaled 300 trap nights and yielded no endangered salt marsh harvest nice…

The habitat does not appear to provide adequate cover and competition from the western harvest mice probably reduces the attractiveness of the area to salt marsh harvest mice."

Some were dissatisfied with this report and had Dr. Shellhammer hired In September of 1982 to trap for another 525 days and nights.  In this trapping, one mouse was found with “unmistakable” Salt Marsh Harvest Mouse (SMHM) characteristics.  The other had different “tail traits” but had the “gestalt” of a SMHM. 

 

Perhaps a few SMHM may live at the Canalways degraded wetlands site – but this was not a thriving SMHM site prior to the continuous flooding the site has endured over the years.. 

Incidentally, the best way, according to wetlands scientists, to enhance the degraded Canalways wetlands would be to take dredge spoils from the San Rafael Canal and use it to build small hills and valleys in the pickle weeded wetlands area.  These spread, dredged materials would allow the SMHM to hide from birds and rise above flood waters when and if they occur.  Such a program would benefit the environment, property owners concerned about regularly and economically dredging the Canal and Across the Flats channels, the City and taxpayers budgets, and the Army Corps desire to beneficially reuse dredge materials on uplands sites.  Beneficial reuse is less harmful to the environment and everyone’s budget than wastefully dumping dredge spoils in the Bay.

 

Traffic:  Kerner Boulevard dead ends at one end of the Canalways parcel and resumes at the side entrance to Home Depot.  Development of Canalways will allow the connection of Kerner and give Traffic Planner Nadar Mansourian another through road with which to find traffic reducing solutions.

  Cal Trans has researched four potential overpass solutions for 580 and 101 to ease traffic in East San Rafael.  In addition to these Cal Trans studied proposals, a Grange Overpass proposal that settles on undeveloped publicly owned land adjacent to the sewage district on the south side of 580 and on an undeveloped portion of Canalways has yet to have a full hearing.  This Grange Overpass proposal has received support from contractors Mario Ghilotti and Bob Valentine, who have indicated that this overpass is doable at a much cheaper price than those examined by Cal Trans. 

  Furthermore, the Canalways owners own the water parcel abutting the site allowing for possible future ferry  or other future technical innovations that may allow water oriented transit solutions to address traffic issues.

 

Past Developmental History:  San Rafael’s Urban Design and Development Policy Statement of the mid 1980’s suggested  the Canalways site should have 25 acre maximum two story office/industrial development and 55 acre enhanced tidal wetland. The last developer’s City certified Environmental Impact Report done in 1984 called for:

Certainly, an argument can be made that the need is greater today than it was in 1984 for providing more housing in Marin’s $600,000+ average home price market; as well as for tax generating development to assist the City’s budgetary needs.  Therefore, the Canalways parcel in this General Plan process should be considered for much higher land usage and human benefits than those suggested in the 1980’s.

 

Canalways is a site that can make significant contributions to pressing community’s needs.  The “issues” listed here can be overcome when the public understands enough about the site and a spirit of creativity and cooperation is developed to address these issues. This paper is shared with you to help nudge that process of understanding, so that Canalways can help address pressing community issues – and not be overlooked in the discussion for solutions.

 

  The Home Depot, which abuts the Canalways property, was once a land-fill and dump site.  Today it generates significant income that allows the City to address a myriad of people related needs. 

 Spinnaker on the Bay Homes, which touches the other end of Canalways, served as a beneficial reuse uplands dredge disposal site for Canal and Across the Flats dredge spoils.  Today those spoils are creatively re-used in Spinnaker on the Bay’s enhanced wetlands and its man-made ponding areas as well as for the fill on which its lovely homes were built.  Canalways has the potential to provide similar environmental, social and economic benefits.  A better understanding of Canalways’ potential and cooperative and creative approach to overcoming its “issues” would greatly benefit the community.

 

Canalways looking toward San Rafael Creek.  Large foreground site is present home of Home Depot.  Upper portion of site with man-made ponds is Spinnaker on Bay Homes.

 

More information regarding Canalways can be gleaned from its under-construction web site:  //canalways.tripod.com/

Presentations on Canalways are also available upon request.