Now, It’s Your Turn
The Community Reps, the property Owners and the County have reached a tentative agreement.
The completion of the initial site drawings lead to the agreement.
The site drawings were used to address the question: “If 32K sf of retail space and 100 residential units are built on the site, can a Village Design which compliments and enhances the existing community be created?” Answer: YES.
Over the past year, a central issue during the planning discussions has been the recruitment of a Market.
The property owner’s goal was to complete a lease agreement before committing to building space which would accommodate a full service grocery store. From the grocery store perspective there was a need to have a clearer understanding of what would be built at the site
and to have some assurance that adjoining retail space would be built in order to create sufficient “customer traffic”.
The property owner wants to move forward with construction. Housing is the owner’s primary goal, for the simple reason that housing increases the land value and does not involve the same level of risk as retail space. Retail space, without the support of the community, can sit empty, reducing the value of the land. At the same time, the owner understands that moving forward with construction will depend on community approvalof the project and that the community definitely wants a full service grocery store.
The owner’s tentative offer is to build a 20K sf shell for a full service grocery (the current Bell Market shell is 15K sf)  and 4K sf for ancillary retail during the first phase of the project.
An additional 8K sf of retail would be included in the plan and built once demand was shown.
The housing component of the project would include 100 units, composed of townhouses and apartments. The initial site drawings demonstrate that the site will accommodate the proposed numbers. The 3 architects (2 of the 3 are Community volunteers) who created the drawings, agree that the site could support some additional housing units without detracting from a village design.
In fact, it may be that some additional units could enhance the village design.
Consequently, we have taken the position that if some additional units would enhance the village design then we would leave the option open to discuss some additional units at the Community Workshops where the community will be weighing in on the project.
Underlying this position is the recognition that, for this project to go forward, it has to pencil out for the land owners. The land owners are taking a risk by building unleased retail space,including a 20K market shell, and we want to send the message that the community is prepared,
in return, to do all it can to reduce the risk, by considering additional units and by supporting the retail.
The first Community Workshop, depending on completion of the drawings
and the written policies, could take place in May or June.  We will provide details, as they are worked out, in a subsequent Newsletter. Basically, you will have an opportunity to meet the people who have been involved in the planning process, to review the site drawings and the written policies and to comment and give input on the overall project.
This will be your opportunity to move the project forward. The property owners and  market owners will be present at the workshop. If the property owners hear that there is strong community backing for the project then they will be motivated to move to the construction phase.
If the market owners hear an outpouring of support for a full service grocery store at the site then they will be motivated to negotiate a lease.
The market feasibility study of the Marinwood site has been completed. It shows an opportunity for additional grocery store capacity in the area. Safeway is studying opening a large “lifestyle” store along Nave Drive near Hamilton. This creates an incentive for prospective market owners at the
Marinwood site to move quickly to establish a presence and a customer base before a Safeway is built.
One constant theme when we have our ongoing meetings with the owners of the Mill Valley Market is the importance they place on the Community in helping them to make their decision where to locate another market.
We have described the Marinwood community as the ideal location for a community grocery store.
The successful community markets in Marin, Paradise Foods in Corte Madera, Woodland Market in Kentfield, Mill Valley Market in Mill Valley and United Market in San Rafael, all have two things in common: One, they are owned and operated by people who have years of experience in the grocery store business and, Two, they have built their successful markets around serving the local community.
Now, it will be your turn at the community workshop to demonstrate to the property owners that you want the project to move forward, and, to the market owners, that the Marinwood community will strongly support a community grocery store.
Between now and the Community Workshops you will have the chance to review the drawings and the written policies. A lot of preliminary design effort has gone into the creation of a community plaza which is bordered by the retail. Recapturing a significant portion of Marinwood Ave. provides an opportunity to design a unique community gathering place.  We will send you electronic copies of the drawings and the written policies as soon as they are completed, probably by the beginning of May.
We will also make hard copies available at the Marinwood Community Center.
If you have questions or need some additional information, email the Community Reps at  marinwoodplaza@comcast.net.
In addition, the regular 4th Wednesday of the month meeting
is a good opportunity to get information and have your questions answered. The next monthly meeting is April 26th, 7:30 pm in the back classroom of the Marinwood Community Center.
Finally, there is the outreach program. Invite some of your neighbors over for coffee and 2 or 3 of the Community Reps will join you to provide information and answer questions. Let us know if you want to set up a coffee.