Marinwood Association

First, I would like to thank everybody who came out to our Annual Marinwood Association meeting on September 9th, and especially those who paid their annual dues or became members for the first time. This is one of the things that makes Marinwood such a special place to live… our neighbors. The level of civic participation and care for the community exhibited by Marinwood residents never fails to impress.

I also want to quickly mention that the debate planned for the upcoming CSD Board election has been cancelled. Eugene Elliot has decided not to run, and that leaves just two candidates for the two open seats. You an read a bit more over at the Independent Journal.

We had a great meeting with a number of interesting topics. Our newest director, Denise Castellucci has an updated play-by-play report of the meeting available on the Marinwood Association Facebook page.

If you have not yet paid your annual dues, or you would like to become a member of the Marinwood Association, you can do so here: Join the Marinwood Association

The Marinwood Association’s Progress Marinwood program is scheduled for September 9, 2009 at 7:30 at the Marinwood Community Center. You will have the opportunity to hear from our County Supervisor about the county’s response plans for the H1N1 flu virus that is expected to strike this fall. In addition, Supervisor Adams will bring us up to date on other activities within Marin County District one.

You have probably noticed new “striping” on Miller Creek Avenue allowing for a bike lane? One person who put in a lot of time and effort to get that lane is Kel Harris. Kel will tell us about those new lanes on Miller Creek and Las Gallinas along with some other future plans to make safer routes in Marinwood and along Lucas Valley Road. Kel will also talk about the very successful if unsightly (think orange cones) traffic calming that occurred earlier this year.

For you creek lovers, Rachael Kammen will tell us about the Miller Creek Watershed Stewards and the efforts to preserve and protect Miller Creek.

There is much more. This is a wonderful chance to learn about your community.

This is a free information meeting provided by the Marinwood Association. For over 30 years the Marinwood Association has been your local non-profit community organization. We are not a homeowners association; we are an association of home dwellers and local businesses here in greater Lucas Valley. If you live or work or have an interest in Marinwood you are considered a member. The Association is mainly supported by voluntary annual dues of $10 per membership. Only current paid-up members may vote in elections. You may pay your dues at the meeting. There is no charge for this meeting.

We hope to see you at the meeting.

The Marinwood Association invites you to a general meeting of the community, Progress Marinwood. The meeting is scheduled for September 9, 2009 at 7:30pm at the Marinwood Community Center.

Progress Marinwood is an evening to inform you of a number of community topics. We will have an election of officers of the Marinwood Association after some opening remarks by Association President Walter Dods and a treasurer’s report by Association Treasurer Geoff Mack.

Supervisor Susan Adams will bring us up to date on the county budget and other items affecting Marin County District one. Kel Harris, chair of the Marinwood Safer-routes committee, will make a presentation regarding the progress his committee is making towards creating safer streets in Marinwood. One of our neighbors in the “Berries”, Jennifer Brooke will discuss the steps taken by the “Neighberries” to deter crime. Tom Horne, the Marinwood CSD District Manager, will inform us our local CSD financial status. Geoff Mack will give a short introduction to the Lucas Films project at Grady Ranch. This is a prelude to a community meeting scheduled for October 14, 2009 where Lucas Films has agreed to present the Grady Ranch project and take questions and comments from our entire community.

We will receive an update regarding the Marinwood Plaza. Bruce Anderson, Marinwood Association Vice President and a Marinwood CSD Director will discuss the effort underway at the CSD to review and possibly increase the powers granted to it.

Finally there will be an opportunity to meet the three candidates for the two open positions on the Marinwood CSD Board of Directors. The candidates, Bruce Anderson, Gene Elliot and Leah Green will introduce themselves and be available for a couple of questions. This is not a debate just an introduction of the candidates.

Please plan to attend Progress Marinwood. It is an excellent opportunity to learn about your community.

You can help increase awareness of the meeting by printing and distributing this flyer to your neighbors.
general-meeting-2009-flyer

We have new momentum in our quest to create a shopping village on the old Marinwood Plaza property.

With a goal of February 2009, the Marinwood Village Collaborative (Members listed below) will build on the results of the successful community planning process to finalize a detailed development plan and engineering study for the site along with pedestrian, bicycle and transit studies. One caveat - The contamination from previous dry cleaners may be more extensive then previously thought.

(more…)

What is in this Edition of the Marinwood Association Newsletter:

• Miller Creek Watershed Stewards Meeting
• New Blog / Newsletter
• Marinwood Village Update
  
• Donations

Miller Creek Watershed Stewards Meeting

The Marinwood Association has chosen to sponsor an important new community organization called the Miller Creek Watershed Stewards. The MCWS have set about an ambitious agenda for our community to protect and preserve the quality of the watershed in our little valley, from Big Rock to the Bay. They are having their first public meeting on October 11 and they need you and your family.

Stop by. Have a cookie. And learn about the MCWS and what you can do to make a difference in the quality of our little valley for generations to come.

Thursday, October 11th, 7:00-8:30pm
Dixie Elementary School (Multi-Purpose Room)
1175 Idyllberry Road

You can download the flyer here. Feel free to make a few copies and help distribute the flyer. Get the word out!

New Blog / Newsletter

In addition to the continuing work with the Marinwood Village, Safe Routes to Schools, and all of the other important work we do, we have been working hard to bring the latest and greatest information-age tools to the Marinwood Association Newsletters. Here are some of the new features:

• All Newsletter postings are now hosted on our blog, here. Be sure to bookmark it!
• You are now subscribed to receive e-mail updates whenever a new entry is made to the blog.
• You can have access to additional features by registering. This will allow you to add comments to the blog, select which of the types of blog entries you are interested in, and more. Just go to the blog and click the link that says “subscribe.”

I hope you enjoy the improvements. If you have any comments, please “subscribe” and leave them in the comments section of the blog.

Marinwood Village Update

It has been quite some time since we have provided an update regarding the Marinwood Village. In this case no news is good news. We are still hard at work with the county and the developer. Stay tuned. We will be in touch when there is news to report.

Donations

It is that time of year again. If you haven’t done so already, please make a donation to the Marinwood Association. Suggested donation amount is just $10 per family per year, but we will gladly accept whatever amount you can afford to pay.

Make check payable to: Marinwood Association

Send check to:

Treasurer, Marinwood Association
c/o Geoffrey Mack
2742 Heatherstone Drive
San Rafael, CA 94903

FROM POLITICS TO PROJECTS

At a special meeting on Tuesday, September 26, 2006, the Marin County Board of Supervisors accepted the Marinwood Village Concept Plan and authorized the Community Development Agency to use the plan as the framework for future development of precise building and site designs, and for environmental review.

The Community is now one step closer to getting a market.

The next set of planning challenges will require a new approach by the Community and the Community Reps. We now have to turn the Concept Plan into a precise plan. The precise plan must reflect the vision of the
Concept Plan and, once again, must gain the acceptance of the community and the approval of the Board of Supervisors.

The Community Reps have begun to reorganize and prepare to meet these challenges. There will be a name change. The Community Reps will now be referred to as the Marinwood Village Advisory Task Force.

The Resolution passed by the Board of Supervisors at the September 26th special meeting endorses the community planning process and authorizes the county planning staff “to continue to work with the property owner and the members of the community on refining
the concept into a Master Plan/Precise Development Plan”.

The work of the Task Force will now shift from creating and gaining community acceptance for the Marinwood Village Concept Plan to a project management approach. We will continue to work closely with the property owners and the county planners.

As we move forward, the Task Force will focus on all the separate projects that make up the Marinwood Village Concept Plan, for example:
• recruiting a market
• types of housing units
• architecture
• traffic circulation and parking
• the plaza/community gathering area
• green building principles
• bike and pedestrian paths
• landscaping, etc.

To help us reorganize and divide up responsibilities for each of the projects and to provide opportunities for continued community involvement in helping to create the Marinwood Village,
we are in the process of designing a new format for the Marinwood Village Newsletter.

The new Publisher and Editor of the Marinwood Village Newsletter is Task Force member Geoff Mack. Geoff is busy creating the new format. You might want to let your neighbors and friends know about the
new look for the Newsletter so they can get on the email list and receive a first edition. Subscribing to the Newsletter is a good way to stay informed about the progress toward the creation of the precise plan for the Marinwood Village project.

If you received this Newsletter, you are already on the email list.
New subscribers can email Geoff at geoffmack@gmail.com and request to be put on the email list.

Hear is a summary of some of the features of the revised Newsletter:

1. Regular specific project updates, for example:
• Market recruitment
• Design
• Green building
• Traffic circulation and parking
The updates will include information explaining how you can participate in working on the various projects.

2. There will be a regular section devoted to Casa Marinwood. The feeling is that it is justified to devote regular space to Casa Marinwood because this is the community which is most affected by the project.
The better job we do at addressing the concerns of the community which is situated next to the site, the better chance we have of meeting the needs of the entire community and ending up with a quality project.

3. The Newsletter will be interactive with the Marinwood Association web page. You will be able to click on links to get additional information about the projects, make comments and suggestions, and participate in discussions.

4. Letters to the Editor

5. Photos will be used to assist in communicating information, especially design information.

6. Special features: Information about and interviews with participants in the planning process, for example, individual residents, Supervisor Susan Adams, Task Force members, property owners, market owners, architects, developers, county planners, traffic engineers, etc.

SIERRA CLUB SUPPORT

On September 13th, the Marinwood Community Reps made a presentation to the Sierra Club Marin Group at their monthly Executive Committee meeting. The Reps described the Marinwood Village Concept Plan and discussed the community-based planning process
(wherein the community assumes a leadership role in the planning process) and the importance of continuing the community-based process as the Marinwood Village project moves forward into the design stage.

Following the Community Reps presentation, the Executive Committee
voted, unanimously, to support the Marinwod Village Concept Plan
and the community-based planning process.

Following is a copy of the Sierra Club Marin Group’s letter of support.
A representative of the Sierra Club Marin Group will be present at the Board of Supervisors meeting on September 26th
to express support for the plan and the process.

Sierra Club Marin Group
Box 3058 San Rafael CA 94912
sanfranciscobay.sierraclub.org/marin
c/o Gordon Bennett 40 Sunnyside Dr Inverness CA 94937
415-663-1881/gbatmuirb@aol.com

September 15, 2006

Marin County Board of Supervisors
3501 Civic Center Drive Suite 315
San Rafael, CA 94903

Re: Marinwood Village Concept Plan (9/26/06 Agenda)

Dear Board Members:

The Sierra Club Marin Group supports the Marinwood Village Concept Plan for the following reasons:

1. The Plan is consistent with the infill housing and sustainable community goals of the draft Countywide Plan.

2. The Plan provides that 50 percent of the housing units would be for sale or rented at levels affordable to lower and moderate-income households.

3. The Plan calls for adherence to Green Building Principles, including materials and energy use.

4. The Plan specifically provides for pedestrian, bicycle and public transportation connections to the site to reduce greenhouse gas caused by dependence on the automobile.

5. The Plan does not require building on environmentally sensitive lands.

The Marinwood Village Concept Plan, if properly implemented, could provide a model for how to create sustainable communities. The Marin Group believes that process safeguards should be put in place to ensure that the completed project will fulfill the vision of the Concept Plan. Further, the Marin Group believes that the key to fulfilling the goals of the Concept Plan is to strengthen the community-based planning process in a way that will enable the community residents to participate fully in the design process.

Sincerely,

Gordon Bennett, Chair

BOARD OF SUPERVISORS MEETING

On Tuesday, September 26th at 6 p.m. in Room 330
(Board of Supervisors Chambers) of the
County Civic Center, The Marin County Board of Supervisors
will meet to hear a presentation of the Marinwood Village
Concept Plan and to vote on a Resolution
prepared by the Marinwood Community Reps.

The Resolution states: (a) that the Marinwood Village
Concept Plan will form a roadmap to guide the project
through the planning, design and construction phases,
(b) that the planning process as it moves forward will continue as a community-based process and (c) that the Board of Supervisors recognizes and endorses the central role the community will continue to play in the planning process for the Marinwood Village project.

You are encouraged to attend the meeting and show your support for both the Concept Plan and the community-based planning process.
This is an important step to achieving the community vision:

1. A full service Market
2. Ancillary retail appropriate to the Community
3. A Plaza/community gathering area
4. A quality mixed use design which creates a project
that is an asset to the community

The Community Reps have been meeting with each
individual Supervisor to educate them about
the Concept Plan and to reinforce the importance
of continuing the community-based planning process.
Our message to the Supervisors is that for the final
project design to be accepted by the community it
must reflect the community vision. And, that the best way
to fulfill the community vision is to encourage and
empower the community to fully participate in the
design phase of the planning process.
To date, we have met with three of the Supervisors.
All three responded very positively to
the Concept Plan and to the importance of continuing
the community-based planning process.

BOARD OF SUPERVISORS

The Marinwood Village Concept Plan is now headed to the Marin County Board of Supervisors for review and acceptance.

The Community Reps are requesting that the Board of Supervisors Meeting, for the Marinwood Village Concept Plan be held at the Marinwood Community Center instead of at the Civic Center.

To prepare for the Board of Supervisors meeting the Community Reps have been scheduling meetings with each Supervisor to discuss the Concept Plan and, also, to discuss community concerns about the potential impacts on the community resulting from the density of the project and what can be done to address these concerns.

The first scheduled meeting is with Supervisor Steve Kinsey on Wednesday, September 6, 2006 at his Civic Center office.

COUNTYWIDE PLAN

The Marinwood Village Concept Plan is the latest land use planning idea for a County which is renowned for responding to growth issues in a way that provides maximum protection to Marin’s unique physical environment. Have you ever wondered why, when you drive out Lucas Valley Road and pass big rock, on your way to the coast, you drive past ranches, open space and small villages and not an endless sea of houses?
The reasons can all be found in the history and current language of the Marin Countywide Plan.

The Marinwood Village project is a response to the sustainability policies of the proposed new Marin Countywide Plan. The Countywide Plan sets the rules for how land is used.
What rules the Plan spells out and how it evolves over time to respond to changes is the result of an ongoing political process.

If you feel a need to learn more about Marin’s rich land use planning history and the on-going efforts to protect Marin’s environment, you should consider attending an upcoming event sponsored by Marin environmental organizations. The event is called, “Campaign for Marin” and invites the public, there is no admission charge, to learn about the role that the Countywide Plan plays in protecting the Marin environment:
“Join us for an afternoon of fun and good theatre and to find out more about this movement to insure a healthy and sustainable future Marin”.

Doug Maloney, former Marin County Counsel, has written a
one act musical comedy to help us understand the world of land use planning.
The name of the play is The Da Vinci Plan and it will premiere at the McInnis Park Picnic Area on Sunday, August 27, 2006 at “about” 2 p.m., and will feature a “Star-Studded Cast”.

“Campaign for Marin” takes place from 1 to 4 p.m. There will be displays and refreshments.
It is recommended that you bring picnics and picnic blankets. Children are welcome.

                                               WOW!

Quite a turn out for the July 10th Public Meeting on the Marinwood Village Concept Plan

The Grocery Store owners were quite impressed.

Now we have to get ready for the follow-up meeting on:

Monday, July 17th, 7:30 pm.
Marinwood Community Center

The County sent out notices which you should receive today.

There will be no booths stationed around the room, which means space for more chairs.

There will be a slide show presentation at the meeting.

However, the main purpose of the meeting is to allow time for public comment.

Whether or not the concept plan comes close to expressing the vision of the community
can only be determined from public comments. It is important that you comment on what parts
of the plan you like and what parts you have a problem with. Your comments are used
to guide the planners in making adjustments to the plan. We will keep doing this until we get it right.
The goal is to locate the planning sweet spot:  a concept plan which the community agrees should guide
the planning process into the next planning phase.

The feed-back seems to suggest that the sweet spot has not yet been reached.

The feed-back suggests the following:

A. STRONG SUPPORT FOR:
1. Grocery Store and Retail
2. Community Plaza area
3. Importance of the Quality of the Overall Design
4. Re-design of Marinwood Ave.

B. JURY STILL OUT ON:
1. Number of housing units
2. Traffic
3. Parking

Here is the Agenda for the July 17th Meeting:

7:30 p.m.  Welcome
• Susan Adams, Board of Supervisors President, Marin County District 1

7:40 p.m.  Project Overview
• Alex Hinds, Marin County Community Development Agency

7:50 p.m.  Review of Design and Site Plan
• Bruce Brubaker, Design, Community & Environment

8:00 p.m.  Discussion and Community Input

9:20 p.m.  Next Steps

9:30 p.m.  Adjourn