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The Development
Dilemma
What many are opposing might be in their — and
planet Earth’s — best interest. BY JIM WOOD
In Strawberry, the reaction
to possible development
appears more intense —
while the issue seems
relatively benign.
Those protesting this concept recently at
city hall held up signs saying “Save Marin
(again)” and “Welcome to Clogspur.”
In Strawberry, the reaction to possible
development appears even more intense —
while the issue seems relatively benign. At
stake are 60 living units (yes, they’d be apart-
ments and condominiums several stories high),
on land zoned previously for such development.
A Board of Supervisors–designated Priority
Development Area runs half a mile inland from
Strawberry’s mile-long border with Highway
101. Whether or not the units are constructed,
this designated area stands to gain several
hundred thousand dollars from state funds that
are meant to provide transportation improve-
ments to people living near transit corridors.
This money could be used for new side-
walks, streetlights, etc. “My office has been
inundated with requests for traffic calming in
Strawberry; I’m well aware of the situation,”
says Supervisor Kate Sears, who represents
Strawberry on Marin’s Board of Supervisors,
“and my job is to play the financial cards as
best I possibly can to benefit this community.”
Still, over the past six months, hundreds of
determined residents have opposed the PDA
designation by forming savestrawberry.org,
gathering more than 500 signatures opposing
the designation, holding well-attended com-
munity meetings, even joining the movement
to impose term limits on county supervisors.
Currently — in both Larkspur and Strawberry
— no one is proposing development. Obviously,
the county doesn’t build things. And a developer’s
application, if and when it happens, would trigger
lengthy and very public processes involving environmental, safety and design considerations.
Note that the Global Warming Solutions
Act and the Sustainable Communities Act
apply to all of California. And among the Bay
Area’s nine counties, Marin has the lowest
percentage of projected development — Santa
Clara County’s growth is 26 times greater.
It would be good for everyone to take the
proverbial deep breath and maybe reread the
three opening paragraphs of this editorial.
Quite possibly, what folks in Larkspur and
Strawberry are so vigorously opposing could
be in the best interest of their communities, as
well as that of Marin, and California, and planet
Earth. That’s my point of view. What’s yours?
Email pov@marinmagazine.com.
1 Marin is a wonderful place to live — it’s
scenic, has great schools and is close to San
Francisco. Often our kids want to settle here;
many people hope to move here. For these rea-
son’s Marin’s housing stock will grow, but by
only a county-predicted 250 living units a year.
2 It’s best to plan for this growth. Generally
it’s difficult to widen existing thoroughfares
to reduce traffic congestion, e.g., Sir Francis
Drake Boulevard in Ross Valley. Therefore,
building in outlying areas isn’t good planning.
3 That said, growth should be concentrated
near transportation facilities. That way newcomers — our kids and their children, their
children’s teachers and people like Kim, my
barber, who lives in Hercules and drives an
hour to style hair in Corte Madera — might be
able to live here and not clog freeways en route
to work. Also, by design, existing neighborhoods will remain unaffected by development.
The above is the intent of the Global
Warming Solutions Act (AB 32) and the
Sustainable Communities Act (SB 375), both
passed by the Legislature within the past
decade. And both are facing considerable
opposition in the city of Larkspur and the
unincorporated community of Strawberry in
southern Marin (similar clashes also surfaced
in San Rafael, Marinwood and Tam Valley).
In Larkspur, residents gathered at city
hall to protest a general plan amendment
in Larkspur Landing, an area that includes
Marin Country Mart and the ferry terminal. The plan could add more than 175,000
square feet of retail, office and hotel space,
along with up to 920 living units (at various prices). “The city wants to focus growth
there,” says David Schonbrunn, president
of TRANSDEF, a transit advocacy organization, “if it can reduce traffic flowing
through Larkspur to the ferry. Also, more
people living there could create an attractive village that supports local services.”
POV
