-- BruceAnderson - 18 Jan 2008

Marinwood 2008:

Where do we go next?

The purpose of this document is to get you the reader thinking about our community – Marinwood and the possibilities for its near-term future. You may be asked to vote for some of these ideas once they are better defined. It is hoped that you are spurred to some action, be it protest of some thought, or volunteering for a committee to implement a favored project or even running for the CSD board.

Marinwood was built and designed in the 1950s and 1960s. The Marinwood CSD was created in 1960 to provide administration of Fire protection, a community recreation program, and maintenance of parks and open space and maintenance of street lighting.

Over the past 50 years the world has changed quite a lot around Marinwood. Instead of being an isolated family bedroom community we now serve as a buffer between two bigger neighbors and a service provider to our smaller neighbors. Instead of a new population with almost zero retirees, Marinwood is now quite a diverse community with long term families now having grandchildren either visiting or living with them and newer families having a wider range of needs than the families they replace. We are becoming an urban village.

This document presents some of the challenges facing Marinwood as it makes that transition to an urban village. It also presents some of the solutions underway and some that may be contemplated. The question to you is where do we go next? January 30 Presentation, http://marinwoodassociation.org/Challenges2008.htm,

Challenges – What do we want for our community?

A number of challenges are facing our community among them are

• creating safer routes for walking, biking and driving;
• protecting the Miller Creek watershed;
• preparing for a major emergency
• deterring an increase in crime;
• creating additional community space for activities;
• creating a vibrant shopping area that serves the community’s needs;
• creating opportunities for our local public workforce to live in the same community they work in;
• enhancing the appearance of our community;

This list is not meant to be exhaustive, of course Marinwood has a couple of major challenges in the pending litigation over a land slide and the pending negotiations with San Rafael to protect San Rafael’s northern most reaches but the details of those issues are complicated and are being addressed by our elected officials. Other challenges may also come to mind, if so feel free to let the author know.

Where are we now?

Many in our community are already involved in projects aimed at meeting these challenges. We are blessed with many intelligent, active volunteers in Marinwood. It will take more to meet all the challenges.

A few of the challenges can be met with the completion of a village center as described in the Marinwood Village Center concept document. That concept was developed in a facilitated process over a period of two years by a task force consisting of the property owner, the county development department and ten members of the community.

Some of the challenges can only be met through additional taxes or fees. Example: The Marinwood CSD has as a latent power the ability to provide surveillance services to its residents. If it chooses to implement that power the funding likely will include an assessed tax or fee component.

Some of the challenges can be met by outside assistance or grants. Example: The creation of a beautiful welcoming theme in the new traffic circle could be funded by an art grant. The key is to have the right entity in place to accept the funds.

Some of the challenges can only be met if various county agencies participate. Example: The county public works department and Liz Lewis were instrumental in obtaining an $85,000 grant to form the Marinwood Watershed Stewarts program and produce base-line documentation on the entire length of Miller Creek.

And to meet the challenges we will need the support of our County Supervisor. Example: The process of creating the Marinwood Village Concept was partially funded from Supervisor Adams’ community fund.

Community volunteer groups – the life blood of Marinwood.

Over the years the Marinwood Association has been a strong voice in overcoming the many challenges presented to Marinwood in the past. Today the Marinwood Association is once again leading the way by sponsoring or starting or participating in a number of volunteer groups that are addressing these challenges.

A team of Marinwood residents called the Community Reps was part of a task force to redevelop Marinwood plaza into the Marinwood Village Center.

A team has been formed called the Miller Creek Watershed Stewards whose focus is to develop a watershed plan for the Miller Creek Watershed.

Another team is mapping out a strategy to transform Marinwood’s streets into a safer haven for bikers and walkers while reducing the traffic flow through the neighborhood.

Volunteers are being sought to form a design review board to develop a look and feel for Marinwood that is easy for all to follow.

A team is forming to implement the “GET READY” program in Marinwood and county wide. This is a resident awareness program that provides the information resources necessary to prepare for local emergencies.

Marinwood Village Center – bold and beautiful

For the last few years a major blight on the community, the Marinwood Plaza now has a community based redevelopment concept.. The concept includes a mixed use development meaning retail and housing along with the incorporation of public space designed to create a beautiful shopping area for local and regional residents. The concept contains provisions which if implemented could solve many of the challenges facing Marinwood.

• creating safer routes for walking, biking and driving;

Included in the concept are goals related to safely increasing foot and bike traffic while reducing motorized traffic in the neighborhood. This is a priority. The morning traffic through Marinwood has reached a stage where both safety and throughput are of major concern. Paid professional traffic guards had to be hired to protect our children going and coming to Dixie, Mary Silveira and Miller Creek. Implementing the village concept will provide the resources to place a traffic circle at Miller Creek and Marinwood. The concept includes recognition of the center’s role as a major hub on the county’s planned north/south bikeway. The inclusion of public spaces will promote walking and provide a social gathering space. The Marinwood safe routes committee has already obtained a grant from a recent $20 million non-motorized transportation fund and by working closely with the developer on street design and traffic flow may be able to identify more funds available for implementation.

• protecting the Miller Creek watershed;

The existing structure and parking lot are designed to increase runoff to the creek and storm drains, an unhealthy outcome for Miller Creek. The concept plan calls for the greenest of building techniques. We may only get one chance to do this right. The community needs to work closely with the developer to insure that Miller Creek is of utmost importance to the design of the village center. Through the combined efforts of the Miller Creek Watershed Stewards there may even be grants available for certain building methods and materials to insure the health of the nearby creek.

• preparing for a major emergency

If an emergency happened cutting the freeway, Marinwood could easily find itself stranded with no expectation of outside resources. The proposed Village Center sits at the entrance to Marinwood and could provide timely resources in that event. The developer should be encouraged to work closely with the Marinwood Fire Chief and the county Sheriffs emergency department to create facilities and space to help mitigate problems in a time of emergency. The result of working closely could lead to grants from Homeland Security to implement the solutions arrived at.

• deterring an increase in crime;

Many of us have seen the Sheriff’s cars parked on the east side of the freeway off-ramp. They park there to be close to their beat while they do paper work. They also use that as an opportunity to have informal discussions similar to when they are in the office. Talk with the Sheriffs office have opened the possibility of locating a sub-station at the new Village center. The developer and the Sheriffs department should work closely to make sure their needs are incorporated in the new village center. The presence of a sheriff’s sub station or office at the entrance to our community should send a signal to the would be criminal that our community is protected.

• creating additional community space for activities

A big part of the concept for village center is a reduction of the width in the Marinwood avenue (the street in front of the existing plaza). This space is owned by the county and the residents of Marinwood, if added to the existing lot could create a significant amount of community space at the village center. The Marinwood CSD has run out of space of all its recreational activities. More space is needed immediately for day care, crafts and evening classes. In addition the village center could provide a social space where families can meet and children can play. Chucky Cheese, like it or not provided an opportunity for local youth to gather whether as members of sports teams, birthday parties or just families meeting. The CSD should work closely with the developer to identify possible grants available to help insure that community activities and space are incorporated in the village center. Example Supervisor Adams has said that there may be some grant money for a public day care center. Staff at Marinwood CSD has already confirmed that additional space for such a permanent center would relieve a lot of pressure from the existing Howard Council Center at the Marinwood Park.

• creating a vibrant shopping area that serves the community’s needs;

We can contribute to a reduction in emissions by helping to create a shopping area that attracts our local residents.

• creating opportunities for our local public workforce to live in the same community they work in;

Very few of our teachers, fire personnel, park maintenance workers and recreation workers live in Marinwood or even within 10 miles. The reason is most lack the earning ability to afford a home here. A design concept in the village center development guidelines calls for a number of affordable housing units to be built along with the market rate units. In addition the county has asked for an overlay which would allow up to 30% more of the units to priced in the affordable range if funds are obtained to support more units. The community and the developer need to work together to insure that the funds are available for affordable housing.

• enhancing the appearance of our community

The completion of the village center as envisioned will enhance the entrance to our community and should correspondingly increase property values community wide. Members of the community should continue to work with the developer to insure attractive landscaping; public art and well maintained buildings are important elements of the village center. Since part of the development plan calls for returned public space to be incorporated as a gathering space the CSD should work closely with the developer to insure a beautiful beginning can be maintained as time goes by.

The Marinwood CSD - new authority needed

At a recent Marinwood CSD Board special meeting the question was asked are we organized properly. Sub-questions were: Do we need a mayor to push things through and stand as one voice for the community? Should we become a city? Should we be annexed to Novato or San Rafael? Should we become a county service area? How do we pay for and provide needed services? Do we take over some services provided by other agencies?

The asking of the questions indicates that to solve the challenges facing our community a new governing structure must be created. The Marinwood CSD has a number of latent powers granted by the California Government Code that could address some of the challenges facing our community.

• creating safer routes for walking, biking and driving;

California Government Code (CGC) 61100 - Within its boundaries, a district may do any of the following:

(l) Acquire, construct, improve, and maintain streets, roads, rights-of-way, bridges, culverts, drains, curbs, gutters, sidewalks, and any incidental works. A district shall not acquire, construct, improve, or maintain any work owned by another public agency unless that other public agency gives its written consent.

The county of Marin is in the process of defining a program to allow local areas such as Marinwood, Lucas Valley estates and other communities to have more control over the look and feel of their streets. A project is underway – Safe routes Marinwood to design a new street look that encourages more walking and biking and less vehicle traffic. The Marinwood CSD by taking on the powers listed will bring local control of out streets.

• protecting the Miller Creek watershed

(r) Plan, design, construct, improve, maintain, and operate flood protection facilities.

(t) Abate weeds and rubbish

(ac) Finance the operations of area planning commissions formed pursuant to Section 65101.

With the strong backing of Supervisor Adams, a group is forming, the Miller Creek Watershed Stewarts, to investigate and determine what options exist to protect and maintain Miller Creek. The CSD Board of Directors has asked two of its members to serve on this group. An option under consideration is asking the CSD to take on the additional authority of watershed management. By taking on this authority the CSD would be able to tax and receive grants of monies necessary to improve and maintain this valuable community resource.

• preparing for a major emergency

The Marinwood Fire Department with its existing agreements can handle the vast majority of the emergency situations that occur in Marinwood. Under consideration in the next two years is a new agreement with San Rafael to provide service to the Northern most reaches of the city of San Rafael. That coupled with the creation of a village center present an opportunity to prepare for those very few emergencies that could have a major impact on our community. A cut-off Marinwood would naturally look to the community centers for assistance. A team should be formed that can coordinate a response to a major emergency. In our community that means collection areas like the village center, Mary Silviera, Miller Creek School, Dixie School and the Marinwood Park should be capable of providing a coordinated response to a major emergency. Already a couple of programs are underway to better prepare our citizens. A new one is the “Get Ready” program modeled after a program started in Tiburon. Its’ simple message is Get Ready and it provides the resources for you to do that. The Marinwood Fire Chief should lead the effort to form a coordinated response to emergencies.

• deterring an increase in crime;

(j) Provide security services, including, but not limited to, burglar and fire alarm services, to protect lives and property.

(q) Abate graffiti.

Security equipment has under gone tremendous changes in the recent past. Unobtrusive, inexpensive cameras and other monitoring devices coupled with increasing storage devices have made it possible for a small community like Marinwood to offer security services community wide and individually at a reasonable cost. The Marinwood CSD should have a study determine the feasibility of offering such a service and at what cost.

• creating additional community space for activities;

(k) Provide library services

(v) Acquire, construct, improve, maintain, and operate television translator facilities.

(s) Acquire, construct, improve, maintain, and operate community facilities, including, but not limited to, community centers, libraries, theaters, museums, cultural facilities, and child care facilities.

(ac) Finance the operations of area planning commissions formed pursuant to Section 65101.

(p) Provide transportation services.

More local control over how our community develops in the future can only occur if the CSD takes on additional authorities.

• creating a vibrant shopping area that serves the community’s needs;

(ac) Finance the operations of area planning commissions formed pursuant to Section 65101.

(s) Acquire, construct, improve, maintain, and operate community facilities, including, but not limited to, community centers, libraries, theaters, museums, cultural facilities, and child care facilities.

• creating opportunities for our local public workforce to live in the same community they work in;

(ac) Finance the operations of area planning commissions formed pursuant to Section 65101.

(s) Acquire, construct, improve, maintain, and operate community facilities, including, but not limited to, community centers, libraries, theaters, museums, cultural facilities, and child care facilities.

• enhancing the appearance of our community;

(ac) Finance the operations of area planning commissions formed pursuant to Section 65101.

(s) Acquire, construct, improve, maintain, and operate community facilities, including, but not limited to, community centers, libraries, theaters, museums, cultural facilities, and child care facilities.

Where do we go next – That depends on you?

Many of the decisions about Marinwood’s future will be made among the various volunteer opportunities available. A few of the challenges will only be resolved by action of the CSD board. It is hoped that this document is used as a first step in determining what those actions should be.

If you have opinions about any of the challenges and how they should be met step up and be heard or jump in and participate. Your elected representatives should be open to your comments.