Marin Independent Journal     Sunday, April 23, 2000

 

 

Make it ‘walkable and sociable’

 

DWAYNE HUNN

 

 

     Two decades ago, Ed Love and I started our Marin adventure, re­modeling fixer-uppers. Then we could find wood-butcher­ing projects for under $100,000, unimpededly truck up Highway 101 at 4p.m. to remodel an even cheaper Petaluma Victorian and easi­ly socialize with lots of young work-a-day folks.

     Today, Ed and work-a-day folks have moved away from Marin to less pricey areas.

     Why? Well, inflation played a role in today’s Marin fixer-upper costing $500,000. Inflation’s role, however, is minimal compared to the il­logical, uncreative land-use policies that have driven folks into frenzied commute and earning panics.

     Without logically and courageously laying founda­tion on Marin’s remaining land, 101’s commuters are slaves to their own wheels, and work-a-day house seekers are relegated to serfdom.

  An example of where common-sense leadership is needed today: In 1998, in an attempt to mollify the so-called environmental com­munity in Marin, the San Rafael City Council and the Marin Board of Supervisors enacted a Memorandum of Understanding regarding de­velopment of 1,240 acres in Marinwood.

  The members of the St. Vincent’s/Silveira Advisory Task Force adopted 12 coor­dinating policies. If some have their way, these policies will escalate gridlock and the region’s affordable-housing crisis. Examples:

q       Protect environmental and architectural re­sources.

                   Some interpret this to mean children should not be able to ride horses or chase balls on huge chunks of St.Vincent’s property. While deleting playing-field

acreage, the same people refuse to provide us­able transit modes that would best protect the site and the region a long-term environ­mental and archaeological re­sources.

q       Be fair to the property owners in terms of a rea­sonable use of their prop­erties.

Some say they know better than the family and institu­tion that have cared for the land for l00years what a “reasonable economic use of the properties” is. In the process, an overlay plan will shape the public’s and deci­sion-makers’ perception, de­priving a developer of avail­able transit options. This, in turn, devalues the land im­mensely.

q       Create a compact com­munity on St. Vincent’s..

If stakeholders really wanted to ‘create a compact com­munity,” why didn’t they em­ulate the successful European models where compact, walkable, sociable, admired communities have been designed around rail corridors?

q       Provide for develop­ment on the Silveira prop­erty.

What will the Silveiras re­ceive when the MOU leaves them the development option that relies solely on moving people by car onto a clogged 101? They receive a traffic impact report that says they can build 25 mega-estates on 400-plus acres.

Just what Maria needs.

q       Provide housing that is affordable to low- and moderate-income house­holds.

Marin’s most cost-effective means of providing afford­able housing is via multi­story condos, townhouses and rentals. The smartest place to build these afford­able units, which generate the least traffic, is around a train or transit artery. If you are re­ally concerned about afford­able housing, do you write the train off as a design option?

q       Retain views of the bay across Silveira Ranch, and of the St. Vincent’s Chapel.

Those who fought for a view corridor, first and fore­most, should instead have fought for small pedestrian pockets rather than the sub­urban sprawl they force on the developer.

q       Provide for regional access to and from High­way 101, and for local and emergency access.

A train alternative reduces traffic on choked 101. During earthquakes, freeways have consistently collapsed while tracks wiggled and safely moved people and freight. Why would anybody con­cerned about emergency pre­paredness not support a reli­able artery for trains?

q       Significantly reduce the development potential of 2,100 residential units and 361,000 square feet of office/commercial space identified in the San Rafael General Plan. Sig­nificantly reduce the total area of the properties des­ignated for development from the previously rec­ommended 30 percent to a lesser number.

Communities “initially” designed with a functioning transit artery at its core cre­ate the most compact, afford­able, sociable communities and thereby the most health­ful human, environmental and economic benefits.

q       Do not develop a rail station on the properties.

Without such a station, this would wreak havoc on af­fordable housing and com­muter., on one of the few re­maining parcels that could address both.

The truth is, Marin’s hous­ing and transportation crisis has grown over the decades because groups, institutions, government and individuals have failed to educate the public and galvanize support for developments based on logical and sustainable land-use designs that create socia­ble, walkable communities.

 

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Dwayne Hun’s experience in­cludes non-profit work developing California’s affordable owner­ship housing development at Sky­lark Meadows, running the North Bay Transportation Management Association and consulting on logical land-use developments.