San Rafael Target

Target referendum fails to qualify for November ballot

The County Registrar's office has tallied the signatures gathered by opponents of the proposed San Rafael Target store and have announced that the tally is 37 signatures short of the 2,782 needed to qualify the referendum initiative for the ballot.

The Marin Conservation League Board discussed whether to support the referendum at its May 19 meeting.  Several members of the Board indicated an interest in seeing the wording of the referendum before voting on the matter.  It was agreed that the wording of the referendum would be sent to members of the Board with a request to submit their vote by e-mail to support, or not to support, the referendum.

On May 23, Nona Dennis, Vice President, sent an e-mail along with the brief wording of the petition to Board members, requesting a Yes or No vote.

The results of the vote were as follows: 12 Yes; 4 No; 2 Abstain; 2 Unavailable/Away; 1 Recused

At the December 6 meeting of the San Rafael City Council, Marin Conservation League was represented by Roger Roberts, who made the following comments: “ I should begin by reminding the City Council that the FEIR [Final Environmental Impact Report] has already pointed out that all the other project alternatives for the site  are environmentally superior to the proposed Target project.
"The question before the City is whether or not this project’s benefits outweigh its unavoidable environmental and potential socio-economic impacts.

"We recognize that the City has severe budget difficulties and that the project’s potential sales tax revenues could provide significant budgetary relief.

 "So the question remains, do the project benefits outweigh the significant impacts that cannot be mitigated?

"The suggested benefits must be carefully assessed.  At this point they are still speculative. What is the probability attached to the projected  annual sales tax revenue figure of $675,000?  The actual annual realized sales tax revenues could well be less.

"It is indicated that there will be  250 local hires, but there is no commitment with respect to the number of full-time employees with full benefits versus part-time employees with no benefits.  How many of the local hires will be enrolled in Management Training positions? The City does not know precisely what it will be getting in this regard.

"Reportedly, Target will make local charitable contributions of 5% of pre-tax income. That may not turn out to be as significant as anticipated.  It is likely to be calculated on an 'after depreciation and interest expense' basis. Also, the City does not know what the transfer pricing practices are  for Target and where it makes or takes its profit.  The City might well be better off negotiating for contributions calculated as a percentage override against the project’s gross revenues. This benefit is uncertain.

"What happens if this project does not meet revenue and rate of return standards and is closed? The City is then left with a major vacancy problem difficult to fix and re-use. The City should clarify and establish conditions of approval that address this possible eventuality with clearly understood obligations by Target in the event of closure.

"SUMMING UP, MARIN CONSERVATION LEAGUE CONCLUDES THAT THE REAL PROPOSED PROJECT BENEFITS ARE NOT CLEARLY ESTABLISHED AND ARE INSUFFICIENT TO OVERRIDE THE LISTED SIGNIFICANT AND UNAVOIDABLE ENVIRONMENTAL IMPACTS THAT CANNOT BE MITIGATED, AND THAT THE CITY SHOULD NOT APPROVE THE TARGET PROJECT BEFORE YOU TONIGHT."
 

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New developments in Marin are closely monitored by the Land Use and Transportation Committee

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Committee members of the North Marin Unit review a map at their monthly meeting

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Pelicans in Point Reyes National Seashore - a park followed by the Parks and Open Space Committee
photo by Bob Grace