Grady Ranch| SB 375 | San Rafael Airport Rec Facility | Golden Gate Seminary | LCP Update | Hanna Ranch

Lucasfilm at Grady Ranch, Lucas Valley

A draft supplement (DSEIR) to the approved 1996 Final Environmental Impact Report for Grady Ranch/Big Rock Ranch Master Plan was released at the end of October and was the subject of a hearing before the County Planning Commission on December 12. A Skywalker Properties Ltd. (Lucasfilm) representative recounted the long history of planning for the Grady Ranch facility, including tours of the site and neighborhood meetings; and a dozen and a half residents of Lucas Valley and Marinwood neighborhoods asked for a more detailed analysis of impacts of the project.

The Commission hearing on the merits of the project is scheduled for February 27. At that time, the final SEIR will also come back for review and approval.

Lucasfilm’s much delayed plan to develop Grady Ranch in Lucas Valley is the second phase of the Master Plan approved in 1996 that also includes the now-completed facilities at Big Rock Ranch. The DSEIR evaluated a somewhat revised plan for Grady Ranch, compared to the Master Plan, which has reduced the main building to a 270,000 square-foot digital technology-based film production studio with two stages, offices, restaurant, general store, screening rooms, costume storage, dressing rooms, overnight accommodations for 20 employees, guest suites, a basement parking garage, and a 40,000 square-foot wine cave. Even reduced in size, the building footprint is the equivalent of one-and-a-half football fields, and its height is 55 feet, with two 85-foot towers. The development site is at the eastern end of Grady Ranch, directly adjacent to the western-most residential neighborhood in Lucas Valley. Of the 239 acres remaining after Lucas granted 800 acres to Marin County Parks, 52 are developable.

MCL’s concerns focus on the massive reshaping of the landscape that includes excavating 240,000 cubic yards (c.y.) of soil, raising a 300+ foot knoll to screen the building from neighbors’ views, and restoring Miller Creek and small tributaries by depositing 68,000 c.y. of fill to raise the creek bed by about seven feet. This contrasts with the Big Rock Ranch facility, which has a low profile that adapts to the existing landforms.

MCL found that the Draft SEIR failed to consider or mitigate a number of potentially significant impacts of the development. Among them are the construction-related impacts of rebuilding the creek on the downstream habitat of the threatened steelhead trout in Miller Creek, which the restoration is intended to enhance in the long-term. MCL will review the Final SEIR carefully when it becomes available to ensure that gaps in the environmental analysis have been filled.

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SB 375 Sustainable Communities Strategy Public Meeting in Marin

In the continuing effort to reach out to the public in the nine Bay Area Counties, the Association of Bay Area Governments (ABAG) and Metropolitan Transportation Commission (MTC) will host a second series of public meetings throughout the region to consider next steps in developing a Sustainable Communities Strategy (SCS), pursuant to SB 375.

The meeting in Marin is scheduled for January 17th at the Marin Center, 10 Avenue of the Flags, San Rafael, from 5:45 to 8:30 p.m.

Last spring’s public workshops focused on an “Initial Vision Scenario.” This was the first step in planning for future land development and housing growth near transit directed toward reducing automotive greenhouse gas emissions. The focus of the upcoming January meetings will be on several alternative scenarios showing what the Bay Area could look like in 2040. These have been developed to show options and to consider tradeoffs that might guide transportation investment priorities.

Further information about the ongoing SCS process in the Bay Region can be found at onebayarea.org.

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San Rafael Airport Recreational Facility

At its November 15, 2011, meeting the San Rafael Planning Commission delayed a decision on recommending certification of the Final EIR on a $6-8 million indoor recreational facility at the San Rafael Airport off Smith Ranch Road.

The Final EIR for this proposal, which would construct an 85,700 square-foot building containing two soccer fields and a dance and gymnastics court, outdoor soccer field and parking for 284 cars, was reviewed closely by Marin Conservation League’s Land Use Committee and a detailed comment letter was sent to the Commission. The central issues continue to be the potential impacts of the project on endangered species inhabiting Gallinas Creek, and interpretations of the covenant signed in 1983 that would limit uses on the site. The Planning Commission will take up the Final EIR again at its January 10 meeting.

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Golden Gate Baptist Seminary Master Plan Amendment

The County Planning Commission held a workshop meeting on December 19 to study the proposal by Golden Gate Baptist Seminary on Strawberry Peninsula to amend its campus Master Plan. The revised Master Plan would allow the Seminary to subdivide and build up to 93 net housing units, including 38 residences on visually prominent Seminary Point opposite Richardson Bay Bridge (pictured), and townhouses, condominiums and other faculty and student housing elsewhere on the campus.  Some units would replace existing student housing.

As proposed, the plan would require an amendment to the Strawberry Community Plan and therefore could present significant planning issues. According to the Marin IJ, the Planning Commission was cool to the proposal.

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Local Coastal Program Update

The arduous three-year process of updating the 1980-81 Marin County Local Coastal Program (LCP) is winding down over the next two months! The optimistic schedule calls for concluding hearings before the Planning Commission on January 9, 23, and February 13, at which time planning staff hopes to get a recommendation from the Commission to take a final draft to the Board of Supervisors.

Page by page and word by word, staff and Commissioners have been crafting policy that will guide development and protection of coastal communities, recreation, agriculture, biological and water resources, cultural and scenic resources, environmental hazards and other aspects of Marin’s coastal zone for the next twenty to thirty years.

Several organizations and individuals have tracked the process and influenced the direction of policy, including Environmental Action Committee of West Marin, MCL, Marin Audubon Society, and a coalition of individuals with a single agenda, which is to prevent industrial-scale wind energy installations in the coastal zone.

MCL continues to work to ensure strong protections for environmentally sensitive habitat areas such as streams and riparian corridors, wetlands, and habitats of endangered species, and to preserve the scenic beauty that makes the Marin coastal zone unique.

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Hanna Ranch

The Novato City Council approved the Hanna Ranch Development on December 13, as requested by the developer, Urban One of Los Angeles. The Hanna Ranch is the hill area south of Vintage Oaks shopping center. The plan includes two free-standing restaurants, a 116-room hotel and two commercial buildings.

In commenting on the project and the attendant environmental documents, MCL pointed out that the setbacks from the two ponded wetlands are inadequate and in conflict with the city General Plan which requires 50 feet from top of bank. The project proponent argued that because these ponds were man-made, the top of bank should be at the water’s edge. They also encroach upon the county-owned Beverly Ehreth Ecological Preserve with an amphitheater and decks.

The Council also vacated a floating easement they held over the property originally created to enable Rowland Blvd. to connect to Highway 37. No reason was given other than it is “no longer needed”. MCL objected to eliminating the potential to ever improve circulation and safety access to both Vintage Oaks and the Hanna Ranch.

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