SAN RAFAEL -- For many a commuter stuck in unrelenting traffic on Highway 101, it provides some relief from the eyestrain of urbanization: An ample swath of open land, studded with huge eucalyptus trees and grazing cattle, nestled next to the freeway just north of this Marin County city.
But the scene's tranquility belies a long-simmering dispute over the fate of the two parcels that form the largest remaining chunk of developable land in the eastern half of this county.
The battle over the 1,280 acres that constitute the St. Vincent's Home for Boys and the Silveira Ranch recently took a turn in favor of development foes when one of their allies won a surprising victory for a seat on the county Board of Supervisors.
Yet the company that hopes to build more than 800 residences on the St. Vincent's property is moving forward with its plans, predicting that sooner or later, the benefits of development will become apparent.
Whatever the properties' fate -- and a resolution is probably years away -- the wrangling highlights how competing desires to conserve land or provide housing have butted heads in Marin County in recent years.
The land in question sits east of Highway 101, between the San Rafael and Novato city lines. For decades, the two properties have acted as a buffer between developments encroaching from the north, south and west.
The 830-acre St. Vincent's property -- owned by the Catholic Youth Organization (CYO,) an arm of the Archdiocese of San Francisco -- started in the mid-1800s as an orphanage. About 60 seriously troubled boys from around the Bay Area are served there now. A beautiful chapel and Mission-style buildings replaced the orphanage's original buildings in the 1920s, and now are fronted by soaring eucalyptus trees that line a tiny road. Most of the land, which extends toward San Pablo Bay, has been farmed or left untouched.
The 360-acre Silveira Ranch sits between St. Vincent's and the San Rafael city limits. In family hands for more than a century, it also has been farmed or left alone. A dairy farm still functions -- hence the cows that can be seen grazing from the highway.
The properties, though now in unincorporated Marin County, sit within San Rafael's sphere of influence, a designation that gives the city the legal ability to plan their future and eventually annex them. For at least 20 years, city officials have wanted housing there -- as many as 2,100 units, plus 316,000 square feet of commercial space, in plans adopted in the mid-1980s.
Their argument centers around the need for housing, particularly affordable units in a county where the median value of homes is more than half a million dollars, according to the 2000 census.
"The shortage of affordable housing is enormous," said Alisa Giambastiani, president of the San Rafael Chamber of Commerce. "We are actually losing businesses to the north because their employees can't find places to live."
But for just as long, environmentalists and others have fought development on the properties, citing the wetlands that appear on portions of the sites each winter, the habitat the land provides and its archaeological and cultural significance. A "midden," a raised mound where an Indian village flourished centuries ago, is still visible on the Silveira property.
"People like the cows," said Dotty LeMieux, chairwoman of the Sierra Club's Marin chapter. "They like the fact that it's an open space. It's beautiful. It provides views to the bay. It's not wall-to-wall development."
After much debate throughout the 1990s, the development firm Shapell Industries last March proposed building 856 residences, up to 124,000 square feet of commercial space, a new boys' home complex, and parks and recreational facilities on about 300 acres of the St. Vincent's land.
The plan would set aside almost one-quarter of the homes for low-to moderate-income buyers and renters. It would preserve the historic buildings and large swaths of open space, but extensive grading would occur elsewhere and the eucalyptus trees would fall. Revenue from the land sales and commercial leases would help the Catholic Youth Organization endow a fund to renovate and operate the boys' home.
The Silveiras have not formally proposed development of their land, and would prefer it remain as is. "They'd love to continue dairy ranching like they have for (more than) 100 years," said family attorney Neil Sorensen. If Shapell were allowed to build, however, the Silveiras would want to as well, Sorensen said.
The Shapell proposal became a major issue in the supervisorial race between Susan Adams, a Dominican University nursing professor who opposes development of the land, and Paul Cohen, a longtime San Rafael city councilman who has supported the concept of building homes there.
Adams eked out an unexpected win over her better-financed rival, a victory attributed in large part to her position on the properties. She is considering ways the county could impair Shapell's plans, and her allies are strategizing about San Rafael City Council races next year.
"This is going to be a very difficult project for (Shapell) to push through," Adams said. "This election has shown there is a lot of support for preservation of that land. And this is going to be a very long process if they persist."
Shapell and the CYO intend to persist. Ed McGovern, the CYO's spokesman, said, "I reject the notion of the St. Vincent's opponents that the Susan Adams race was a mandate to stop any work on the project."
And Shapell Vice President Tom Koch, while acknowledging that the election highlighted voter concerns about traffic and the environment, insisted the St. Vincent's project would harm neither. He argued that because Highway 101 is frequently overtaxed now -- it already is rated in the worst category of traffic intensity -- the additional car trips generated by the proposed development could not make things significantly worse.
"Our project will neither destroy (Highway) 101 nor save 101," Koch said.
Project foes scoff at that notion, saying the level and duration of congestion are sure to increase. "If you added another 850 cars (to) that section of Highway 101 at peak hour, you're clearly going to notice it," said Don Dickenson, a board member of the Marin Conservation League.
Development opponents say they'd prefer that government or environmental groups buy the two properties or the development rights. They cite the example of two large parcels of land farther north, the Bahia and Bel Marin Keys, where intense opposition to development led to purchases to preserve the land.
"I think we should move on to St. Vincent's next and to Silveira and get them acquired," said Barbara Salzman, head of the Marin Audubon Society.
But Giambastiani doubts that will happen. "Right now, they should be looking for money to buy (the land) at fair market value if they don't want development there," she said. "And I'd like to see them put that on the ballot, and all those people who voted for Susan Adams then can vote to pay for it."
By Herbert A. Sample -- Bee San Francisco Bureau
Published 2:15 a.m. PST Sunday, November 24, 2002
From the Sacremento Bee |  | | Eucalyptus trees line a road on the site of the St. Vincents Home for Boys and Silveira Ranch in Marin County. |
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Monday, September 6, 2010