San Rafael city staff has recommended that the City Council consider dumping its plan to annex the 836-acre parcel of land owned by St. Vincent's School, threatening the future of a proposal to build a 766-unit residential subdivision on the site.
The action, if taken at next week's special council meeting, would direct city staff to prepare an additional report examining the option of ending the city's 15-year effort to use the open land to ease the city's housing needs. The public meeting is scheduled for 7:30 p.m. Monday.
If the city decides not to annex the land, leaving it under county control, the residential development plan, which includes 124,000 square feet of commercial space, developed by Shapell Industries in partnership with San Rafael, would have an uncertain future. The county could continue to work with the firm or scuttle the plan.
The city staff report cites a breakdown in the partnership between the city and the county Board of Supervisors on the development of the St. Vincent's and Silveira properties. The county has made it clear, the report states, that it does not support the city's vision for the property. If the council agrees on Monday with the staff recommendation, the council would then consider, at a later date, proposed amendments to the city's general plan relating to the properties.
"If the City Council concludes that a planning partnership is no longer likely or realistically viable with the Board of Supervisors, it is probable that processing land use entitlements for the St. Vincent's property will become an expensive, arduous and ultimately futile process," the report states.
The report recommends that the City Council, which has taken the lead in planning development on the site, transfer the land use planning for the properties over to the county. San Rafael would remain a "strong advocate for affordable housing and appropriate reasonable development of the properties," according to the report.
Since San Rafael had counted on the eventual development of the St. Vincent's and Silveira properties to meet its state-mandated affordable housing quota, giving up the plan would require the city to reassess its housing plan. It would mean more infill in the downtown area and in existing neighborhoods to add affordable housing, the report said, options that might invoke the ire of residents and violate traffic congestion limits.
Last month, San Rafael Mayor Al Boro directed staff to provide an analysis of land use options for the St. Vincent's and Silveira properties. The report, released this week, offered four options for the city: Continue current plans for development, let the voters decide the fate of the land, begin a new plan for the site, or change the city's general plan regarding annexing the site.
The option of staying the course might leave the city open to county resistance and litigation, while calling an election or drawing new plans would postpone a resolution of the issue, the report concluded. City staff recommended drafting a resolution indicating the city no longer wishes to annex the site.
Until now the city had taken the lead on the site plans since St. Vincent's was in the city's sphere of influence.
Supervisor Hal Brown said the county could design a more sensible plan for the site, something smaller than the development proposed by Shapell, which he said would cause terrible traffic problems for the area.
"The vast majority should be left as open space, some as affordable housing and some as commercial space," Brown said. "It would be far less dense under the county's jurisdiction."
Supervisor Steve Kinsey said last month that San Rafael's transferring control over St. Vincent's development to the county would mean the land would lie dormant at least until the various complications with developing the site, including traffic congestion along Highway 101, are resolved.
With the county in charge on the properties, they could be integrated in the ongoing development of a Countywide Plan, he said.
"It will put us in the position of needing to pay a lot more attention to what the site could be," Kinsey said in December when Boro first suggested re-examining plans to annex the land.
Supervisor Susan Adams, who was elected in November following a campaign that emphasized preservation of the St. Vincent's and Silveira properties, said that she would welcome county control. She said that the county would be less likely to authorize a development plan as aggressive as the one Shapell and San Rafael had envisioned for the site.
"If the council votes the way the staff is recommending, that means the county-wide plan would take on more significance in relation to that property," she said. "I would like to see the county be more proactive in continuing with the heritage of what those properties have been used for."
What San Rafael's potential withdrawal would mean for the proposal by Shapell Industries is unclear. Company officials did not return calls yesterday to comment on the San Rafael report.
But longtime opponents of the development cheered the report, calling it a death knell for the Shapell proposal.
"It looks dead to me, if they accept the recommendation," said Dotty LeMieux, president of the Marin chapter of the Sierra Club, who also served as a consultant for Adam's campaign. "It takes it out of the hands of San Rafael and Shapell. The county as a whole does not want to see the land developed. San Rafael realized that it was politically and financially untenable."
The Sierra Club local chapter has joined with the Marin Audubon Society, the Marin Conservation League and Citizen Advocates for Preservation of St. Vincent's/Silveira, calling on the county to take the lead role in determining the future of the site.
Don Dickenson, president of Citizen Advocates for Preservation of St. Vincent's/Silveira and member of the Marin Conservation League's executive committee, said the city's about-face was a pleasant surprise.
"Clearly, the staff report is an extraordinary turn of events," said Dickenson, a San Rafael resident. "It means, if the council follows the recommendation, that the city is backing away from its 15-year dream of annexing the property and turning it into an urban neighborhood for the city of San Rafael."
Dickenson said that Adam's election to the Board of Supervisors was instrumental in forcing the city to withdraw its plans. He said that Boro and other San Rafael city officials deserve credit, though, for admitting it might be time to give up their aspirations for the site.
"It takes a wise public official to be able to step back and assess where we are," Dickenson said. "For the first time in 15 years, I agree with the staff report on this issue. It's the only prudent thing to do at this point."
By Michael Howerton
Marin Independent Journal | |
Thursday, September 9, 2010