Loch Lomond Marina
City Council Hearing on Marina Project 6/18/07
The following are notes that summarize questions or comments made by members of the San Rafael City Council at the hearing on June 18, 2007 on the Loch Lomond Marina Project. These notes were taken by several members of the public and put together by Sara Jensen of the Loch Lomond HOA:
Below are most of the topics that the council members and the mayor told staff to provide more information on. Notes reflect the actual language used as much as possible. It would be good to send letters to the Mayor and Council about any of these items or other items individuals have concerns about that are not on the list. The decision will likely be made at the July16, 2007 City Council meeting, so letters should go in soon enough that they have time to digest the information before that meeting.
Councilman Gary Phillips
- Lighting -probably should lower it
- Lower roof lines along water front. Want to see how this would look.
- Parking for yacht club
- Grade level issue is confusing; need more information
- More information on lease terms for the grocery store
- Want more into on plantings on both sides of fence by wetlands
- More information on width of path on the breakwater
- Need to know number of small parking spaces for compact cars -- maybe not suitable at marina
- Second entrance is a concern (said he needs to think about this more)
Councilwoman Barbara Heller
- Explain the storage for the houses - she wants to be sure owners cannot park cars across there garages or elsewhere
- Live-aboards need their own parking and convenient places to unload.
- Availability of water to serve the site not a problem
- Fill is an engineering question
- Size of housing units --wants to know why these particular sizes were selected
- Linking of paths at marina to adjacent open space on west side a BCDC decision, not for the City or the developers
- Wants to know more details of how breakwater will be improved
- Sorry to see path in wetlands buffer zone removed. It's been there 40 years, is a fantastic and educational place. She would like to see it reinstated.
Councilman Cyr Miller
- Density
- Circulation around marina and entrance/exit-- show me comparables to help me understand. Also circulation for marina in western part. Comparables for function of the intersection
- Views, level of land -- need more information, esp view of the ridge --Show me the difference of view with one-story vs. two-story
- Work out the affordable issues for me -- give numbers, not generalized discussion
- Letter from San Pedro Cove: connecting paths along the ridge, this is a dangerous thing, need to consider liability (NOTE: Miller is confused about this. The connecting path that BCDC is asking for connects a path at the marina to the open space directly west of the marina. It does not connect to the high lookout point within the Cove neighborhood, which is another BCDC mandated spot for public access. The high lookout and the low open space areas of BCDC-required public access are not close to each other. Only the low open space area is adjacent to the marina and it is the only area that would have a path connecting it to the public access area at the marina.
Councilman Paul Cohen
- EIR issues have been raised -- lighting impact, plans potential to block views
- More information about sound reducing pavement -- noise studies, cost vs. benefit
- Surcharge -- need more information about sideways movement of bay mud
- Area E wetlands -- what is the mitigation for its fill
- Nature of the fence at the western side -- not clear whether it is there or not. If so, why? If not what is there.
- Issue of site elevation needs clarification
- Language for 6 months related to grocery store. We need to assure the public that we are taking steps to control. We could retain rights to approve commercial use.
- Green building requirements -- does the project comply? Need specific details
- More work on view studies needed -- we can do a better job of looking at public views. Looking at impact of previous version of project not helpful -- need information for the mitigated project.
- More discussion needed for treatment of the park funding. Need a clear understanding of how it works and how the city can enforce it.
- Closing the spits at night -- what are the police powers? Do police have to be invited in since it is private land?
- View impact -- I disagree with Design Review Board
* The defined edge to the residential area not needed.
* Would like to see impact of lowering height at corner of corridor to see ridge
* More thought needs to be given to the row of townhouses along the main
view corridor, stepping back this edge
* A wall of buildings not good -- need to look at the impact of breaking this up. - Loch Lomond is concerned about the possibility of cut-through traffic. Staff thinks this will not happen, but we need to recognize this as a possibility and plan what we could do within LL to stop it if it does happen
Mayor Al Boro
- Concerned about grocery store, Bobbi's, yacht club --need information on leases
- Need guarantee that public access is permanent and how it is enforced
- Mello-Roos - its impact on affordable units. We need private support to make a good public access area.
- Second entrance -- perhaps at emergency entrance/exit, perhaps just for residents?
- Engineering of fill important. The canal is about to be dredged. We need to protect it.
- Issue of palm trees, lighting and monuments
- Want a report on density compared to Peacock Gap condo area and smaller units at Biscayne Drive
- Views
- Dry boat storage -- is there a way to accommodate people who live, say, within two miles?
- Density -- is there any form of reduction to help with looking at the hills? Any way to reduce the row of town houses along the entrance corridor?
- Left turns coming out of the site -- need to address.
- New uses at the site -- Is parking sufficient? Is the parking reserve sufficient? Parking on spits and traffic through marina green
- Rubberized pavement does reduce noise -- perhaps could do next time we pave. What is the added cost? Can this be mitigated through the project?
- Renderings of before and after -- need to see for this current plan
- BCDC will enforce their requirements, but we need to know what the requirements are