In an effort to keep up with all the news, I’m listening to all kinds of radio these days. One of the stations of late has been National Public Radio, for better or worse. As these words run across my flat screen, full-color HP monitor (this column is underwritten in part by HP and its fine family of computer stuff), May isn’t half over yet and my editors are clamoring for copy that will sing in July like a pair of Bose speakers (this column is sponsored in part by Bose, that sounds good).
One of the many challenges of producing a column in advance is you’re writing about things that haven’t happened yet, you hope may happen, are supposed to happen and sometimes don’t happen at all. And then you’re dead wrong in public (this column is sponsored in part by Twain Memorial Park and Cemetery, where they understand loss even better than the Golden State Warriors).
But sometimes, the actions can take a long time, especially in Marin, where process is treated with tender loving care (the kind of care you can expect from Sunny Acres Senior Communities, which partially underwrote this column). Sometimes you can update a column with the ending of the story long after you began the tale. For instance, in 2010, people in Novato worried that other people, namely shoppers with money in their pockets, might not find downtown Novato and, if they got lost, might not spend their money. Or at the very least, they would spend it someplace else. The answer was thought to be a sign program. After searching high and low, the city gave the contract for new signs to West Chester, Pa.-based Merje Environments and Experiences. The contract, which is a little more than $460,000, will pay for signs that will help people find parking and other attractions in Novato. (This column is not partially underwritten by Merje, which is a little surprising given the cash Novato dropped on that company).
Novato city officials think the signs will not only aid visitors to find specific things, but will also help Novato create a brand for the city and give it an identity. In other words, they will kind of help Novato find itself, a little like the services offered by Dr. Feldon Parks (this column is sponsored in part by Dr. Parks).
Play ball
When last we left Centerfield Partners, the group that wanted to bring minor league baseball to San Rafael, it was locked in mortal combat in a lawsuit brought by a group of neighbors who reside near Albert Park to delay the season. The action essentially alleges that the agreement between the baseball team and the city violates deed restrictions. While the court did deny the Albert Park Neighborhood Alliance’s bid to delay the season, the lawsuit will still move forward and be heard after the season is over. This is known as a win-win as the San Rafael Pacifics (really, a team named after an ocean?) get to play and folks get to see some baseball and decide if it will work in Marin. The neighbors will still have their day in court to argue that letting baseball be played in a baseball park will wreak so much havoc on the formerly bucolic neighborhood that children will be forever scarred and housing values will plummet (speaking of housing values, this column is also partially sponsored by Red Coat Homes where the homes aren’t small, they’re cozy and easy to care for).
Sign of the times
In another story without an ending, Only in Marin wrote a while back about the saga of drugstore behemoth CVS wanting to invade Tiburon by placing a store in town and also put up a pair of red signs letting consumers know where the store was. Some residents, outraged by both the way the signs looked as well as the fact that the town allowed some trees to be cut down as part of the store redevelopment, put an online petition together calling for the city to force the retailer to replant the trees and also to tone the signs down, using gray instead of the trademark red.
The Tiburon Design Review Board sided with the residents calling for the gray signs. But the Town Council rejected that decision, allowing red, much to the chagrin of proponents. In a town council meeting, resident Steve Bendinelli expressed his disappointment. “I’m just astonished that corporate America is throwing its weight around like this in a small town,” he said, according to the Marin IJ.
In a related development, I’m shocked—shocked I say—to find gambling going on in this establishment. (This column is not partially underwritten by CVS, cheap bastards.)
Cowboy George Lucas saddles up workforce housing
As it turns out, just a small group of neighbors managed to get Lucasfilm to pull its plan to build a facility at Grady Ranch, according to the fine story by Nels Johnson of the Marin IJ. The project would have added something north of 1,000 jobs in Marin. But a handful of neighbors opposed the plan, going as far as to hire a lawyer and to produce a 50-page report that questioned whether the project had all the right stuff as far as the environmental work, hinting at possible legal action.
Lucas pulled the project and is selling the land to a developer willing to do affordable housing. He asked the Marin Foundation to come on board and will make all of the planning materials regarding the property available to the foundation in an effort to aid the project and keep costs down.
The Marin Foundation, long a champion of workforce housing, the better dressed cousin of affordable housing, is happy to have the help (this column is in part made possible by a grant from the Liz Dale Foundation, helping to bring affordable housing to Lucas Valley.)
