We’re going to take a bit of a ride this month, kids, from Corte Madera to San Rafael to Sonoma, and from Tiburon to Bagland. So crank up the tunes and buckle up tight, because it’s likely to get a little bumpy.
When it comes to sales tax revenue, there are a lot of cities and towns that would love to be in Corte Madera’s Guccis. With sales tax rolling in from not one but two successful malls as well as four car dealerships, Corte Madera is doing all right.
This is one of the reasons you don’t hear high-pitched screams coming from Town Hall over the relocation of Marin Honda to San Rafael. As of this writing, less than two weeks before the fat man with the bag flies into town, Marin Honda has submitted plans to the city of San Rafael to move its operation to the former home of San Rafael Chevrolet. The Chevy Man called 2 Shoreline Parkway in East San Rafael home before going toes up. The Shoreline site is also the location of the proposed San Rafael Target store, which, in some circles, is as popular as Julian Assange at a State Department dinner.
Pre-Owned Luxury Car and Truck opened in November, on Francisco Boulevard East, at the same lot where Ford of Marin gave up the ghost.
And what will become of the former Marin Honda site on Paradise Drive? One rumor that won’t go away has the Penske Auto Group planting another car dealership there—which is another reason why Town Hall is quiet.
Cal-Pox Inc., the company that owns the Shoreline property in San Rafael, is plenty happy to get Marin Honda as a tenant. The Target project has been trouble a-plenty, and having another business on board that doesn’t require a UN Peacekeeping Force has to feel good.
With Marin Honda safely in the fold—and perhaps Target—maybe Cal-Pox can work on a new handle that doesn’t make you think of a virus that attacks monkeys.
Dave, say it ain’t so!
Just up Francisco Boulevard a bit is a Westamerica Bank branch, one of four in its home base of San Rafael and one of 11 in Marin. The bank has more than 90 branches in all, including 14 in Sonoma County. Westamerica is the seventh largest bank in the state, making it a major player, but if you’re planning to open accounts at either the Glen Ellen or Boyes Hot Springs branches in Sonoma Valley, you best hurry. It’s a fair bet the bank will close them soon.
To be fair about it, it’s not like Westamerica has had enough time to get attached to the two branches. The San Rafael bank picked them up when the FDIC shut Sonoma Valley Bank down last August and Westamerica bought it out.
At the time of the acquisition, the bank promised to keep the two branches open at least until this month. But the writing is certainly on the wall. The hours for the pair have been shortened up to noon to 4 p.m. Monday to Thursday, and Friday noon to 6 p.m. with no hours on Saturday. Banker’s hours indeed.
The Press Democrat’s Nathan Halverson says that former federal bank regulator and Sonoma resident Ralph Hutchinson filed a complaint with the FDIC regarding the hours and possible closing, since the branches serve a poor to moderate population including immigrants working on vineyards and ranches in the area. And Sonoma County Supervisor Valerie Brown sent a letter to the bank asking it to leave the branches open.
I asked Westamerica CEO David Payne to share his thoughts regarding the future of the Glen Ellen and Boyes Hot Springs locations. But he didn’t return my phone call.
Tiburon goes downtown
After a year of informal meetings about the fate of downtown Tiburon between council members Richard Collins and Jim Fraser, the town has hired Dyett and Bharta to revitalize the area. The San Francisco urban planning firm will pull down $20,000 for its efforts and will meet with residents to talk about what comes next. The cash comes from a $35,000 fund that’s reserved for refocusing the downtown.
One ingredient could be a new drug store. CVS has filed an application with the planning department to open up a store in the old Delano’s supermarket location. The space has been as empty as Sarah Palin’s library since Delano’s called it a day in January 2009.
It’s in the bag
While Fairfax grocers stopped using plastic bags years ago, the rest of the county hasn’t yet followed suit. But progress is being made, and merchants and shopkeepers are making the transition toward discontinuing the plastic containers and charging for paper bags.
The County of Marin, and more specifically Supervisor Charles McGlashan, is now on board, having passed a measure that prohibits grocery stores from giving out single-use plastic bags. Using paper bags made from recycled materials will run customers a nickel each. It takes effect January 2012.
McGlashan has been chasing this measure for five years. That’s five years of trying to convince retailers such a requirement wouldn’t hurt their business, five years of listening to industry lobbyists singing the blues over the ban, and five years of enduring complaints from environmentalists suggesting he wasn’t moving fast enough.
Statewide, 19 billion plastic bags are used each year, and it costs $25 million to clean up those bags, since less than 5 percent of them are recycled.
Bill Daniels, who owns United Markets in San Rafael and San Anselmo, is way ahead of the bag ban, since his stores voluntarily stopped using them months ago, despite the fact that neither location is located in unincorporated Marin—and so wouldn’t be subject to the measure anyway.
Bill Meagher is a contributing editor at NorthBay biz. He has lots of earth-friendly bags in his car, and he frequently forgets to bring them when shopping. You can reach him with tips, comments and complaints at bmeagher@northbaybiz.com.
