Anyone who enjoys street theater, WWE wrestling or a little recreational dentistry could do worse than stopping by the Marin Civic Center on October 27. On this day, the Marin Board of Supervisors will entertain the notion of whether to accept the environmental impact report (EIR) for the continued use and expansion of the Dutra Rock Quarry, as well as the EIR regarding its eventual reclamation. I’m not saying anybody will perform a toothectomy or parade around half naked, oiled down and steroided up, and hit somebody across the back of the head with a folding chair. But I’m not saying that won’t happen, either.
Public hearings regarding the quarry tend to be spirited, well-attended affairs. Dutra, which has three different business divisions, operates a quarry on Point San Pedro Road in San Rafael. To simplify matters, the quarry’s location and products make those in the construction trade—as well as those who earn a living putting Bill Dutra’s money in pocket—happy. On the other hand, there are more than a few neighbors who tire of the dust, noise, shaking and truck traffic that comes from living close to a working quarry. I don’t believe these are the only folks affected by the quarry and its operation, but I do believe these two groups comprise the most vocal supporters and critics.
Dutra would like to dig the main portion of the quarry deeper, actually twice as deep as the 200 feet below sea level that the present use permit allows. It would also like to continue to operate until 2026. Then, when closing day comes, the Dutras would like to open the quarry onto the bay, turn it into a boat harbor and build some homes on the surrounding property.
Many neighbors would rather the quarry cease to be a source of rock and gravel, trucks not rumble and explosions not happen.
At an August board of supervisors meeting concerning the quarry, an EIR prepared by Environmental Science Association stated the effects of past air pollution combined with likely future contaminants would have a significant health impact. Not surprisingly, the firm Dutra hired, Environ International Corporation, found no “evidence of significant dust impacts from the quarry.” The squaring off over rival EIRs is part of the rich fabric that’s Marin. Process is sacred in the land north of the Golden Gate, and have learned this lesson well. Veterans of these kinds of fights can quote the California Environmental Quality Act (CEQA) chapter and verse while pounding a podium and still making significant eye contact with elected officials.
In recent years, Dutra has made a significant effort to portray the quarry as a good neighbor, revving up its public relations machine to emphasize the importance of the quarry to construction in the Bay Area in general and the North Bay economy in particular. Its latest effort came via a slick mailer in advance of the August meeting, singing the praises of the quarry operation and giving people a chance to sign up as supporters. Hamilton Ink, a gifted Mill Valley PR firm, is certainly earning its commission repping Dutra.
At any rate, the October hearing should be fun. Get there early and bring popcorn.
Fork you!
Could Tyler Florence be busier? The Mill Valley celebrity-chef-cooking-retailer-restaurateur is seemingly everywhere at once. One minute he’s on TV dispensing advice on turning out delicious grub, the next he’s looking after his store, the Tyler Florence Shop, with his wife, Tolan. Then he’s monitoring sales on his organic baby food line, or planning the opening of a new restaurant in San Francisco at the old location of Rubicon. And then he’s off to Napa to honcho his new project in the Napa Riverfront development [See “Napa Insider,” Special Wine Issue 2009 ].
And as if all that weren’t enough, this summer, he had to play massive silverware detective when somebody took one of the two oversized prop forks gracing his shop entrance. The five-foot-long fork became something of an Internet character as it was spotted via Photoshopped images posted online. The big fork was spotted in the company of enthusiastic nibbler Kirstie Alley, attending a New York Yankees game and making an appearance on the Conan O’Brien Show.
Though the Mill Valley gendarmes did investigate the fork’s disappearance, it was never found. So Florence ordered another one and it’s secured to the building. Taking no chances with its utensils, the forks are now alarmed, and security cams are trained on them as well.
What’s a few million between friends?
If it’s Sutter Health and the Marin Healthcare District, it would be more like $99 million over the last two years, flowing from the coffers of Marin General Hospital, which Sutter leased, and to Sutter Health for distribution to its affiliates.
The transfer of wealth has attracted the interest and concern of Assemblyman Jared Huffman as well as the Marin Board of Supervisors. Sutter, at the insistence of the District, is walking away early on its lease, turning the hospital back in June 2010. But the fact that Sutter pulled that much cash out of the hospital has Huffman knocking on California Attorney General Jerry Brown’s door, calling for the former governor to use the power of his office to crawl into the deep recesses of Sutter’s books with a flashlight and a tube of KY Jelly. Huffman signed a letter with other assemblypersons calling for an investigation. Sutter maintains there’s nothing untoward about the cash out, that it’s company policy to have the strong hospitals subsidize the weaker sisters in the 26-hosptial chain.
Sutter and the District have fought like Bill O’Reilly and Keith Olbermann for years about everything under the sun and, reading between the lines, it seems Sutter is having a pretty good time ignoring the district, Huffman and everybody else. But keep an eye on this final chapter, the fight over the money might have legs.
