Re: June 12 City Council Meeting & Old Town Neighborhood

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J Whizz

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Jun 9, 2012, 5:58:17 PM6/9/12
to Old Town Sausalito, Sausalito Housing Element on behalf of Jeff Whisennand
Hi Kerry,

To be clear, as far as I know, the 100 foot notification zone only applies to development of Accessory Dwelling Units or ADU's. I don't think this proposed change alters the existing notification requirements for other types of construction or property modifications.

Best regards,
Jeff Whisennand

On Sat, Jun 9, 2012 at 2:29 PM, Old Town Sausalito <oldtowns...@gmail.com> wrote:

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Hi Neighbors,

 

The agenda and materials for the June 12 City Council Meeting and vote are now online: http://sausalito.granicus.com/GeneratedAgendaViewer.php?view_id=2&event_id=4

Attached is the Staff Report that is included with the meeting materials online.

 

While you may be under the impression that Old Town is off the hook based on recent City Council decisions, this is not true – the City is still pushing to encourage large-scale, high density, low-income housing in this neighborhood.  Specifically, while the 2nd Street sites have been removed from consideration in the formerly entitled “Mixed Use Opportunity” plans, they are now part of a new, broader rezoning proposal called the Vertical Mixed Use (“VMU”) that designates all commercial buildings along 2nd Street in Old Town (zone CN1) for encouraged development of low income, residential housing. This new proposal includes a mandate that all new development must include at least one low-income unit. To make this viable, a developer could use the Housing Element incentives to build large-scale buildings (multi-story, up to at least 9 units). The development of two sites with 9 units each would mean 72 new residents within the two blocks of 2nd Street.

 

Thus, we still have a problem.  All of the neighborhood’s concerns associated with the development of the two 2nd Street properties now apply to the whole strip, including but not limited to a) overcrowding in our neighborhood, b) traffic/safety concerns in an already unsafe thoroughfare (aka “the funnel”), c) parking limitations, d) sewage and trash, e) neighborhood character impacts, f) impact on or obliteration of Bay views, etc. Old Town should be excluded from this rezoning plan. (Technically, the City is proposing to “modify the regulations” that are applicable to particular zones but for all intents and purposes, this is essentially the same as rezoning.)

 

Many among us are concerned that this proposal is short-sited and that more appropriate and less impactful alternatives exist. There are other options: live/work sites, allowing conversion of current office to residential, etc. Why were these other options left out of the plan? Why is the City still encouraging new, large-scale development in the Old Town neighborhood when numerous known constraints exist?

 

If you spoke up before, thank you!  Please speak up again.  If you did not speak up before, now is your chance.  We need everyone to make their voices heard.

 

The meeting is set for June 12, 7:00PM in the Council Chambers room at City Hall (420 Litho Street).

 

Do you care about views?
Southern Sausalito is known for its views - there are even banners along the street that say "South Sausalito - Where the View Is." If the City of Sausalito really cares about our views, then why are they encouraging large-scale, high-density development that would undoubtedly impact views of surrounding residents?

 

Be aware, the City is removing preservation of views from their priorities list.  During discussions around new development of second units on properties, the City (ADU Task Force) voted to allow impacts to primary views (which view is to be obstructed will be determined by City Staff; not the offended property owner). Also, the latest proposed language changes to the Housing Element removed direct references to height restrictions and view impacts.  The language regarding view has been watered down.  Please let the City know that you care about views and you want preservation of view maintained as a high priority.

 

Other concerns:

-  The City recently voted to reduce notification on 2nd unit development from 300 feet to 100 feet. This means only adjacent properties would likely receive notice. The General Plan specifies that the City must try to foster community participation. This vote shows that the City is actually discouraging community involvement.

-  The City has a legal mandate to encourage public participation in the Housing Element discussion, but certain City Council members haven’t returned calls or the voicemail boxes are full and don’t accept messages.  We need better communication from them and more community participation in the decisions that impact us.

 

In addition to attending the June 12 meeting, you can email City Staff and City Council Members. Any letters submitted as public comment should be sent to all of the following email addresses prior to the June 12 meeting.

 

Also, if you would like an opportunity to ask questions prior to the Tuesday meeting, Councilmember Pfeifer is holding a Townhall Meeting on Monday night. Perhaps other Councilmembers will be there as well. The meeting will be on Monday June 11 from 7-8pm at Saylor’s Landing (2009 Bridgeway).

 

We hope the City Council will stop encouraging large-scale, high-density development in Old Town by rejecting any proposal to modify the zoning regulations for CN1 Zone / Old Town Neighborhood Commercial area.

 

Please forward this email to any neighbors you think would like to be informed.

 

Thank you,

Kerry & Geoff Headington

3rd Street, Old Town

 


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