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| The Bridge Housing proposal for Marinwood Village was met with "open arms"
The Tuesday 12/4 meeting with Brad Wilban VP of Bridge Housing, Supervisor Susan Adams, staff from the Community Development Department, assorted politicians and professional housing advocates with several hundred local residents was a true town hall meeting in our democratic tradition.
The bright and very capable Brad Wilban tried his best for the second time to create a compelling vision for our only commericial plaza that abutts the 101 freeway. He brought beautiful photoshop graphics and concept drawings but warned that the work was still in progress. His slideshow presentation answered some of our questions but left many more unanswered.
 Many of the same people attended and many of the famed "Neighborhood Leaders" that met privately for months and gave approval to the plans were missing from the room. It would be nice to have at least one meeting where all of the leaders could explain their reasons for support of the development. We did hear from Supervisor Susan Adams, Bruce Anderson, Kelly Smith, Cameron Case, John Hammond, Dr. Ralston and others who voiced strong support of the project. I commend them since the crowd was 90% in opposition to the development. 
Property tax contributions will be minimal. Bridge housing will receive a 55 year tax abatement. Since Bridge Housing is a "non profit" developer, the they will sell tax credits to provide ultra wealthy investors deep discounts on their tax liability. Utilizing the valuation of Bridge Housing's recent Emeryville project, The Marinwood Village project could be worth 40 million dollars.
The annual parcel tax fees for Marinwood Village are a paltry $10,000 for all 82 units per year or roughly $ 147 per family. Many neighbors expressed shock, especially those who purchased their home at the height of the market. They are nearly paying the same property taxes for their single family home!
Washington politicians tell us that we are on the edge of a "fiscal cliff" and our federal taxes may increase as much as $3500 for the average middle class taxpayer. We are reeling from the down economy and high unemployment. We all have suffered a the loss of 30% of the value of our homes since the crash. Now we must pay millions more in local taxes to support this "affordable" development? Just who is it "affordable" for? The developers get rich. The politicians get power. We get .....ed!
Many questions still remain unanswered or only answered superficially. Here are questions I still have:
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Where will 300 cars park?
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Who is going to pay for the upgrades
to the roads, sewer and water?
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How will the Dixie school district
(especially Mary Silvera) be able to accommodate an additional 150 school
children (5 classrooms worth)?
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Does it make sense to place housing
within yards of two microwave antenna towers?
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What will be done about the toxic
waste spill site at the dry cleaner?
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When will we see an environmental
impact report of the development?
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How will the fire department be able
to fight a multistory apartment fire without a ladder truck?
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How will a apartment complex that is
50% taller than the next highest structure in Marinwood affect property values?
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How many police, fire, teachers, CSD
workers will be hired to accomodate the growth?
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What tax burden for this housing
project will be?
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How much will we be giving the
developer in addition to the $1,000,000 improvements already earmarked to
provide parking on Marinwood Avenue?
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What will this development do to my
taxes? My property values?
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When were we made the
"Marinwood Priority Development Area for Urbanization"?
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Who are the secret
"Neighborhood Leaders" approving this development?
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Why didn't "Neighborhood
Leaders" tell the rest of us?
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Who are the local investors, contractors
and suppliers for this project?
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What will happen to the retail space
if Marinwood Market pulls out?
Many people who were originally inclined to support the project, left in doubt. They saw how much this affordable housing will cost the community.
The crowd simply did not accept the proposal despite Brad Wilban's best efforts. I felt sorry for him. He is a very nice guy and smart too. It is just that we don't want our only commercial center turned into housing and we want to make certain that WE can afford "affordable housing".
Supervisor Susan Adams defended the project and her support for infill housing for the Marinwood Priority Development Area she helped create. Last year she served as the Vice President of the Association of Bay Area Governments (ABAG) and was instrumental in many of the policy decisions that are creating urban infill housing along the Highway101 corridor. She came to office years ago with the promise of stopping housing development at Silvera Ranch. Lately, she has become a Smart Growth advocate and supports 6 low income housing developments proscribed in the 2012 Housing Element for Unincorporated Marin. 83% of all extremely low to low income housing is planned for Marinwood/Lucas Valley. Terra Linda has many affordable housing units along the Civic Center Northgate Plaza area that will provide homes for thousands of low income residents. Without a doubt, Susan Adam's District One will have the majority of government assistance housing for any Supervisor's distict in Marin County.
I believe Supervisor Adams still loves the people of Marin/Lucas Valley and means well. I believe even she is shocked that we did not approve the project. I know that she will work with our community for a common vision for our future. My hope is that she will be able to convince several other Supervisors to improve the plan for Marinwood/Lucas Valley. A great first start will be to pause approval of the 2012 Housing Element until a genuine, open community wide dialogue discussing the actual costs and vision for growth can occur. She is our neighbor.
If you would like to join our discussions about how we can provide a great future for Marinwood/Lucas Valley, come to our Monday meetings. Email us at savemarinwood@gmail.com |
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| Watch out for pickpockets!
Editor's Note: This story is particularly important for every Citizen in Marinwood/Lucas Valley. Our education fees are expected to climb drastically if the six affordable housing complexes are built according to the 2012 Housing Element Plan. The units would increase our population by 25% and they would pay little or no taxes AND THEY VOTE. Ordinary tax payers will likely see huge increase in their parcel taxes . We can save our community. Come to our action meeting on Mondays and find out how you can help.
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| The Board of Supervisors has determined Marinwood/Lucas Valley is the ideal location for affordable housing.
In the latest salvo against our community, the Board of Supervisors and the Marin Community Foundation is seeking developers for low income housing at Grady Ranch. In the Marin IJ article linked below, there is no mention of the extreme financial hardship to our schools, environment and community will suffer as the result of 240 units of housing that pays virtually nothing into the community. We middle class taxpayers are asked to pay for this "act of charity scheme" dreamed up by the 1% super rich, The Association of Bay Area Governments (ABAG) , the Board of Supervisors, crony developers and special interest groups. This is the second of six large developments that are headed our way as prescribed in the 2012 Housing Element. Even more are being planned behind closed doors
Save our beautiful Lucas Valley from exploitation! Come to our weekly action meetings on Mondays.
 
Save Marinwood/Lucas Valley.
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Alameda
County Property Rights Task Force Team
DEFEAT
Alameda
County Measure B1
(Transportation
Tax)
EVIL
SPAWN OF
ONE
BAY AREA
Volunteer
Grassroots Team
Rages
against the machine--and WINS
Alameda
County Measure B1-additional sales tax for transportation-was put on the
ballot by the Alameda County Tranportation Commission (ACTC). Most
times, there is no argument presented on the ballot for these types of
propositions and they usually pass. ACTC expected no opposition
and thought it would pass easily. Several people on our property
rights team were paying attention. They wrote the "NO"
argument and submitted it under CAPRs name just before the deadline.
The transportation guys panicked because they had not written anything up
justifying "YES". Someone in the county tipped them off to
our "NO" and they frantically put in the "YES"
argument. ACTC, builders, developers, contractors, architects,
engineers and labor groups funded the 'yes on b1' campaign to the tune of
over $600,000 this year (your TAX $ at work). They lost by a narrow
margin. The areas where we were active, Pleasanton, Livermore,
Dublin were solidly in the "NO" column. Since they lost,
they asked for a recount.
We
defeated the recount after just one day. Read about it here
Major Point:
Individuals on a grassroots organized team with NO MONEY
can make a difference.
KUDOS all around especially to:
Pat and
Judy for catching the ballot measure and recommending we write the
"NO"
Chris
Pareja and Al Phillips for signing the "NO" argument along with
SFBay CAPR
Russ for
making signs to put out on the street
Everyone
who distributed flyers and spoke to friends and neighbors
Susan
Morse and her Election Integrity Project Team for preparing us
Sue Caro
and her team for helping man the recount on our side
Frank Lee
and Pacific Justice Institute for supporting our efforts
Chris
Pareja did an excellent job of being our spokesman in the
recount and giving some great interviews to the media.
If we can
do it, others can do it.
This is
one small step for the taxpayers of Alameda County
One
giant leap for LIBERTY
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| "Wait. You'll love our new offer! We are going to sweeten the deal just for you! |
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| Elk Grove, CA rejects plan to cut greenhouse gases |
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| Supervisor Susan Adams, District One and Marinwood neighbor
Editor's Note: This is an article printed in entirety from Susan Adams December Newsletter. Editorial comments appear in highlighted in yellow.
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