Saturday, November 9, 2013

Ten Reasons why the Marinwood Village plan should be rejected

"Nah! Nah!  I'm not listening!"
 "The enemies of reason have a certain blind look."-from the film the Duelists

1.) The Dixie schools are at capacity and the affordable housing project pays almost no taxes to pay for the 60-150 school children at $10,000 per child per year from K to 12.  We receive little state funding and cannot afford the increase. We Dixie school district taxpayers will be forced to pay for an additional $600,000 to $1,500,000 annually.

2.) Bridge housing will not contribute  a fair share of costs of the impacts to Dixie Schools. They will be required to pay only $200,000 for new building, yet schools will need 3-6 portable classrooms which will cost anywhere from $300,000 to $900,000. The new portables will steal space from parking and play areas.

3.)  Marinwood Ave will have to be narrowed at taxpayer expense of $1,000,000 plus.  The narrow road will render the Dixie school bus yard impractical and may need to be moved at additional taxpayer expense. Residents will undoubtedly need to park in the neighborhoods and surrounding streets.

4.) Marinwood Market will have difficulty surviving with crowded parking especially on weekend shopping days when residents will be home.  The market receives a generous subsidy now but is under no long term obligation to stay.  The market must be profitable to survive or the community will lose the it's ONLY grocery store.

5.) More police, fire and government services will be required.  Hamilton has seen a substantial increase in crime with similar high density housing which is 100% affordable.  Lower density housing with  a maximum 20% affordable housing tends to promote social stability. Large affordable housing projects were abandoned in the 1960s as failures because they tended to become islands of poverty with negative social results.  Why should we repeat a failed affordable housing scheme? For a comparison of crime rates in Marin see www.crimereports.com

6.) The location next to a busy freeway and two high powered microwave antennas is unhealthful and unsuitable for families with pregnant woman and young children. Major university studies on the effects of pollution and microwave transmission indicate higher rates of autism, cancer and other disease. If we truly care for people in need, we should care where we house them.  More suitable locations away from the freeway should be chosen.

7.) Marinwood / Lucas Valley will permanently lose the only viable location for a successful retail center to supply the community with fresh food.  It abuts the 101 freeway where 8 million tourists and commuters travel yearly to Sonoma and Napa counties.  West Marin tourism is largely undeveloped yet shows great promise.  Thousands of bicycle trips start in Marinwood each year. The "cheese road" has become a popular destination for weekend travelers.  Marinwood Plaza could become the family friendly"gateway to West Marin" with organic foods, cycling shop, restaurants and farmers market much like www.oxbowmarket.com . The county could invest the tax revenue to support affordable housing.

8.)  Our taxes will surely increase across the board.  Taxpayers will subsidize the Marinwood Village affordable housing project  during its 55 year tax free existence.  Millions of dollars will needed from their middle class neighbors who are currently reeling from a declining real estate market,  increases in Federal, State and local taxes.  We cannot afford this "affordable housing scheme"

9.) The Marinwood Village scheme has not received meaningful input from the community. Political insiders or so-called "neighborhood leaders" met secretly behind closed doors to discuss the proposal for the fake "public process" .  The wider community is largely unaware of the projects existence or the effects on the community. Fewer still are aware that Marinwood Village is only the first of five projects plus the rezoning of the community into an urban style "Transit Village".

10) A successful affordable housing project can win public support if and only when meaningful public dialogue, wise land use, environmental, financial and social concerns are met. If the supervisors approve this project without community support, it can expect a strong political backlash and full rejection of the housing scheme in its entirety.

"If you are not angry
then you are not paying attention"
 Marinwood Village is the first of five housing projects that will grow our community 25%.  One in five  Marinwood/Lucas Valley residents will be living in government supported projects if the projects are built as planned.  Additional rezoning for high density housing for private development will transform Marinwood/Lusas Valley into a Transit Oriented Village into "Daly City North".

Is this the future you want?

Save Marinwood/Lucas Valley!

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