While there was no wrongdoing
in connection with the WinCup apartments project, Corte Madera town officials
need to “actually and clearly” inform the public on all future planning and
development, the civil grand jury reported.
“I was pleased but not
surprised with the report of the grand jury,” said Corte Madera Mayor Carla
Condon. “I knew that there had been absolutely no improper conduct by any of
our council members as they have been accused.”
The grand jury said it received
complaints of alleged “malfeasance and bribery.” Over eight months it
investigated the allegations that questioned the integrity of the Town Council
and staff, it concluded there was no evidence to support the claims.
The 23-page report said because
the WinCup project was embedded in the town’s general plan, it was easily
overlooked by community members. And when construction became visible, the
community questioned how the project was approved, feeling that they were not
given notice and opportunity for input, the report said.
The 180-unit Tam Ridge
Residences project, situated at the former WinCup manufacturing plant on Tamal
Vista Boulevard, has been the subject of public outcry and heavily criticized
for its size, paint job and the effects it will have on traffic.
The grand jury recommended the
town require project-specific environmental impact reports for all development
that may have a significant impact on the environment, as well as create a standing
Design Review Committee and develop a community plan for the Tamal Vista
Corridor.
“A separate WinCup EIR would
have placed the WinCup development in the public domain for a more
comprehensive environmental analysis, a key process for citizen review and
input,” the report said.
“It wasn’t a surprise that they
were looking into it,” said Town Manager David Bracken. “And that’s really
based on all the publicity the project has had in the last several years.”
Public outcry
The San Francisco-based developer,
MacFarlane Partners, which is constructing the six apartment buildings on the
4.5-acre site, confirmed it is considering changing the color scheme on the
highway side of the buildings. But a company spokesman declined to comment on
the report.
Corte Madera resident Jane
Levinsohn, however, said the project is a disaster.
“What good does a grand jury
report do now after the building is supposed to open?” she said.
The project, which has been
delayed several times, is still expected to open in late summer, with emails
going out Monday to people who signed up on the interest list. Price listings
are expected to be released on the website within the month.
And Levinsohn agreed, town
officials didn’t communicate the project clearly and said renderings she saw
misrepresented the building. But she hopes community members will accept some
of the responsibility.
“It’s our fault we didn’t pay
attention. We were hoodwinked by the time we woke up to it,” she said.
Peter Hensel of Corte Madera
agreed, noting the mistakes made among all parties involved. He pointed to an
issue highlighted in the grand jury report stating that the Association of Bay
Area Governments, the regional planning agency, mistakenly over-allocated the
town’s Regional Housing Needs Allocation as 244 dwelling units, rather than the
180 it should have been and is.
“WinCup is just incredibly
complicated. The blame has to be spread around,” he said. “This would never
have happened if it wasn’t for ABAG.”
Susan Kirsch, the co-founder of
activist group Citizen Marin who is running for the District 3 seat on the
Board of Supervisors, reinforced Hensel’s sentiments. She said WinCup has
become “a beacon,” illustrating what goes wrong when state mandates are mixed
with regional and local consultants.
“The theme I’ve seen come
through (in the report) so loud and clear is that they got to get a lot more
transparent in the building and planning process,” she said.
“It’s the whole specialized language that can
prevent people from getting in. ... Simplify any of the systems we are trying
to wrestle. It would be a great step for everyone,” Kirsch said.
However, some, such as
Alexandra Cock, who was appointed to the Town Council in 2007, elected to the
seat in 2011 and resigned in 2013, said she doesn’t agree with some of the
findings in the report.
“We were saying it was going to
be huge. I was aware of it at the time and I didn’t feel I was misled,” she
said. “There were plenty of opportunities for people to participate. A lot of
the time we were talking to an empty room — hardly anyone was there at those
meetings.”
Problem project
But the problems began even
before the public meetings started.
The grand jury underscored a
1998 lawsuit against the town, where a group of housing advocates demanded a state
required certified housing element, which ensures everyone’s housing needs are
met, regardless of income.
The lawsuit was settled for
approximately $400,000 and the council agreed to adopt the state certified
element. Town officials were concerned about future lawsuits, the report says.
Council members across the
board conceded they felt compelled to move along with the WinCup project
because of this.
”I was largely in agreement
with the (report) in terms of history and timing and pressures we were under —
the fact that we had been sued,” said Councilman Bob Ravasio.
But Ravasio, who is up for
re-election this year, said the attention from the public, grand jury and the
media is all part of the process.
“I think they were right. We
the town could have done a better job of letting people know what was being
approved and discussed at the meetings,” he said.
Moving forward
While Planning Director Adam
Wolff, who was appointed to the position in June 2014, wasn’t involved in the
planning of the Tam Ridge Residences apartments, he said he understands the
complaints and the grand jury’s recommendations.
“I’m hopeful that it can be a positive in some
respects and allow us to move forward with this project and other planning
issues that we can address,” he said.
He said town officials are
already making strides toward the grand jury’s recommendations, including a new
website to engage the community, new planning workshops where the community is
invited to weigh in on projects and the moratorium on development in the Tamal
Vista Boulevard neighborhood, all of which was in motion before the
investigation.
“It was a good report overall,” said Town
Manager Bracken. “Now we need time to decipher it and dwell on it.”
The Town Council will issue a
response within the 90-day period.
July 2, 2015
Marin
Independent Journal
By Adrian
Rodriguez
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