When it comes to WinCup, Corte
Madera Town Council members said they could have done better.
A standing-room only crowd
turned out Tuesday night to hear the town’s response to a grand jury report
critical of the controversial 180-unit complex on Tamal Vista Boulevard. The
council will vote on its official response Sept. 15.
While council members indicated
that they didn’t entirely agree with the jury’s findings, city leaders pledged
it would not happen again. Councilwoman Diane Furst told the crowd of about 50
that a retrospective take on the project was necessary.
“We talked about the fact that we were coming
off a very costly lawsuit,” she said, “that we were in the middle of an
economic downturn, that ABAG saddled us with a huge number of housing units to
meet and there are some other things as well.”
Mayor Carla Condon added,
“We’ve really learned the importance of staff. … I think that we’re going to
find that this is something that you will never see happen again.”
Public criticism
The Tam Ridge Residences,
constructed by San Francisco-based developers MacFarlane Partners, has been
called a “monstrosity.” The public has not shied away from criticizing the size
and color — among other things — of the six apartment buildings at the former
WinCup manufacturing plant, a 4.5-acre site.
The jury, in its June report
titled “WinCup/Tam Ridge Residences: How Did It Come to Pass?,” criticized the
approval process, saying that town officials need to “actually and clearly”
inform the public on all future planning and development.
Specifically, the report said
because the WinCup project was embedded in the town’s general plan, it was
easily overlooked by community members.
Additionally, 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.
“I don’t think it’s inaccurate, but it’s
incomplete,” said Councilman Sloan Bailey, who is up for reelection, of the
jury’s report.
“It’s an oversimplification,”
he said.
Design panel
The recommendation for a Design
Review Committee is “an unfair burden on the citizens,” said Vice Mayor Bob
Ravasio, who also is up for reelection. He explained it would require more time
and money when the planning staff and commission are capable of acting as a
review committee.
Councilman Michael Lappert said
that implementing a community plan would be “a huge hemorrhage of money.”
He did agree, however, to work
on a “vision” that wouldn’t be a “bigger, more expensive endeavor.”
Some residents such as Peter
Hensel said at Tuesday’s meeting they sympathized with the council.
“You guys are citizen
volunteers,” he told the council. “You do rely on the experts and you rely on
the staff …”
Others, however, didn’t
understand why there were no repercussions for the decisions made.
“Who’s responsibility was it?”
asked Carol Schrumpf of Larkspur.
“Somebody has to say, ‘This is
what we were expecting. This is what we got. The two things don’t match.’
Somebody needs to step up and take action,” she said.
“I don’t think you can take something like
this and continually think, ‘Well it was the staff that did it,’” said Corte
Madera resident Peter Orth.
“If you had really worked with
understanding the staff,” he said, “... you should probably go ahead and say,
‘I’m not cut out for this.’ ”
New website
Furst offered an explanation:
“The decisions that were made, they were made because people thought they were
the right decisions. Maybe they didn’t have all the information they needed.”
Resident Jean Greenbaum said
when it comes to doing environmental reports, the response should “make it very
clear what kind of criteria there has to be for you to ... have an EIR.”
Phyllis Metcalfe, vice
chairwoman of the Planning Commission, described ways the town has already made
strides toward the grand jury’s recommendations. Examples included the new
website to engage the community, new planning workshops where the community is
invited to weigh in on upcoming projects and the moratorium on development in
the Tamal Vista Boulevard neighborhood, all of which was in motion before the
investigation.
“It’s important to show what
was done and how we are going to proceed in the future,” she said.
Overall, “In
spite of the emotion so many people have, everyone was cordial,” Mayor Condon
said. “I hope we could at least close the book on the animosity and go on a
positive.”
September 2, 2015
Marin
Independent Journal
By
Adrian Rodriguez
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