QASSR Plan Bay Area Comment Letter

Posted on May 14, 2013 by admin

Quiet and Safe San Rafael submitted a comment letter detailing the numerous flaws in Plan Bay Area. We sincerely hope that common sense prevails as the plan is based on disproven fundamental facts that result in:

- increasing greenhouse gas emissions
- reducing people’s ability to travel
- increasing the price of travel, especially for low income residents
- placing sensitive receptors (people) near to freeways and busy highways where there are known adverse health impacts such as higher rates of asthma, autism, cardiovascular disease and renal disease

QASSR Plan Bay Area Comment letter
(The deadline for Plan Bay Area comment submissions is May 15th)

Posted in ABAG, high density, MTC, neighborhood, Plan Bay Area, planning | Leave a comment

Planning High Density Housing Near Transit is Dangerous and a Known Avoidable Risk

Posted on May 14, 2013 by admin

Plan Bay Area and numerous SMART “station area plans” (which really should have been called property rezoning and development plans) advocate placing thousands of new Marin residents right up against freeways and busy highways such as Sir Francis Drake Boulevard in Larkspur. I don’t know what the planners are reading but they certainly seem to be living in a bubble as numerous respected reports highlight the adverse health impact.

This was known to cause asthma and respiratory diseases, cardiovascular diseases, increase autism rates and now a report highlights it causes kidney issues:

Residential proximity to major roadways and renal function
Dr Murray A Mittleman, Cardiovascular Epidemiology Research Unit, Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center, 375 Longwood Avenue—Room 441, Boston, MA 02215, USA;

This is just one of many reports on asthma, there are other reports on autism…

Residential Proximity to Freeways is Associated with Uncontrolled Asthma in Inner-City Hispanic Children and Adolescents
LA County and Southern California Medical Center, University of Southern California Keck School of Medicine

 

Posted in health, high density, neighborhood, planning | Leave a comment

How Plan Bay Area Imposes an Unrealistic Future Vision on Marin

Posted on May 5, 2013 by admin

This Patch blog posting explains how the logic behind Primary Development Areas (PDAs) such as the Civic Center Station PDA that advocate high density housing near transit are flawed:

http://sanrafael.patch.com/blog_posts/planning-for-reality-how-plan-bay-area-imposes-an-unrealistic-future-vision-on-marin

Posted in ABAG, high density, MTC, neighborhood, Plan Bay Area, SMART Train, traffic | Leave a comment

Marin IJ: Regional Development Plans Spark Unrest Across Marin

Posted on May 5, 2013 by admin

The Marin IJ provides excellent coverage of Plan Bay Area – the plan from ABAG and MTC – organizations advocating the need for PDAs such as the one around Civic Center Station in North San Rafael.

http://www.marinij.com/sausalito/ci_23160104/regional-development-plans-spark-unrest-throughout-marin

Posted in ABAG, high density, MTC, One Bay Area, Plan Bay Area, planning | Leave a comment

MarinIJ: Opponents of Regional Development Plan Vent Frustration

Posted on April 17, 2013 by admin

On May 16th about 70 local residents attended the Plan Bay Area EIR public hearing at Embassy Suites. Of the 30 speakers all but one opposed or had objections to Plan Bay Area.  The following coverage was provided by the press:

Marin IJ Coverage

San Rafael Patch Coverage 

Extract:

“Many questioned the projections for population and job growth on which the plan is based, noting the discrepancy between the numbers and those of the California Department of Finance, which projects that Marin will add just 6,818 new residents by 2040, far shy of the 33,000 new residents predicted by Plan Bay Area.”

Posted in ABAG, high density, MTC, neighborhood, One Bay Area, Plan Bay Area, planning | Comments Off

QASSR Demands a Fair Process for Plan Bay Area EIR Public Hearings

Posted on March 1, 2013 by admin

Today, March 1st 2013, QASSR sent this letter to Ezra Rapport, Executive Director of the Association of Bay Area Governments (ABAG) requesting steps be taken to ensure that the Plan Bay Area public hearings follow a fair process ensuring both proponents and opponents have a level playing field.  This is in response to this process proposed by Ezra Rapport in December. If these steps to ensure fairness need time to implement, then the process should be delayed as it is so important that the process is done right.

The Plan Bay Area EIR progresses targets for affordable housing that citys such as San Rafael must meet or lose transportation funding, which ABAG, a non-elected body, controls.
Read QASSRs Letter to ABAG >> 

Posted in environment, high density, neighborhood | Comments Off

Plan Bay Area – Rigging the Process – the CC Station Area Plan Act II

Posted on February 28, 2013 by admin

The Plan Bay Area Environmental Impact Report proposed by ABAG advocates significant additions of high density housing across the bay, progressing the Civic Center station area plan and other “Primary Development Areas” across Marin. Public hearing’s are scheduled in April and May. ABAG and MTC have carefully worked out a process where impacted citizens are not given a fair platform to speak and convey concerns -instead using “comment tables” and regulated Q&A sessions:

Plan Bay Area Public Engagement Update (from ABAG & MTC’s Exec Directors) >>

What you can do to avoid a repeat of the station area plan…

Write to your councilors and mayor and ask that they ensure fair process:

- ask that public meetings are scheduled in evenings so working taxpayers can attend
- demand a “panel” format with fair representation (50%) of impacted citizens on the same stage (not relegated to highly regulated Q&A)
- insist that the proposed “comment table” approach not be used that suppresses discussion and dialog
- request that focus groups are not solely conducted for low-income groups but a fair representation of the Bay Area population (including low income groups)

Posted in high density, neighborhood, politicians | Comments Off

Smart Growth and the New Newspeak

Posted on February 26, 2013 by admin

Here are a couple of highly readable articles that provide great perspective on the high density brigade and the facts:

Smart Growth and the New Newspeak
http://www.newgeography.com/content/002740-smart-growth-and-the-new-newspeak

In California Don’t Bash the Burbs
http://www.newgeography.com/content/003515-in-california-dont-bash-burbs 

Extract:
“In the internal data of the 2011 Community Preference Survey commissioned by the National Association of Realtors, no specific question was asked about density, but 52 percent of respondents said, if given a choice, they would prefer to live in traditional suburbs, small towns or the rural countryside. Another 28 percent chose a suburban setting that allowed for some mixed uses (Question 5). Taken together, this shows an overwhelming preference for low densities. Only 8 percent of the respondents favored a central city environment.”

 

Posted in design, high density, neighborhood | Comments Off

Civic Center High Density Plan Progression: EIR & Plan Bay Area

Posted on February 25, 2013 by admin

Please add to your calendars two upcoming events about”Plan Bay Area”, which progresses to adoption high affordable housing targets San Rafael and other cities must achieve to secure state funding. This progresses the PDA associated with Civic Center Station. Two important meetings are currently scheduled:

  • Tuesday, April 16, 10 a.m. ABAG/MTC North Bay Public Hearing re. DEIR, San Rafael, Embassy Suites
  • Monday, April 29, 6 p.m. ABAG/MTC Plan Bay Area Open House 6:00-7:30 pm / Public Hearing 7:00-9:00 pm, Marin Center

QASSR has requested in writing that Dianne Steinhauser at TAM reschedule the first meeting to 7pm on a weekday so that residents who work during the day can attend.

More Information >>

Posted in high density, TAM | Comments Off

San Anselmo and Fairfax Get a Trolley (High Density PDA to Follow)

Posted on February 24, 2013 by admin

It looks like the same tactics are replaying in Fairfax / San Anselmo as with SMART:
- look at the nostalgic eco friendly, traffic saving trolley car (it is aesthetically a visually appealing  form of transport, ignoring buses would be better)
- don’t mention that when you vote it in you become a PDA
- don’t talk about traffic impact (it’ll be bad but to an uninformed observer, it will sound good). And whatever you do don’t do a real unbiased traffic impact study
- don’t talk about running a prototype bus service first to ascertain demand and ridership
- don’t mention the economics (it makes SMART, which has insanely bad economics look positively good)
- next come the plans for 5 story high density housings the run of Fairfax to San Anselmo

The IJ is running a poll asking if people think the trolley is a good thing – the “yes” vote is currently winning – cast your vote and post your comments (somehow the “yes” vote and the near unanimous “no” comments don’t match up)

http://www.marinij.com/sananselmo/ci_22650235/plan-trolley-linking-fairfax-and-san-rafael-be?source=most_viewed

 

Posted in high density, traffic | Comments Off