Grand Jury

MARIN COUNTY CIVIL GRAND JURY 2014-2015 • AUGUST 2015 MARIN COUNTY CIVIL GRAND JURY REPORT SUMMARY 12 planning, the Association of Bay Area Governments (ABAG) mistakenly over- allocated the Town's Regional Housing Needs Allocation (RHNA) as 244 dwelling units. 3. Corte Madera's General Plan update for 2007-2014 was underway in 2006 when the WinCup property owner requested that the WinCup development be embedded in the Town's General Plan. e WinCup owner requested a higher density of 25.1–40 dwelling units per acre, as opposed to the earlier 15.1- 25.0 units per acre. is higher density was passed within the Town's General Plan, although Town offi cials, through interviews, informed the Grand Jury that the Town Council perceived that the new higher density was negotiable. It was not. 4. e Grand Jury learned during its investigation that it is uncommon for a municipality in California to approve a specifi c project embedded in its General Plan. However, since WinCup was embedded in the General Plan, no project specifi c Environment Impact Report (EIR) was required or completed. Rather, the EIR for WinCup was included in Corte Madera's General Plan EIR. 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. 5. e approval of the WinCup project included signifi cant but unavoidable environmental eff ects identifi ed in the General Plan Environmental Impact Report. e Town Council accepted these via a Statement of Overriding Considerations. 1 6. While the General Plan has a strong policy requiring responsible planning for the area around the WinCup property 2 , the Town Council chose to override that policy by approving this high-density development. 7. In April 2011, the Town Council approved two specifi c ordinances permitting the WinCup development. Once these ordinances were approved, the property was formally entitled. erea! er, the public would only be permitted to provide input concerning the design details (e.g. color, style, etc.) of the structure. e Grand Jury recommends that the Town ensure that the public is actually and clearly informed about potential actions to be discussed and taken, and that the Town require project specifi c EIRs for all projects that may have a signifi cant impact on the environment. Additionally, the Grand Jury recommends that Corte Madera's Town Council create a standing Design Review Committee and develop a Community Plan for the Tamal Vista Corridor. FINDINGS F1. ABAG's mistake over alloca- tion of the RHNA 244 dwelling units, combined with the aff ord- able housing lawsuit, and avail- ability of the WinCup property, were major factors leading to Corte Madera Town Council's embedding WinCup in the Town's General Plan. F2. With no project specifi c EIR re- quired for the WinCup project, and with the WinCup project embedded in the General Plan and General Plan EIR approval process, there was minimal pub- lic awareness of the project. F3. Town offi cials relied on outside consultants and professionals for input to the Town's plan- ning and approval process; in retrospect, some Town offi cials believe they were misled into approving a project diff erent than was originally represented. F4. e renderings provided by the owner did not adequately convey the mass and density of WinCup, thus keeping the pub- lic uninformed concerning the magnitude of the development. F5. e lack of a Community Plan, which still does not exist to- day, for the Fifer/Tamal Vista Boulevard community area, as required by the General Plan, demonstrates the shortcomings of the Town's offi cial planning process. F6. e Town's eff orts to include and inform citizens of the plan- ning and approval process were in the main consistent with gen- eral guidelines, yet the commu- nity was not provided suffi cient clarity to provide meaningful input. The Wincup continued from page 11 R1. e Town of Corte Madera must seriously consider re- quiring project specifi c EIRs for all projects that may have a signifi cant impact on the environment. R2. e Town of Corte Madera must ensure that government procedures are performed in a fully transparent manner, specifi cally notify the public about projects in layperson's terms and use social media to promote project aware- ness. R3. e Town of Corte Madera's Town Council should cre- ate a standing Design Re- view Committee and, in instances where project im- pact warrants clarifi cation, require a three-dimensional rendering of the proposed structure. R4. e Town of Corte Madera's Town Council must develop a Community Plan for the Fifer/Tamal Vista Boule- vard community area and the other three areas identi- fi ed in the General Plan, to be implemented prior to the expiration of the current development moratorium. RECOMMENDATIONS 1 Town of Corte Madera General Plan Draft EIR, Volume 1 April 2008 - Section 7.3 Long Term Implications of the Project. 2 Corte Madera General Plan April 2009 – Policy (LU-1.6).

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