-----Original Message-----
From: Amanda Furlotti
Sent: Wednesday, November 27, 2024 3:03 PM
To: Distrib- City Clerk <[email protected]> Subject: Public Comment: Support for the Northgate Town Square Dear City Council members,
I am writing to you today in support of the Northgate Town Square housing project. I urge you to vote to approve the project at the December 2nd meeting.
Marin needs to be more accessible for moderate to low income families and individuals. This project directly addresses the housing crisis by providing affordable units, with some home ownership opportunities in addition to rentals. Additionally, the plans include accessible units that are compliant with updated ADA guidelines, which will provide housing options for those with disabilities.
This project will add community vibrancy. The plans include retail, a community green space, and restaurants. The mall as it is now, is an underutilized building with few open stores and an excess of empty parking. This project would immensely improve it to create a true utilized community space.
There are also positive environmental components to developing mixed use buildings. The Northgate Mall is already developed land, and urban infill is the most environmentally friendly option for new developments. This project is in a transit dense area, it will improve bike infrastructure - which will lead to decreased car dependency, and all the housing units are 100% electric. As we continue to combat climate change and environmental concerns, it is imperative to build housing that mitigates these issues.
This project will do so.
This project is much needed for the community and Marin County as a whole. I encourage your vote of approval.
Sincerely,
Amanda Furlotti
Marin Resident
From: Barbara Rowe
Sent: Wednesday, November 27, 2024 2:21 PM
To: Distrib- City Clerk <[email protected]> Subject: Public Comment: Support for the Northgate Mall Redevelopment Project Dear City Council members, I am writing to you today in support of the Northgate Mall housing project. I urge you to vote to approve the project at the December 2nd meeting. Marin needs to be more accessible for moderate to low income families and individuals. This project directly addresses the housing crisis by providing affordable units, with some home ownership opportunities in addition to rentals. Additionally, the plans include accessible units that are compliant with updated ADA guidelines, which will provide housing options for those with disabilities. This project will add community vibrancy. The plans include retail, a community green space, and restaurants. The mall as it is now, is an underutilized building with few open stores and an excess of empty parking. This project would immensely improve it to create a true utilized community space. There are also positive environmental components to developing mixed use buildings. The Northgate Mall is already developed land, and urban infill is the most environmentally friendly option for new developments. This project is in a transit dense area, it will improve bike infrastructure - which will lead to decreased car dependency, and all the housing units are 100% electric. As we continue to combat climate change and environmental concerns, it is imperative to build housing that mitigates these issues. This project will do so.
This project is much needed for the community and Marin County as a whole. I encourage your vote of approval. Sincerely, Rev. Barbara D. Rowe, Strawberry resident and retired pastor from Westminster Presbyterian Church, Tiburon
From: Christopher Mugler
Sent: Tuesday, November 26, 2024 10:28:05 PM
To: Rachel Kertz <[email protected]>
Subject: Fwd: Please, scale down the Northgate Mall project to a more reasonable size
Dear Rachel,
Thank you for representing our community to the City Council regarding the ongoing proposed Northgate Town Square (NTS) project. Funny enough, my wife, kids, and I met you briefly by chance at an event at Ounces Outdoors, and it was lovely getting to hear more about your road to the city council and your passion for helping the folks in your community. I wanted to share with you the letter I wrote to the City Council regarding the plan to approve the NTS project (forwarded below), which I am worried will have the opposite of its intended purpose as currently proposed.
In short, adding a development of ~1400 units - which could easily add ~3000-5000 people to our community - is clearly far too big for our current infrastructure in TL. As it stands, Vallecito (and more generally, Miller Creek School District) is already in a budget crisis, and the traffic entering and exiting the community that this influx of residents would bring could have a devastating impact on the already-long commute that a huge fraction of our community (including my wife and I) make every day to the East Bay, San Francisco, and Peninsula, etc. I am disappointed to see that this feedback, which I have already given in some form numerous times (and I'm sure is echoed by hundreds of TL residents) is being largely ignored. I am asking the council to take one of two paths forward:
1) Scale back the NTS proposal to a much more reasonable number of units, like ~400. Adding ~1400 units - and therefore easily ~30-50% the number of residents to our small community in one single location - without pairing it with the necessary development of local infrastructure is objectively not reasonable. 2) Pause the NTS project to plan and secure the necessary funding (federal, state, etc.) to remodel the local roads and 101 South on-ramp infrastructure so that it can accommodate this large influx in traffic.
To be clear, I am absolutely supportive of development at Northgate Mall, which our community desperately needs, but if this proposal passes without any additional infrastructure development to our local roads or funding for our schools it could end up snarling the TL community in traffic and pressing our local schools into crisis for years to come.
Thank you again for representing our community, and I hope that this message gets through to the City Council, so that we can reimagine this proposal so that it helps TL grow, rather than triggering a crisis that could destabilize our community.
Happy early Thanksgiving and wishing you and your family the best. Thank you for your time,
Chris Mugler
Terra Linda resident
---------- Forwarded message ---------
From: Christopher Mugler
Date: Tue, Nov 26, 2024 at 6:55 PM
Subject: Please, scale down the Northgate Mall project to a more reasonable size To: <[email protected]>
Cc: <[email protected]>
Dear Mrs. Lara, Mrs. Talley, and City Council Members,
Unfortunately I will not be able to attend the city council meeting on 12/2 to discuss the Northgate Town Square project, but I wanted to provide my input to this proposal. I believe it's critical the developers of this project work together with the community to craft a proposal that meets our long term goal - both in San Rafael and Bay Area wide - of providing more housing options for residents while also ensuring that the development is net positive for the community by minimizing negative impacts. However, simply put: this proposal is creating too much housing too fast for the present infrastructure in Terra Linda. While I wholeheartedly support development at this site, adding anywhere between 3000-5000 additional residents to a community of roughly 10,000-12,000 people without additional infrastructure to support these residents would have a devastating impact on the quality of life in the community for the new and existing residents. Please, I implore the council to substantially reduce the residential footprint of this proposal - by at least ~50% - so that it still provides the large boost of imminently needed housing options for the community without overstretching our local infrastructure. Alternatively, the completion of this project - as is - must be contingent on pre-securing the necessary funding to support the substantial increase in residents this development would bring. A few key issues with the proposal are outlined below:
1) It will substantially increase traffic in the community, particularly at peak commute hours: My wife and I commute each day to the East Bay, and for several months of the year, the Freitas Parkway on-ramp for 101 South is already so crowded that traffic bleeds into city streets at rush hour. In addition, our two sons both attend Vallecito Elementary school, and school traffic on the city streets near the school (Freitas, Las Gallinas, Nova Albion, etc.) is significant from 7:45-8:30. Adding such a dramatic increase in residents right in the center of these high traffic sites would only further exacerbate a traffic issue that is - at times - already pushed beyond reasonable limits. I should mention that I previously commuted from within San Francisco and the East Bay, so I am no stranger to traffic, but Terra Linda's road structure in and around the Freitas 101S on-ramp and merge is poorly designed to accommodate the amount of traffic it faces now, even without the extra potential residents.
2) As current, Miller Creek School District is in the throes of a budget crisis, and cannot support the additional students from this development. MCSD is barely able to meet its critical financial obligations for the school district in the 2024-2025 school year.
Without an influx of funding, they are already struggling to provide for the current enrollment. Adding potentially hundreds of additional elementary school age children is certainly not financially feasible in the foreseeable future. An additional measure would be needed to raise funds to support the school system.
To summarize, redeveloping the Northgate mall is an overwhelmingly positive idea, and again, I wholeheartedly support developing this site! However, I urge the city council to pause this development to create a more reasonable, scaled-back proposal that adds a more modest - but still very impactful - number of residential units. Adding ~300-500 units, for example - along with the planned commercial-use portion of the project - would still be hugely beneficial to the community without surpassing our current local infrastructure. If not, significant additional traffic infrastructure and school funding support must be located and initiated as soon as possible, otherwise this project will create a tremendous and unsustainable burden on the local community - the opposite of its intended goal.
Thank you for your time and consideration.
Chris Mugler
Terra Linda Resident
From: Gloria A Brar
Sent: Tuesday, November 26, 2024 8:43:02 PM
To: Rachel Kertz <[email protected]>
Subject: Terra Linda parent with strong opposition to current Northgate redevelopment plan, based on unconsidered traffic impact
Dear Rachel,
I met you a few months ago at Ounces and was happy to meet someone who seems down to earth and responsive representing those of us in Terra Linda. I write now because I've been alarmed at the rate at which the Northgate development has progressed through the process without the traffic impact being addressed. I can't attend the upcoming meetings because I have young kids and a full-time job that requires a long commute.
I experience extreme traffic daily, at the 101S onramp directly next to the development and I shudder to think what will happen when thousands of additional commuters are added to the mix. I do not ask the development to not happen, I simply ask that traffic infrastructure be developed before thousands of people are dropped at an already impacted area during rush hour. The argument that this is equivalent to mall traffic would be funny if it weren't so scary. Please, please, please help. I want more residents, I want low income housing, but I do not want to sit for many additional hours in traffic for no good reason, missing time with my children, and this will happen if no one actually asks for a realistic traffic plan.
I am a Professor of Molecular Biology at UC Berkeley, I have a PhD from MIT, and I am a practical and tough person. I do not complain about trivial things, I don't hand wring needlessly or hassle people for fun. This is a real problem that everyone is ignoring and I cannot understand why that is.
Below is the letter that I am sending to the whole city council. Thank you for representing local parents, workers, and commuters. We are already barely getting by, sitting in a car too much of the day. No one listens to us because we can't make it to meetings because we have kids and commute. And we are the ones who need to be listened to.
Best,
Gloria
----
Dear City Council,
I understand that the upcoming meeting will decide a great many things related to the proposed Northgate development and I am unable to attend due to two small children and a full-time job that requires a commute. Below is my feedback, which I desperately hope will be heard by those pushing this series of rapid votes on a plan that will negatively impact my family.
Although I greatly appreciate the goal of increasing housing, food options, and community gathering space that I believe motivates the Northgate redevelopment plan, the current plan is deeply flawed and will strongly and negatively impact our school district and community greatly as a result of poor planning and apparent lack of accurate data collection on the status of the MCSD schools and the traffic near the Freitas to 101S onramp. The supposedly final environmental impact report concerns me greatly as a Terra Linda resident and parent of two children in the MCSD. My extremely serious concerns are:
-Traffic. I commute daily to Berkeley and the bottleneck of this commute is often the freeway entrance to 101S from Freitas. I wrote this previously in February when the cleanup from the oil spill was occurring but it has continued to be the case over the last 7 months, well after this cleanup finished. This onramp alone adds 5 minutes to my 40+ minute commute compared to two years ago and that is without the thousands of new commuters that this development will bring. Cars idle for several minutes on a typical commute day at this point. Adding thousands of extra individuals directly next to this onramp will make this situation unbearable, and there is no plan to solve it. As is, something should be done to improve things. Pretending that mall traffic is the same as commute traffic, which is what the provisional report claimed, is false and absurd, and will be a catastrophe for the quality of life for those of us who must commute for our livelihood.
Additionally, the drop off area surrounding Vallecito Elementary school is extremely impacted by traffic in the morning, leading to a multi-block crawl of cars for the 30 minutes around school start. We face another traffic/parking headache daily when pick up from aftercare at Vallecito (where we typically cannot find a parking spot to allow us to pick up our TKer and 1st grader). Given how terrible this traffic currently is, it is obvious that the planned development will push the situation into truly unbearable. This will increase my commute dramatically, reducing time I can spend with my kids.
This is also just considering the catastrophic effects on normal commute and school traffic. I am also greatly concerned about the issue of evacuation routes, which do not seem to have been considered at all, and are a very real concern given the current wildfire risk situation.
-School quality. MCSD currently has a $1M+ deficit, which was likely revealed after this plan was developed and which is already causing a decrease in the quality of the education. Our TK student has only 3 hours of education as a cost-saving measure. This will reduce his educational quality, as will the cost saving measures that were implemented for many other things, including music. We are two working and commuting parents who moved to Terra Linda mainly because of the schools and now we are seeing them slide down in resources despite the best efforts of an incredible teaching team.
Unless there is a plan to infuse a large amount of long-term resources to the school district to accommodate the hundreds of new students this plan will bring, further decline in the MCSD education is inevitable.
The plan states no impact on schools or traffic but these statements are out of touch with reality. We already have issues with both of these and it is impossible for a development of this size to avoid greatly exacerbating them.
The core issues with this development plan are the massive number of units and remarkably poor planning for how this will fit into the existing community. Terra Linda cannot support 1400 new units (let alone the increased number that has also been proposed) unless there is an enormous infrastructure change to support them. As both a resident of Terra Linda and a strong proponent of new housing in this area, I am very strongly opposed to this specific plan and certainly do not think sufficient due diligence has been done regarding the environmental impact report.
The idea that this is a final impact plan is shocking, considering the lack of consideration for the very real, very negative impacts of this development on traffic and schools, as planned. I do not support certifying the report or moving forward with this development until there are actual plans in place to deal with the impact, which there currently are not.
We should do this right and what is being proposed is not it.
Sincerely,
Gloria
--
Gloria Brar, PhD
Associate Professor
Molecular and Cell Biology
From: Gloria A Brar
Sent: Tuesday, November 26, 2024 8:00 PM
To: Distrib- City Clerk <[email protected]> Subject: Short addendum to explain my opposition stance to the Northgate plan Dear City Council,
I wrote previously and just wanted to add a few sentences of context.
I am a Professor of Molecular Biology at UC Berkeley, I have a PhD from MIT, and I am a practical and tough person. I do not complain about trivial things, I don't hand wring needlessly or hassle people for fun. The traffic at the 101S onramp and around Vallecito is a real problem that everyone is ignoring and I cannot understand why that is.
I experience extreme traffic daily, especially at the 101S Freitas onramp directly next to the development, and I shudder to think what will happen when thousands of additional commuters are added to the mix. I do not ask for the development to not happen, I simply ask that traffic infrastructure be developed before thousands of people are dropped at an already problematically impacted area during rush hour. The argument that this is equivalent to mall traffic would be funny if it weren't so scary.
Those of us who rely on this onramp for our livelihood need your help. I want more residents, I want low income housing, but I do not want to sit for countless additional hours in traffic for no good reason, missing time with my children, and this WILL happen if no one actually asks for a realistic traffic plan.
Thank you for representing local parents, workers, and commuters. We are already barely getting by, sitting in a car too much of the day. No one listens to us because we can't make it to meetings because we have kids and commutes. And we are the ones who need to be listened to.
Sincerely,
Gloria
--
Gloria Brar, PhD
Associate Professor
Molecular and Cell Biology
November 26, 2024
Via Email: [email protected]
Dear San Rafael City Council Members,
The Marin Environmental Housing Collaborative (MEHC) advocates for projects and policies that advance affordable housing, environmental sustainability, and social justice.
We support the Northgate Town Square Project, and urge you to approve the project at the December 2nd City Council meeting. The project aligns with MEHC’s core beliefs and guidelines.
Housing Affordability
•The project includes 1,422 new rental and ownership units, with 10% of them designated as affordable units.The affordable units will be integrated throughout the buildings.
•The project consists of multi-family housing, which is naturally more affordable than comparable single-family homes. The project improves overall affordability in Marin County.
•The project includes ADA accessible units, offering housing for people with disabilities. Marin has a very limited supply of accessible housing.
Environmental Benefits
This project will reduce emissions due to proximity to public transit and electrification
•The developer is contributing $500,000 to San Rafael for its Merrydale pedestrian/bicycle pathway to the Civic Center SMART Station.
•New buildings help mitigate fire risk.
•The developer included all suggested improvements to the bike infrastructure suggested by the Marin County Bicycle Coalition. •The project is mixed use, allowing residents to access retail and restaurants without being dependent on a car.
•EV charging stations included in the plans.
•Residential units are 100% electric.
•Solar is incorporated into the design.
The project conserves water, and is far more sustainable than the existing housing stock.
•There is extensive use of recycled water in both the residences and landscaping, utilizing existing purple pipe. Toilets will be dual plumbed to leverage use of recycled water.
•Multi-family housing is far more water efficient than the older, single family homes that comprise the majority of Marin’s housing stock.
BOARD
Jennifer Silva, Chair
Diana Benitez
Aaron Burnett
Betsey Cutler
Lucie Hollingsworth
Paul Jensen
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David Levin
Claire McAuliffe
Tom McCafferty
Gail Napell
Steven Saxe
Amy Skewes-Cox
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Kiki LaPorta,
Communications
Carmela Davis,
Housing Specialist
P.O. Box 9633
San Rafael CA 94912
www.MarinMEHC.org
[email protected]
Racial Equity
• The project will provide affordable housing in a high resource area.
We thank you for your consideration, and urge you to approve this much needed project.
Sincerely,
Jennifer Silva
Board Chair
Marin Environmental Housing Collaborative
[email protected]
(415) 609-4671
775 B aywood D r., S ui t e 1 0 1 ● Pe ta lu ma, C A 94 954 707. 283 .00 28 ● Fax : 7 07.7 63.3 028 ● www.no rt h bay l ea de rs h ip .or g San Rafael City Council
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San Rafel, CA 94901
Dear Mayor Colin and San Rafael City Council:
On behalf of North Bay Leadership Council (NBLC), representing leading employers in the North Bay, with over 100,000 employees, across 25 different industry sectors, I write in support of the Northgate Town Square project and urge your approval of the project. North Bay Leadership Council has identified the creation of more workforce housing as a top priority in our region. Thousands of Californians are leaving the state, including the North Bay region, to accept jobs elsewhere. Even those with stable incomes are feeling the economic strain that the high cost of housing is placing on professionals. Marin’s severe housing shortage impacts us all and undermines our county’s long-term economic vitality. With population steadily declining in Marin for over a decade, we are facing a predicable talent shortage that is being driven by the housing crisis.
An estimated 45,000 people in the Marin workforce commute to work—and this number is growing. In the past ten years, commuters coming into Marin from other counties increased by nearly 8,000 people. Meanwhile the number of workers who both live and were employed in Marin dropped by about 10,000 people. Employers across sectors that include health care, education, construction, case management, essential services, and more report significant barriers to recruitment and retention.
The inability to house the local workforce in Marin translates to a loss of talent, reduces productivity, limits innovation, increases traffic congestion and decreases quality of life across our communities.
Housing is Economic Development, and the North Bay Leadership Council considers the Northgate Town Hall project to be an important step forward for Marin to meet housing goals and maintain a vibrant community. There are a number of factors that contribute to our support:
The project will make a meaningful impact in Marin.
o The project will provide 1,422 rental and ownership housing units. o Northgate is the right site to add density and height to produce workforce and market-rate housing in San Rafael. Today, we have a dying mall that everyone agrees needs to be redeveloped. This plan is
BOARD OF DIRECTORS
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an opportunity to transform the mall into a thriving mixed-use center for existing residents and new neighbors to enjoy.
o This project will create 143 affordable homes mixed throughout the project. This includes townhomes and apartments dedicated to lowincome residents. This is 143 more affordable units than we have now. o The Northgate project will be a substantial contributor to the city as it seeks to build 3,000 housing units in the next RHNA cycle. To meet these numbers, we will need to support denser proposals like this one to produce the required housing units. Many sites in our Housing Element may never get built, but this one will.
o The plan is responsive to community feedback. It incorporates a larger town square and new townhomes in the area closest to the existing single-family neighbors off Nova Albion. We support the project’s evolution and the necessary tradeoff for taller heights toward the interior of the site, which were made in response to public input. o The redevelopment plan represents the right way to build sustainable housing. This will serve as a model for its use of recycled water, solar, and all-electric residential buildings.
o The market rate units serve a segment of the market that is poorly served in Marin- the missing middle. The majority of Marin’s housing stock consists of single family homes that are expensive, and located in car-dependent neighborhoods. This development will provide many more options for residents with transit needs across all income levels. o The project is a mixed use project, with strong retail and dining, reducing the need of residents to drive for these services. o The project is in an ideal location for transit. It’s right off of 101 and near the SMART train.
This project has been in review for three years. During this time, the housing crisis in Marin has worsened. We urge the city to approve the project, so the community can benefit from this additional housing and bring this center back to life.
Sincerely,
Joanne Webster
President & CEO
From: Riss Clark
Sent: Tuesday, November 26, 2024 12:51 PM
To: Distrib- City Clerk <[email protected]> Subject: FOR PUBLIC COMMENT-Northgate
To Mayor Colin and Council Members,
The increase in traffic from the Northgate Redevelopment Project will exacerbate the already dangerous congested traffic conditions I request that follow-up traffic studies be required at the completion of each phase of the Northgate Project the updated traffic sturdier just be based on actual traffic counts prepared by a licensed traffic engineer, approved by the City and funded by the project sponsor this must be “included as a condition in the Project Entitlements’. Thank you for keeping Terra Linda residents safe and for your consideration to this important community concern.
Best,
Riss Clark
Concerned Terra Linda resident
Sent from my iPhone
From: Sean
Sent: Wednesday, November 27, 2024 2:17 PM
To: Distrib- City Clerk <[email protected]> Subject: Public Comment: Support for the Northgate Mall Redevelopment Project Dear City Council members, I am writing to you today in support of the Northgate Mall housing project. I urge you to vote to approve the project at the December 2nd meeting.
Marin needs to be more accessible for moderate to low income families and individuals.
This project directly addresses the housing crisis by providing affordable units, with some home ownership opportunities in addition to rentals. Additionally, the plans include accessible units that are compliant with updated ADA guidelines, which will provide housing options for those with disabilities. This project will add community vibrancy. The plans include retail, a community green space, and restaurants. The mall as it is now, is an underutilized building with few open stores and an excess of empty parking. This project would immensely improve it to create a true utilized community space. There are also positive environmental components to developing mixed use buildings. The Northgate Mall is already developed land, and urban infill is the most environmentally friendly option for new developments. This project is in a transit dense area, it will improve bike infrastructure - which will lead to decreased car dependency, and all the housing units are 100% electric.
As we continue to combat climate change and environmental concerns, it is imperative to build housing that mitigates these issues. This project will do so. This project is much needed for the community and Marin County as a whole. I encourage your vote of approval.
Sincerely, [Your Name]
From: Sam Penrose
Sent: Wednesday, November 27, 2024 2:54 PM
To: Distrib- City Clerk <[email protected]> Subject: Public Comment: Support for the Northgate Town Square Dear City Council members,
I am writing to you today in support of the Northgate Town Square housing project. I urge you to vote to approve the project at the December 2nd meeting.
Marin needs to be more accessible for moderate to low income families and individuals.
This project directly addresses the housing crisis by providing affordable units, with some home ownership opportunities in addition to rentals. Additionally, the plans include accessible units that are compliant with updated ADA guidelines, which will provide housing options for those with disabilities.
This project will add community vibrancy. The plans include retail, a community green space, and restaurants. The mall as it is now, is an underutilized building with few open stores and an excess of empty parking. This project would immensely improve it to create a true utilized community space.
There are also positive environmental components to developing mixed use buildings. The Northgate Mall is already developed land, and urban infill is the most environmentally friendly option for new developments. This project is in a transit dense area, it will improve bike infrastructure - which will lead to decreased car dependency, and all the housing units are 100% electric. As we continue to combat climate change and environmental concerns, it is imperative to build housing that mitigates these issues. This project will do so.
This project is much needed for the community and Marin County as a whole. I encourage your vote of approval.
Sincerely,
Sam Penrose